Getting a high conversion rate with your landing page isn’t just about writing good copy. Design can play a huge factor as well. Poor design can kill even world class copy. Yet many entrepreneurs don’t really understand what goes into landing page design.

The design of a landing page doesn’t use the same rules of design as graphic design. The goal isn’t necessarily to look good, though that doesn’t hurt.

Instead, the goal is to direct attention flow as clearly as possible. You want to first make it easy for the headline to catch attention. Then you want to direct that attention in an unobstructed way.

Here are a few tips on landing page design.

==> Headline Color and Font

Red has traditionally been one of the highest converting colors in any market. This is still true today, with a few notable exceptions.

In markets that are heavily marketed to, such as the “make money online” market or the “lose weight” market, red headlines can actually decrease conversions. People are tired of hardcore sales messages and start to tune them out.

In a heavily marketed market, try a deep blue color instead. In other markets, red is still a healthy choice.

For fonts, always go for a sans-serif font. Tahoma has been tested to pull extremely well. Make the font as big as possible to fill the whole screen.

==> Graphical Headline, Graphical Subheads

Instead of just using plain text for your headline, you can really bring it to life by making it a graphic instead.

This allows you to add drop shadows, yellow highlights, creative punctuation and so on. This applies to both headline and subheads.

If you use this technique, always try to compress the image as much as possible. Your headline should load instantly when visitors load the website.

==> Color, Background and Width

The background of your sales letter should be as unobtrusive as possible. Many top sales letters just have white backgrounds. If you want something a little better looking, you can use a slight color or a mild pattern.

Never use a background that calls attention. Your reader’s eyes should be on the sales message, not the design.

Always use black text on a white foreground. Different text colors and different foreground colors never, ever work.

The width of the sales letter should be relatively narrow. This helps create the sense that the content is easy to read. The width should be no more than 700 pixels wide, preferably below 650 pixels.

These design factors combined will give you a streamlined design that has been proven time after time to convert well. It may not win graphic design awards, but it will do its job of putting money in your bank account.