Introduction
Building an effective landing page is critical for any startup looking to drive leads and conversions. But creating an aesthetically pleasing, optimized landing page often requires substantial design skills or coding knowledge. For founders and marketers without those technical capabilities, building landing pages can seem daunting.
That's where visual web builders like Unicorn Platform come in. With an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates, even the least tech-savvy users can quickly build beautiful, high-converting landing pages. In this post, we'll walk through how startups with no coding skills can leverage these powerful visual builders to create landing pages that attract and convert visitors.
Choosing the Right Landing Page Builder
With plenty of landing page builder options out there, it's important to choose one optimized for your needs as a startup. Here are some key factors to consider:
Prioritizing a Visual Editor
A visual editor empowers anyone to build landing pages without touching code. With drag-and-drop functionality, elements like text, images, and buttons can be added, customized and arranged through simple clicks and taps. This is far more intuitive than traditional HTML/CSS coding, which requires technical expertise. For non-developers, a visual builder is by far the easiest way to create landing pages iteratively.
Leveraging Pre-Made Templates
Starting from pre-built templates can drastically accelerate landing page design. No need to start from a blank page! Template categories like lead generation, event registration, contact forms, and more provide an effective framework tailored to different uses.
For example, a lead generation template may contain sections for an opt-in form, testimonials, and calls-to-action to capture visitor information. An event registration template can include fields for RSVPs, dates, and location maps.
While customization is still required to match your brand, templates handle the underlying layout and structure.
Integrations for Advanced Features
Beyond core editing features, integrations add advanced capabilities like email marketing, chatbots, and analytics. For example, connecting Mailchimp allows capturing leads through signup forms, while Intercom provides live chat. Builders like Unicorn make it easy to connect these tools through their interface to enhance your landing pages.
Some popular integrations include email services like Mailchimp, analytics tools like Google Analytics, live chat widgets from Intercom or Drift, and heat mapping from Hotjar.
Optimizing for Any Device
With mobile traffic surpassing desktop, landing page responsiveness across devices is critical. Your layouts must adapt seamlessly for mobile visitors. Visual builders like Unicorn Platform handle this automatically through mobile-optimized, responsive frameworks. There's no need to create separate mobile pages.
Customizing with Code
For further customization beyond the visual editor, many builders provide options to inject your own code for CSS styling, HTML elements, JavaScript, etc. While not required for basic landing pages, coding capabilities provide advanced control for complex needs.
Compared to other popular landing page builders, Unicorn Platform stands out for its balance of ease-of-use through the visual editor with advanced customization via integrations and code support. Critically, it also offers a free plan whereas competitors like Carrd are fully paid. For cost-conscious startups, this is hugely valuable.
Overall, choosing a flexible, visual builder like Unicorn can empower any startup to build high-quality landing pages without coding expertise. Let's look at how to put these capabilities into practice.
Building Your Landing Page Visually
With the foundations of a strong landing page builder in place, how do you actually go about building your page visually? Here are the key steps:
Choosing a Template
Browse Unicorn's template library organized by category to find an appropriate starting point. Consider your goals, audience, and industry to select a template that fits. A basic lead capture template provides a solid foundation for many use cases. Avoid overcomplicated templates - simplicity and focus are key.
For example, if you want to promote an upcoming product launch event, choose an event registration template with sections for RSVPs, scheduling, location details, etc. tailored for that purpose.
Customizing the Content
The real work begins in making the template your own. Swap out placeholder text for compelling copy that speaks to your audience. Craft attention-grabbing headlines and introductions to draw readers in. Add graphics, logos, icons that match your brand identity. Edit colors, fonts, sizes and other styling options to create a cohesive experience.
Arranging the Layout
Now organize the structure of your page by dragging and dropping sections into place. Position critical elements like headlines, value props, testimonials, and calls-to-action in areas with maximum visibility near the top of the page. Key information should be prominently placed above the fold.
Further down, include secondary items like site navigation, footers, disclosures etc. Create a logical flow guiding visitors down the page.
Styling and Customizing
Refine the visual styling like colors, shapes, and spacing to polish your page. Align styling choices like fonts, color palettes with your brand style guide. Add custom CSS as needed for advanced modifications. But avoid going overboard - keep aligned with your brand identity and the page purpose.
For example, make sure your brand colors and logo are integrated in the header and key sections. Use appropriate font pairings and sizing for headlines vs. body text.
Adding Integrations and Apps
Connect marketing, sales, and analytics tools you already use through Unicorn's integrations. Insert lead capture forms, live chat widgets, heat mapping tools, and more to boost conversions and insights.
For instance, use a Mailchimp integration to collect emails from a signup form, or add a Calendly widget to let visitors book consultations.
Let's walk through a hands-on example building a simple lead capture landing page for a fictional meditation app called "Mindful" that improves focus and reduces stress.
Choosing a Template
I'll browse Unicorn's template library and select the "Lead Generation" template since my goal is capturing user emails. This template contains sections like an opt-in form, testimonials, and call-to-action perfect for conversions.
Customizing the Content
Now I'll customize the template content for Mindful - swapping out the generic headings, text, and images for my meditation app's brand voice and visual style. I'll come up with an engaging headline like "Find Focus in a Busy World" that speaks to my audience's pain points.
Arranging the Layout
I'll prioritize the opt-in form and headline near the top, followed by testimonials and an app screenshot further down. Less important elements like footer links go at the bottom. This drives visitors to convert before they scroll too far.
Styling and Customizing
I'll tweak the colors to match Mindful's green and blue brand palette for a calm, relaxing feel. And I'll use soothing, rounded fonts to also evoke mindfulness. Some custom CSS makes the testimonial pictures circular.
Adding Integrations and Apps
Finally, I install the Mailchimp integration to collect emails from my opt-in form. I also add Hotjar to see how people engage with my page.
The visual editor empowers me to make this landing page distinctly "Mindful" without coding expertise.
Optimizing and Promoting Your Page
Your work doesn't end once the initial landing page is published. Optimization and promotion are crucial to driving results. Here are some key tips:
Speed and Performance
Page speed significantly impacts conversions. Unicorn's global CDN ensures fast delivery worldwide. Compress images, eliminate unnecessary bloat, and optimize code to further improve speed.
Messaging and Layout
Refine page copy and continually A/B test different headlines, intros, and layouts through tools like Google Optimize. Reduce distractions to guide visitors to convert. Highlight your unique value proposition clearly.
Promoting Your Page
Employ SEO best practices like keywords and backlinks to improve search visibility. Run paid ads through platforms like Facebook and Google. Promote your page on social media and email. Send to relevant online communities and influencers.
Analytics and Tracking
Connect analytics tools like Google Analytics to understand visitor behavior. Add tracking pixels to attribute conversions. Identify bottlenecks in the user flow and optimize accordingly. Define key metrics to continually improve performance.
Continual optimization and iteration will drive tangible lifts in your landing page results over time.
Call to Action
If you're a startup looking to quickly build landing pages that convert visitors without coding, Unicorn Platform provides the perfect combination of beautiful templates and an intuitive visual editor to make it easy to create high-quality lead capture experiences.
Try Unicorn's landing page builder for free today to start making visually stunning, optimized pages that grow your business.
Key Takeaways
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Visual web builders empower easy landing page creation without any coding expertise through drag-and-drop editing and templates.
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Choosing a flexible platform optimized for your use case is key - Unicorn balances ease of use with advanced customization capabilities.
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Follow the steps of selecting a template, customizing the content, arranging layout, styling, and connecting integrations to build your landing page visually.
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Promote and continually optimize your finished pages through speed improvements, A/B testing, analytics, and effective copywriting.
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Leverage intuitive visual platforms like Unicorn to attract and convert high-quality leads, even without coding skills or design experience.
The days of needing dedicated web developers to build landing pages are over. Through visual DIY platforms like Unicorn, anyone can craft beautiful, effective landing experiences that drive business growth. So don't let lack of technical skills stop you - get started building your landing pages visually today!
