To create a WordPress landing page, you create a new page just as you normally would, then switch its template to one that hides your website’s header and footer. If you use Elementor, the Elementor Canvas template does this in a couple of clicks.
From there, you build the page around one single goal, whether that’s making sales, taking bookings or growing your email list.
This guide walks you through the whole process step by step, with and without Elementor. It’s written for small business owners who’d rather do it themselves, and you won’t need to write a single line of code.
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a page on your website with one job: to get visitors to take action on a single, specific goal.
That goal could be signing up for your email list, booking a call, or buying a product or service. Every word, button and image on the page is there to encourage that one action, and nothing else. That single-minded focus is what separates a landing page from every other page on your site.
The two types of landing page
Most landing pages fall into one of two camps: sales pages and lead generation pages. Which one you need depends on what you want your visitors to do.
Sales pages
As the name suggests, the goal here is to make a sale. The content focuses on the benefits of your product or service, backed up with plenty of social proof such as testimonials and expert features.
Sales pages are usually longer than other landing pages, and as a general rule, the higher the cost, the longer the page. Potential buyers need more reassurance that a bigger investment is right for them.
Lead generation pages
This is where you want a visitor to join your email list. Your sole focus is encouraging them to leave their details via a form connected to your email marketing platform.
A popular way of doing this is by offering a lead magnet (sometimes called an opt-in or freebie). When a visitor submits their details, they get something useful in return: think PDF guides, checklists or a video series.
One thing to be aware of is EU data rules on how you advertise your ‘free’ offer. Make it explicitly clear that visitors provide an email address in return for the guide, and that they’re free to unsubscribe at any time.
What makes a landing page convert?
High-converting landing pages share four things: no header or footer, plenty of high-contrast calls to action, no links leading away from the page, and the right amount of social proof.
No header or footer
Hiding your header and footer keeps visitors focused on the page. Headers and footers are full of navigation links, which make it easy for visitors to wander off and potentially never return.
One important exception: your legal links. Your privacy policy, cookie policy and terms should still be visible somewhere on the page, so visitors can check them before joining your list or buying your thing. The simplest fix is to add them manually at the bottom of the page rather than using your usual website footer.
Lots of high-contrast calls to action
Leave visitors in no doubt about what you want them to do. Use big buttons in a colour that contrasts with the background of the page.
Include multiple calls to action down the page; the longer the page, the more you’ll need. You don’t want someone halfway down a long sales page to have to scroll all the way to the top or bottom to find the button they need.
No links leading away from this page
This follows on from hiding the header and footer. A landing page is definitely not the place for social media icons; one click and your visitor is lost in the scroll. It’s also worth removing the links from any ‘as featured in’ logos, so they build trust without offering an exit.
Social proof
How much social proof you need depends on the goal of your page. A page promoting a free lead magnet needs far less convincing power than a sales page for a high-priced course.
On a sales page, place testimonials and reviews near your calls to action, and add the logos of any publications or podcasts you’ve been featured in.
What is Elementor?
Elementor is a drag and drop page builder plugin for WordPress. It lets you create great looking pages without writing a single word of code, which is exactly why it’s ideal for building landing pages yourself.
Over the last few years it’s become one of the leading WordPress page builders. It’s easy to find Elementor experts, free resources, and low-cost templates you can install and make your own with your brand colours, fonts and images.
Elementor Free vs Elementor Pro
The pro version adds extra elements and the option to add code to specific parts of a page. They’re nice to have for designers, but unless there’s a specific pro feature you need, the free version will do the job.
How to create a landing page in Elementor
It takes eight simple steps, and the key one is choosing the Elementor Canvas template, which hides your website’s header and footer.
1. Log into your WordPress dashboard
2. Hover over the Pages menu and click on Add New
3. Give your page a title.
4. Click on the page tab in the settings panel.
5. Open the template drop down list and select Elementor Canvas.
6. Click Publish. Don’t worry, this won’t add the page to any of your menus; you
may be asked to click Publish a second time to confirm.
7. Click Edit with Elementor.
8. The Elementor editor will load with no header or footer in sight. Build your
page as usual by dragging and dropping elements from the options panel.
Elementor Canvas vs the Landing Page template
Choose Elementor Canvas. You might have noticed a Landing Page option in that same Template drop down list, and it looks like the obvious choice, but it comes with a catch.
Pages built with the Landing Page template aren’t considered pages by WordPress; they’re a different content type behind the scenes. In practical terms, that means you can’t set one as your homepage.
When does that matter? Imagine you’re redesigning your site without a separate staging environment. A common approach is to put up a simple ‘new site coming soon’ landing page, set it as the homepage, and point visitors to your email list or call scheduler in the meantime. With the Landing Page template, you can’t do that. With Elementor Canvas, you’re covering all your bases.
How to create a WordPress landing page without Elementor
If you don’t use Elementor, all is not lost. Check your page’s Template drop down menu anyway; depending on your theme, you may still have an option to hide the header and footer.
For example, with the OceanWP theme (plus the free Ocean Extra plugin) you can do it like this:
1. Scroll below the main content of the page
2. Click on Header and select Disable below Display Header.
3. Click on Footer and select Disable below the Display Footer Widgets Area.
4. Click on Footer
5. Select Disable below the Display Footer Widgets Area
If your legal links are part of your Copyright area this would make it easy to keep your legals visible when you hide the main body of the footer in the widgets.
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A handy tip: if your legal links live in your copyright bar, this method keeps them visible even with the main footer hidden, which ticks the legal box without any extra work.
Help people find your new landing page
Building the page is only half the job; the other half is helping the right people land on it. My free How to Get Found Online guide shows you exactly how to help your ideal clients find you, without spending all day on social media.
Pop your details in and it’ll be in your inbox before the kettle’s boiled.
Landing page FAQs
Do I need Elementor Pro to create a landing page?
No. The free version of Elementor includes the Canvas template and everything else you need to build a landing page.
Can I set a landing page as my homepage?
Yes, if you build it with the Elementor Canvas template. Pages built with the Landing Page template can’t be set as a homepage, because WordPress doesn’t treat them as standard pages.
Why should a landing page have no header or footer?
Because headers and footers are full of links that lead visitors away from the page. A landing page has one goal, and every escape route makes that goal less likely.
Do I still need my legal links on a landing page?
Yes. Your privacy policy, cookie policy and terms should remain visible, so add them manually at the bottom of the page instead of relying on your usual footer.
How long should my landing page be?
It depends on the goal. Lead generation pages can be short and sweet. Sales pages run longer, and as a general rule, the higher the price, the longer the page, because buyers need more reassurance.
Will publishing my landing page add it to my website menus?
No. Clicking Publish just makes the page’s web address live. It won’t appear in your
menus unless you add it yourself.
What next?
A landing page is just one piece of the puzzle. If you’re getting to grips with your website as a whole, start with What is WordPress? Why use it for your business website? Then, once your landing page is live, adding a Facebook Pixel lets you measure how your ads are performing, and SEO for Beginners will help the rest of your site get found too.