The Art of One-Page Design: Key Elements for Engaging Landing Pages

If you don't like art, we'll give it to you in numbers first.

For you numeracy lovers, here are some of our favourite landing page/on-page statistics:

• The average landing page conversion across all industries is only 4.3%.
• The average bounce rate for a landing page is 60-90%.
• 77% of landing pages are actually only home pages.
• Businesses with 10-15 landing pages have 55% more customers than businesses with fewer than 10.
• Creating between 21 and 40 landing pages can increase conversions by nearly 300%.
• 47% of users demand loading times to be less than 2 seconds for landing pages.

We took those statistics from KlientBoost and Digital Silk.

And then there's the actual art of a landing page. Your customers aren't interested in the numbers (unless we're talking discounts); they're interested in landing pages that look good but ultimately help them achieve what they want in a few clicks. Ideally, they want a click or two. eCommerce and the digitisation of businesses have made customers lazy.

So, let's focus on the art and what customers actually want. Read on to learn about the key elements for engaging landing pages.

The Essential Components of a Great Landing Page (Summary)

It's better to summarise this section than to go into great detail. Well, actually, it's better to start with what a landing page actually is.

The general definition of a landing page is 'a webpage designed to persuade users to take a specific action'. A user 'lands' there after clicking on an ad, email, or link.

We wouldn't call a product category page a landing page, but we would class a page that persuades people to go towards a product page as a landing page...if that makes sense. The goal is action, not browsing.

You'll notice we'll discuss the bullet points we're about to list below throughout the article. Universally, website developers, marketers, customers, and whoever else you class as a qualified judge of landing pages agree the following are essential components of a great one:

• An almost newsworthy headline (relatable to a landing page, short and sweet).
• Your USP clearly displayed
• Offer description (short and sweet)
• Professional image or video (video is now better)
• A clear call to action or customer information form
• Customer testimonials, logos, etc.
• Mobile responsive design

Actually, the list could keep going, but we'll stop there. There are so many excellent landing page templates that help put all that into one great page.

As a general rule, landing pages should be simple but with all the necessary information included, exciting but without cluttering the page with images and overpowering colours, and guide the customer toward what they're looking for if it isn't directly in their face.

Ideally, it should be directly in their face; that's why they've clicked on that specific landing page.

The Essential Components of User Interface and Design

Most of what we summarised above relates to the user interface and design. The most essential components are:

• A clear visual hierarchy (users should know where to look first)
• A strong, visible call to action (ideally above the fold)
• Consistent font use (no more than two typefaces)
• Colour contrast for readability and drawing attention to key elements
• Mobile-first design that actually works
• Quick load times
• Clean layout with intentional whitespace for breathing room
• Interactive elements that give feedback (like button hovers or form validation)
• Visuals that serve a purpose
• Minimal distractions

Images vs. Text vs. Videos vs. Whitespace

Many versus' on the go there, but it really is a battle to get the ratio right. You don't want too many images, but you do want relevant images. At least one that looks professional and catches the eye. An image will likely always catch someone's eye quicker than text will.

Video is the new image and text, and if you can have a relevant video on your landing page, people will generally watch it. And from that video, they'll retain 95% of the information compared to only 10% from text. Not to say that you shouldn't include text, but if you can put it in a video, it's better.

The text should be short, concise, and point towards what the customer has landed on your page to do – sign up for a newsletter, make a purchase, etc.

Then there's whitespace. The statistics show that websites using plenty of whitespace experience 35-45% higher visual attention from their traffic than those without. Again, it links back to not cluttering the landing page and letting your web traffic do what they intended to do when they decided to visit the page.

Quick Click Navigations

This is where users either bounce or buy. Or sign up. Or scroll further. Or just stare at your screen wondering where the call to action is.

Quick-click navigation is the art of putting the right thing in the right place.

People don't want to think. They want the CTA in bold, they want the menu simple, and they want the next step obvious. Put the key actions where their thumbs or mouse naturally go. That usually means the centre screen, top third, or above the fold.

Stick to one call to action unless you absolutely need a second. And don't scatter buttons everywhere – that's confusing. A good rule? Every button should answer one question – "What should I do next?"

Navigation doesn't mean menus, either. It could be a button that slides the user to a pricing section or a form. It's about fast functionality.

Conclusion

A great landing page isn't just pretty. It performs. It guides, persuades, and converts. It grabs attention in seconds and gives users exactly what they came for with minimal friction. If it looks good doing it, even better.

Keep your design clean, your message clear, and your goal obvious. Do that, and your one-pager will do more than just look the part. It'll become your best digital salesperson.

Done right, one page is all you need.