SaaS Landing Page Essentials: Guide to Sales Funnel Success
Denis Shatalin
Founder of SaaS Camp
Great SaaS landing pages are like having a virtual sales team that consistently goes the extra mile, delivering engaged, interested leads like clockwork. So how do I consistently create landing pages that drive leads to my clients like turning on a tap?
By understanding the importance of a landing page in my sales funnel and how expert copywriting, web design and conversion rate optimization can work in harmony to drive leads to my brand.
After identifying which stage of the sales funnel a visitor arrives at, I can personalize my landing pages, delivering the exact content they need, when they need it.
I’ve created this guide so you can unlock the same scalable system to bring qualified leads to your SaaS startup.
Need help growing your SaaS startup with high converting landing pages? We’ll help you grow your SaaS in our SaaS Camp accelerator.
By understanding the importance of a landing page in my sales funnel and how expert copywriting, web design and conversion rate optimization can work in harmony to drive leads to my brand.
After identifying which stage of the sales funnel a visitor arrives at, I can personalize my landing pages, delivering the exact content they need, when they need it.
I’ve created this guide so you can unlock the same scalable system to bring qualified leads to your SaaS startup.
Need help growing your SaaS startup with high converting landing pages? We’ll help you grow your SaaS in our SaaS Camp accelerator.
How to make the best SaaS landing pages for all stages of the sales funnel
I see far too many SaaS landing pages that do everything right but miss the critical element that they need to convert their visitors. Understanding how a visitor interacts with a landing page is key to providing the right content at the right time.
Think of a landing page as a conversation. Each element of the page should be resolving a problem or concern until the only reasonable option is the one you are providing. Having too many buttons to click, for instance, can harm your conversion rates.
According to a study carried out by Hubspot, the average landing page conversion rate across all industries is 9.7%.
SaaS landing pages normally struggle to achieve figures like this but if you can serve the right landing page to the right visitor this is achievable and even exceedable.
Matching your landing pages to the sales funnel
Landing pages are all about converting visitors into leads.
Sitting as stand-alone web pages, a landing page acts as a destination for visitors driven by different forms of marketing.
Ways people can reach your landing page include:
The key takeaway here is understanding exactly how a visitor arrives at your landing page, this will define the best content to display.
Think of a landing page as a conversation. Each element of the page should be resolving a problem or concern until the only reasonable option is the one you are providing. Having too many buttons to click, for instance, can harm your conversion rates.
According to a study carried out by Hubspot, the average landing page conversion rate across all industries is 9.7%.
SaaS landing pages normally struggle to achieve figures like this but if you can serve the right landing page to the right visitor this is achievable and even exceedable.
Matching your landing pages to the sales funnel
Landing pages are all about converting visitors into leads.
Sitting as stand-alone web pages, a landing page acts as a destination for visitors driven by different forms of marketing.
Ways people can reach your landing page include:
- PPC campaigns
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
The key takeaway here is understanding exactly how a visitor arrives at your landing page, this will define the best content to display.
Understanding your visitors
You can break visitors to your SaaS landing pages into two distinct groups, each group will behave differently and so should the content you display.
The two groups are:
Now we have a clear separation we can create our landing pages to target these very different user groups.
Visitors who are unaware of your solution
These visitors are utterly unaware of your products and services and how you can solve their problem/s.
They will arrive via content marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click campaigns, and social media among other marketing channels.
In this instance your primary goal is to build trust, a great strategy here is offering a free resource that helps the user and lets them take action.
I’ll use myself as an example. I help SaaS founders transform their businesses, so it made perfect sense for me to offer my help in the form of a resource you can download.
This roadmap helps you scale your SaaS startup from $0-$10K. I’m not trying to sell anything- I’m only showing the user I can help them with their problem.
The two groups are:
- Visitors who are unaware of your solution
- Visitors who are aware of your solution
Now we have a clear separation we can create our landing pages to target these very different user groups.
Visitors who are unaware of your solution
These visitors are utterly unaware of your products and services and how you can solve their problem/s.
They will arrive via content marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click campaigns, and social media among other marketing channels.
In this instance your primary goal is to build trust, a great strategy here is offering a free resource that helps the user and lets them take action.
I’ll use myself as an example. I help SaaS founders transform their businesses, so it made perfect sense for me to offer my help in the form of a resource you can download.
This roadmap helps you scale your SaaS startup from $0-$10K. I’m not trying to sell anything- I’m only showing the user I can help them with their problem.
Thank you pages should appear immediately after your resource is downloaded.
They are the perfect opportunity to offer users a product demo, free trial, or schedule a live call to discuss how your SaaS can transform their business.
I recommend integrating a scheduling tool like Calendly to make the most out of your thank you page.
Email capture
Putting your resource behind an email capture is key to getting value from this type of landing page.
You can now market directly to someone who already needs your solution. Better yet, you’re already on their radar in a positive light.
This is called retargeting and is reserved for users who are aware of your solution, which we’ll discuss next.
They are the perfect opportunity to offer users a product demo, free trial, or schedule a live call to discuss how your SaaS can transform their business.
I recommend integrating a scheduling tool like Calendly to make the most out of your thank you page.
Email capture
Putting your resource behind an email capture is key to getting value from this type of landing page.
You can now market directly to someone who already needs your solution. Better yet, you’re already on their radar in a positive light.
This is called retargeting and is reserved for users who are aware of your solution, which we’ll discuss next.
Visitors who are aware of your solution
These are a combination of visitors that are aware of your products and services because of previous marketing efforts or via directly searching for your brand online.
Both of these groups would be considered warmer leads, where a level of trust has already been built.
This requires a landing page solely focused on selling your SaaS product. You should focus solely on displaying the benefits of your product and how they can solve your visitor’s problems alongside other elements to help conversion.
Email retargeting
You can link directly from your email marketing campaigns to channel warm leads to your landing pages.
This could be users who downloaded free resources or previous customers of a different product.
Organic Search
Customers browsing on search engines will often include brand names. This is a clear signal of awareness and is best directed to a landing page that’s optimized for sales.
Now we understand the two kinds of landing pages we can deploy to start gaining customers, let’s look at what we need to include to maximize conversions when they arrive.
Both of these groups would be considered warmer leads, where a level of trust has already been built.
This requires a landing page solely focused on selling your SaaS product. You should focus solely on displaying the benefits of your product and how they can solve your visitor’s problems alongside other elements to help conversion.
Email retargeting
You can link directly from your email marketing campaigns to channel warm leads to your landing pages.
This could be users who downloaded free resources or previous customers of a different product.
Organic Search
Customers browsing on search engines will often include brand names. This is a clear signal of awareness and is best directed to a landing page that’s optimized for sales.
Now we understand the two kinds of landing pages we can deploy to start gaining customers, let’s look at what we need to include to maximize conversions when they arrive.
The anatomy of a great SaaS landing page
Understanding the key elements and structure of a landing page will help you convert more customers right from the start.
I’ve broken down exactly what you need to include in your SaaS landing page to grow your client list seamlessly.
Your SaaS landing page should include the following:
Here are some examples of how each of those elements come together to make high-converting SaaS landing pages.
I’ve broken down exactly what you need to include in your SaaS landing page to grow your client list seamlessly.
Your SaaS landing page should include the following:
- Clear value proposition (how you can solve the visitor’s problem)
- Great headlines and call to actions
- Social proof in the form of reviews or trusted brands that use your SaaS
- Frequently asked questions
Here are some examples of how each of those elements come together to make high-converting SaaS landing pages.
SaaS landing page examples
All of the world’s largest SaaS brands have got to where they are today by leveraging landing pages to their advantage.
Let’s take a look at how they build and structure elements on landing pages to convert thousands of visitors every year.
Let’s take a look at how they build and structure elements on landing pages to convert thousands of visitors every year.
1. Semrush - commercial-intent landing page
Semrush is one of the world leaders in online marketing. This landing page was the result of a search for a keyword researching tool on Google.
You can see here that Semrush has identified my problem and served a landing page related directly to me, not offering their full suite of services.
In this example, we can see the proposition clearly. They've added a concise, attractive call to action that jumps out from the page’s background and a section that builds trust by displaying global brands they’ve worked with.
Notice how they’ve used a model on the right? We associate with other humans, this helps build trust, we assume she’s happy because she is using Semrush and by proxy, so will we.
The effective cherry on the cake here is the free trial, the last of several powerful marketing techniques being used to seal the deal before you even begin to scroll any further down the page.
You can see here that Semrush has identified my problem and served a landing page related directly to me, not offering their full suite of services.
In this example, we can see the proposition clearly. They've added a concise, attractive call to action that jumps out from the page’s background and a section that builds trust by displaying global brands they’ve worked with.
Notice how they’ve used a model on the right? We associate with other humans, this helps build trust, we assume she’s happy because she is using Semrush and by proxy, so will we.
The effective cherry on the cake here is the free trial, the last of several powerful marketing techniques being used to seal the deal before you even begin to scroll any further down the page.
2. ClickUp’s homepage popup
I love Clickup’s value proposition here. Time is a valuable asset to every business owner and employee and they know it.
Notice the CTA button uses a gradient of two colors and box-shadow to really pop out of the page and encourage the conversion.
The copywriting here is perfect, who doesn’t want to ‘Get More Time’ and take back one day of their week for better performance.
Notice the CTA button uses a gradient of two colors and box-shadow to really pop out of the page and encourage the conversion.
The copywriting here is perfect, who doesn’t want to ‘Get More Time’ and take back one day of their week for better performance.
3. Stripe’s homepage
Stripe’s payment processing is a global brand making waves in their sector.
Here they use simple imagery to show how their SaaS product performs in relation to the user’s problem, in this case, e-commerce.
The words ‘engineered for growth’ suggest that Stripe will give you all the tools you need to excel your brand to the next level, powerful messaging.
Notice how the CTA button color sits in stark contrast to the background of the page with a less obvious button to contact sales.
Stripe’s well aware that most people will opt for ‘Start Now’ but adding a second option to demonstrate their ability to ease any concerns is a sure-fire way to increase conversion.
Here they use simple imagery to show how their SaaS product performs in relation to the user’s problem, in this case, e-commerce.
The words ‘engineered for growth’ suggest that Stripe will give you all the tools you need to excel your brand to the next level, powerful messaging.
Notice how the CTA button color sits in stark contrast to the background of the page with a less obvious button to contact sales.
Stripe’s well aware that most people will opt for ‘Start Now’ but adding a second option to demonstrate their ability to ease any concerns is a sure-fire way to increase conversion.
Assimilate - social proof
I love this perfect example of social proof from Assimilate.
They’ve achieved two very powerful things in these direct quotes: clear evidence their SaaS has helped people launch powerful affiliate marketing campaigns, and a sense of trust and authority projected through its client base that consists of founders and affiliate marketers.
Reviews are great, but honest testimonials detailing how your SaaS helped someone transform their business will always lead to higher conversion rates.
They’ve achieved two very powerful things in these direct quotes: clear evidence their SaaS has helped people launch powerful affiliate marketing campaigns, and a sense of trust and authority projected through its client base that consists of founders and affiliate marketers.
Reviews are great, but honest testimonials detailing how your SaaS helped someone transform their business will always lead to higher conversion rates.
Best practices for SaaS landing pages
Before you launch your next SaaS landing page check through our quick list of best practices.
Keep your forms short - If you’re capturing details about a user keep your fields short and to the point, attention spans aren’t getting any longer and giant contact forms should be a thing of the past.
Use people’s faces - People trust people, by using models on your landing page you can add a human touch that gets lost in lots of SaaS landing pages. This could be a customer, employee, or founder alongside a testimonial or quote.
Button color - Color is everything when it comes to your CTA buttons. Try to pick a color that contrasts everything else on the page, this will naturally draw the eyes and stop skim reading.
Copywriting - Your headlines and copy need to be on point. Try to put yourselves in the shoes of the visitor, what would you need to hear and see to buy your product?
Heatmapping and recording - You can use a service like Hotjar to watch live screen recordings and view how people are clicking on your landing page. This can be invaluable when you optimize for more conversions.
Testimonials over reviews - Testimonials are a more powerful signal than reviews, offering a more personal view of your whole brand, is key to building trust. According to Hubspot, 36% of top landing pages have testimonials and only 11% have reviews.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - Using SEO best practices can help your SaaS landing page appear in organic Google search results. Try to use words that users would search for to find your solution and utilize proper on-page structure with the implementation of H tags and image alt text.
Mapping your landing pages to your sales funnels can be a daunting prospect but the results for your SaaS start-up could be transformational.
Check out my expert SaaS coaching for a systemized, proven approach to scaling your SaaS from startup to global brand.
Keep your forms short - If you’re capturing details about a user keep your fields short and to the point, attention spans aren’t getting any longer and giant contact forms should be a thing of the past.
Use people’s faces - People trust people, by using models on your landing page you can add a human touch that gets lost in lots of SaaS landing pages. This could be a customer, employee, or founder alongside a testimonial or quote.
Button color - Color is everything when it comes to your CTA buttons. Try to pick a color that contrasts everything else on the page, this will naturally draw the eyes and stop skim reading.
Copywriting - Your headlines and copy need to be on point. Try to put yourselves in the shoes of the visitor, what would you need to hear and see to buy your product?
Heatmapping and recording - You can use a service like Hotjar to watch live screen recordings and view how people are clicking on your landing page. This can be invaluable when you optimize for more conversions.
Testimonials over reviews - Testimonials are a more powerful signal than reviews, offering a more personal view of your whole brand, is key to building trust. According to Hubspot, 36% of top landing pages have testimonials and only 11% have reviews.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - Using SEO best practices can help your SaaS landing page appear in organic Google search results. Try to use words that users would search for to find your solution and utilize proper on-page structure with the implementation of H tags and image alt text.
Mapping your landing pages to your sales funnels can be a daunting prospect but the results for your SaaS start-up could be transformational.
Check out my expert SaaS coaching for a systemized, proven approach to scaling your SaaS from startup to global brand.
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