Spas: 5 Landing Page Mistakes that Make the Difference

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Your spa is a place of relaxation and enjoyment. You offer something that no one else does, and you love what you do.

But are you a little bit lost when it comes to promoting your spa online?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

This article will get straight into the most important variables for your landing page. I’ll give you the five most common mistakes I see on the landing pages of spas from all around the web.

I’ll also give you real-world examples of spas that are doing it right as well as some that are doing it very, very wrong. This will ensure you know exactly what I’m referring to, and can be 100% sure you’re not falling victim to these 5 landing page mistakes yourself.

So let’s get started!

Mistake #1: No Unique Selling Proposition (USP) or Value Proposition


As you know, when someone wants to book a spa they first check out all the spas in their area. They bounce from one website to another, looking for that one certain thing that sets a spa apart.

This is why your USP is so important. It’s that certain thing. That part of your business, your spa, that is unique to you.

It could be a sale you’re currently running, a special treatment that’s unique to your spa, or an award that you’ve recently won.

For example:

spa landing page

Use your USP as your headline. Along with your landing page image, it should be the first thing that your web traffic sees. Your USP and image are what grip your visitor and encourage them to read on.

You have about a second to convince your page visitor that your website is worth looking into. Unless your headline is intriguing, shows value, or promotes something they can’t get anywhere else you run the risk of that visitor bouncing out and heading to one of your competitors.

What I suggest for you:

  • “City’s only Certified Shiatsu Massage Therapists”

“Get 50% off now through April 14th on couples packages”

  • “We are proud to have been awarded Best Spa for the fifth year in a row!”

“Free laser hair removal with any bachelorette party group booking!”

Mistake #2: No Image


Your spa’s landing page should evoke comfort and relaxation, and a certain amount of desire or envy. In order to get these emotions flowing, you have to choose a picture that works for you. Put time and energy into this image, as it will communicate more to your site traffic than any single word, sentence, or even price.

spa landing pages<

What I suggest for you:

  • Use warm colors if you want to evoke comfort: red, orange and pink

Use cool colors if you want to evoke relaxation and cleanliness: pale blue, white and navy

  • Feature people in your images: This will make your spa more relatable, personable and likeable (plus, this evokes that slight amount of envy you can aim for)

Focus your image on one of your USPs: If you’re a hotel and spa, feature the comfort of your rooms. If you’re a treatment-focused spa, feature an image of someone getting a massage or mud wrap. Hot-springs? You know what to do.

  • Try a revolving album of 3-5 images: Feature different parts of what your spa has to offer in each image.

An image and a USP alone aren’t likely to make your case for a conversion. You need to give people a little more information, or a couple more links so they can access exactly what they want from your landing page.

If you’re focusing your landing page on a single call-to-action (which I recommend), you should be including a few more USPs in list form. Avoid paragraphs where possible, and make your benefit list succinct and to the point.

If you’re landing page is your primary homepage, you’ll want to include links to your group bookings, special treatments, or spa products (see below). If this is the case I recommend you separate these into large, individual buttons that are essentially mini-landing pages of their own.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

spa landing pages

You will still need a short benefit list even if you’ve included the links you see above to encourage a conversion on your main CTA (“book online now”)

What I suggest for you:

  • “Buy 4 Bikini Line Hair Reduction treatments and get 4 Underarm Hair Reduction treatments for free. (Added value of $276!)”

“Relax with treatments designed just for you”

  • “Book a full day of relaxation for you and your loved one with our couple’s packages”

“Not sure which treatments are right for you? Schedule a consultation with one of our highly trained staff today.“

  • “We are so honoured to be awarded Gold in the Spa category for Acme Newspaper’s Best of the City!”

Be sure you put your benefits in list form. Use a single bolded phrase or short sentence to grab the eye and encourage skim-readers with a brief description after.

Mistake #4: No Trust Symbol, Customer Testimonial or Award


Let’s be honest here, you aren’t exactly the most trustworthy source when it comes to how amazing your spa is. You have a certain vested interest that makes your web traffic somewhat sceptical of everything you say (even if they’re not 100% conscious of it).

This is why an outside source – an outside affirmation – is so essential for your landing page.

As you well know, reviews and ratings have become a kind of currency in the online world. No one buys a T-shirt online unless it has at least a four star rating. Your spa is no different.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

spa landing pages

What I suggest for you:

  • Many spas have a “comment book” on their front desk or with the concierge. Use the most positive comments in this book for your landing page.

Incentivize your review system, offering 10%-off a visitor’s next treatment if they’ll give a review and take a picture

  • Pictures are important: attaching a customer testimonial to a face has a huge influence on how believable that testimonial is.

Use an award you’ve won as your USP (or part of a three-part rotating album of USPs and images)

  • If you have any kind of certification of symbol from an authority (i.e. ‘Certified Shiatsu Therapist’) include it in your landing page (perhaps next to a headshot of the certified therapist themselves

Mistake #5: Hidden CTA


The point of your landing page should be to encourage a single action. For spas, this action will either be to make a reservation or view rates.

Your benefit list, USP, images and customer testimonials or endorsements will have sold your site traffic on your spa, but unless your CTA is clear, eye-catching and obvious they still might bounce.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

spa landing page

This landing page’s primary CTA (“Book Online Now”) is hidden amidst other links, an online tour and a mailing list request. It’s also the same color as two other links within the same side banner.

I’d seriously recommend that this spa drop the majority of their other links (you can see a “book your spa reservations’ hyperlink on the left) on this page, and focus it down onto one single ‘Ask’. They could use a top toolbar of tabs to drive traffic to other focused landing pages for their online tour, gift card and mailing list. I have no doubt that simplifying this landing page would result in increased conversions.

What I suggest for you:

  • Encapsulate your call-to-action in an appealing button

Contrast the color of your CTA button with the rest of your landing page

  • Avoid cluttering your CTA with other nearby links or text

Use simple and persuasive language (for instance, try “View Rates” instead of “Book Now”)

Conclusion


Checking your landing page for these five variables can increase its conversion rates phenomenally. Let’s say you’re currently seeing website traffic of around 1,000 visitors a week (congrats!). If you can improve the rate at which that traffic converts to a sale by even 25% you could be seeing an increased revenue of thousands of dollars every month.

Remember to strike a balance between beautiful simplicity and a selling page. Focus on attractive, evocative images as well as concrete value. Good luck, and get in touch with any questions you have!

By James Scherer

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