I've picked 4 examples of landing pages from a few well-known companies to see what's working and what's not. Some of them are designed very well for lead nurturing and converting new leads and customers. Some of the others, I feel, still need some work.

Let's take a look:

Rhapsody

The first thing a customer will see is your headline. Does this grab your attention? It's important to be straight to the point, but this sounds a little cold. It would be nice to add some more life to it. "How would you like all the music you want for $10 a month?" Write your headlines like you're having a conversation with someone. People like to feel engaged when you speak with them.

I'd like to see Rhapsody flip the bullet points above the CTA to the area below the headline. It's good to place a lot of the heavier reading further away from the headline. This lets the customer learn about the benefits of their service and what they can offer them in a more efficient way.

Another element that's hurting this page is the video spokesperson. People hate opening a page to have music or video start playing the second they get there. A landing page should communicate to your customer without the aid of too many options or, in this case, distractions.

Rhapsody has done a great job with labeling their CTA. Rather than calling their button, "Click Here," they tell you to "Try Rhapsody," so the customer will know exactly what they will get when they click on the button. 

Finally, it's always to good to instill trust and confidence by showing companies who've used your service, or were featured in trustworthy places.

Netflix

Netflix knows they need to keep bringing in new customers. And they've created an excellent landing page that does just that. The information is well placed, and all the important info is easy to read. Less important wording is given less prominence so the user won't be overwhelmed.

Though a bit heavy with all of their red coloring, it makes the CTA stand out all the more. The white form and blue button jump out at you and makes the focus on getting new signups. They've done a good job giving an incentive for using their company. This form is great at explaining what you'll get, by offering a 1 month free trial. Who doesn't like anything free? 

The icons are a bit hard to see against the red. I'm not sure how important this is considering the goal is to get new signups and not necessarily have them click anywhere else.

I think Netflix has done a good job of creating a landing page that matches their brand, with a simple and straightforward design.

 Amerisave

Mortgage adveritising is one of the toughest and most expensive industries. 4 billion dollars were spent in 2011, and that number will keep increasing.

Because of the competition, it's important to have a well-thought out landing page. And Amerisave could use a little help.

In addition to having credible resources, another way to instill trust is to use real photographs of your employees. The cheesy photo of the pretty girl and the headset is so overused. A lot of spammy sites use this tactic and users are tired of seeing it.

There are two elements on the page that are creating too many options. One is the navigation at the top. The other are the multiple rates/quotes/emails. A great way to get a point across, sell an item, or get an email is to be clear, and to focus on one thing. Having too many options just causes confusion for the user, which may increase bounce rates.

The navigation is a bad idea since it can take the customer off the page and further into the website. They should figure out what brings them the most qualified leads, whether it's email signups or the quotes, and focus on that. As we looked at Netflix and Rhapsody's page, they just have one option. Amerisave has too much going on here I think it may be hurting them.  

MortgageLoan.com

This is what i would have liked to see for Amerisave's page: Simple, clean, and clear what you should click on. The CTA is not competing with any other option and like the Rhapsody example, you know what you're cliking on.

They've given the user a quick breakdown of what they offer and make sure they know the quote they're getting is free. Offering something like this is perfect for getting qualified leads.

The first thing you see is a great low rate combined with a headline directed to the user. "Find Your Best Rate." Mortgageloan knows you for the person you are marketing to.

I'm not real keen on the generic photo here, but it works because the rest of the layout is so strong. (And she's not wearing a headset.)

Breaking up information can help move your customers through your page. Tests have shown that adding the right steps to a process help conversions. It's especially great for e-commerce sites when users are making a purchase. It works here, also since there's a lot of information the user needs to fill out.

Make your customers feel comfortable giving out their information. This is another area, I feel, Mortgageloan excelled in their layout and Amerisave did not.

The weakest part of the entire page is all of the verbiage at the bottom. It takes away from the sharp design and adds a longer length to the page. I'm assuming most people are skipping all of this but they should have found a better way of having this accessible.  

As I mentioned at the beginning, it's important to design your landing pages to bring you the most qualified leads. Test them out to see which designs work better with audiences and adjust accordingly. A great page can bring in new business, while a poorly planned design can cost you money. 

What are your thoughts? Do these pages work or are there better examples of landing pages that convert?