What Do You Need to Start Building Landing Pages?

It’s great to see you in yet another lesson of the Landing Page Academy! You’ve already taken a few steps into the world of landing pages, so now it’s time to see what you’ve got and gather it in one place.

You’ll need a goal (that always should come first), a landing page builder, some graphics, copy ideas, and a few other things.

We’ve been talking about landing page goals a lot in the first Chapter of the Landing Page Academy, so just keep in mind that you need to stick to a single goal if you want your landing page to be effective.

Think of it as getting all the ingredients for a nutritious, aesthetic, and tasty meal. Let’s find a way to please your future customers with a delicious landing page!

How to Choose a Proper Landing Page Solution?

Last time I told you about landing page builders, I highlighted some features that you should look for in them. I hope that was helpful, but if you’re still looking for the best landing page builder to this point, I’ll try to help you with it.


There are hundreds of tools that let you create landing pages, but they all offer different things:

  • Sometimes they are focused more on creating websites – in such cases, landing pages would be just an option, which means you’ll pay more for features you won’t even use… also, it’s not hard to figure out what direction the software’s development would take, so you shouldn’t expect new features dedicated to landing pages anytime soon.

    Check out: Wix
  • Some software market themselves as all-in-one solutions, not only for landing pages or websites, but also for e-mail marketing, ads or analytics. It’s a convenient choice, but the most expensive one. So again, you should ask yourself a question – does my company need all of it? If so, and if your budget allows you to, consider it seriously.

    Check out: HubSpot
  • Finally, some tools are meant for landing pages only. On one hand, that means their possibilities are limited to everything landing page-related. On the other hand, that means 100% focus on new features, templates, better service, and full dedication. There’s a bunch of landing page builders offering more than just creation possibilities, but also optimization tools and, possibly, much more than that. If you already have an e-mail marketing tool or you’re just starting, I recommend starting with an upgradable landing page builder (offering at least three pricing plans to better respond to your needs).

    Check out: Landingi

Where Do You Get Graphics and Videos From?

Both graphics and videos can be found on stocks. These are huge assets libraries, filled with materials for every occasion. There are both free and paid stocks, and the difference between them is clearly visible: pictures from paid repositories are less likely to be seen all over the Internet, but sometimes they might be an unnecessary expense, especially at the beginning.


There are tons of high-quality assets in internet libraries, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of adding a moderately accurate picture to your landing page. Remember that each element on a landing page works for the final effect, so take your time when selecting the best graphics. Some landing page builders are connected with image libraries, easing the process of finding and adding pictures to your page.


Remember that stock pictures are super helpful but also generic. If you want to showcase the originality of your product, move towards real photos and original videos.

  • If you’re selling a product, show the visitors real photos of the product, not some placeholder that says nothing about your creation.
  • If you’re renting a holiday house, include a real view from your hotel room, not some random landscape found on the Internet.
  • If you’re recruiting for the company, show real people working in your team, not all-smiley random groups picked on the stock.

Showing real photos and original videos is how you build the credibility of your landing page.

How Can You Get Social Proof?

There’s a solid chance that you’ve already seen an opinion written by “Ted, 29” on the Internet. Or, even better, by a “Happy Customer”. They are all worth nothing. The times of treating visitors on websites and landing pages as stupid have passed and won’t come back.


If you already sold your product to someone, ask them about the opinion, but don’t expect a 50% conversion on this. People usually don’t rate stuff they bought unless there’s something wrong… or unless they’re totally in love with it.


Things get complicated when you’re advertising the MVP of your product or you’re just starting. In such a case, prepare a prototype in advance and ask people to rate it. If you’re recruiting people, ask co-workers to say a few words about the job. Usually, there’s a possibility to get social proof, and if there aren’t any… just don’t do it. Having no “Opinions” section is always better than writing made-up stories with zero credibility.

If you plan to use landing pages for advertising, you need to publish them under your own domain. Usually, you need to first buy a domain, and then connect your landing page(s) to it. Configuring the domain shouldn’t be hard, but if you stumble upon some difficulties, be sure to check if your selected builder has a help center that covers this topic.


But that doesn’t have to be the only publishing option. Some landing page builders offer test domains, so you could build landing pages and then publish them for testing (send them to your colleagues, manager or your customer for feedback). In that case, you won’t need your own domain to start building landing pages.

A Foundation for Landing Pages

Some Design Skills... or a Template

So you already have a goal, a builder and all the other stuff needed to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Now it’s time to start building… or pick a template.


I personally recommend spending some time trying out various widgets, forms, fonts, et cetera, even without any template. After some testing, it’s time to actually start building. And that’s what the next lesson will be about.

Share Your Thoughts and Get a Free Landing Page Checklist!

Let us know what you think about Landing Page Academy, and we’ll send you a handy Landing Page Checklist in return. The checklist will help you make sure your landing page is ready to rock!

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Takeaways

That's quite a lot of information to process, so before venturing further, take a moment for a quick review of what you've learned during this lesson... and head on to the next one!

1. Find out what kind of landing page builder you need.

2. Decide what graphics or videos you’ll be using.

3. Check if you can get any opinions about your company or products you sell.

4. Make sure there’s a test domain available, so you can not only build a landing page, but also test it or send for feedback to someone.

Finding an Outstanding Template

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What's next?

In the next lesson, we'll continue with the theme of building landing pages. More specifically, we'll focus on templates – how to find the right one for you.