Your website is one of your most powerful booking tools — but what happens when you want to guide visitors toward one specific tour or offer, instead of leaving them to browse on their own?
That’s where landing pages come in.
Landing pages are focused, standalone pages designed to drive a single action — whether it’s getting a traveler to book a tour, claim a limited-time offer, or sign up for your email list. Unlike your homepage or a general tours page, a landing page cuts out the distractions and zeroes in on what matters most: bookings.
Whether you’re promoting a seasonal tour, running a retargeting campaign, or spotlighting a local partnership, landing pages help turn interest into action — fast. In this guide, we’ll break down the must-have elements of a high-converting landing page and share design best practices tailored for tour and activity operators like you.
Elements of a landing page
Landing pages should be clean, simple, and straightforward. A common mistake is trying to cram in every piece of content from your main website. Instead, landing pages should focus on a single goal — whether that’s getting a traveler to sign up for your email list, book a midweek tour, or claim a seasonal offer.
That’s why the layout and content should differ from your homepage. A strong landing page speaks directly to one audience, one offer, and one desired action.
Here are the elements to highlight when designing your landing page:
- A strong visual that illustrates your tour, service, or offer
- A clear and benefit-driven headline or H1
- Compelling copy and information to guide your visitors’ action — they should not have to leave the page to find more information
- An eye-catching or standout CTA
- A purchase or lead form
- A Thank You page
If you’re not sure where to start or want a design that’s already built to convert, FareHarbor Sites offers professionally designed websites built specifically for tour and activity operators. Whether you’re launching a seasonal promotion or spotlighting a new experience, these pages are optimized to turn clicks into bookings — fast. Learn more about Fareharbor Sites.
As you incorporate each of these elements, keep your singular campaign goal front and center — it’s the key to designing a landing page that works.
Design best practices
Branding
Although landing pages are often not navigable from your website’s main menu, the page should match your overall brand. Whether a customer has viewed an offer on social media, in an email, or on your website, their experience clicking through to a landing page should feel seamless and cohesive.
Branding elements to consider include fonts, colors, and logos. Take a look at our Branding 101 guide for important elements and best practices to follow when it comes to developing your brand identity, and use our Branding Checklist to keep track of your progress.
Visuals
A high-quality image (or images) that illustrates your offer or service is a must-have. In the short time a visitor spends on your page, they should have a very clear picture of what you are offering and what they can expect.
We recommend choosing photos of your customers enjoying your tour, activity, or attraction. That way, customers will know what type of tour you provide, and showing some happy faces provides an emotional connection, plus some subtle social proof.
Headline
Craft a strong headline that is clear and concise. In addition to your image, this is the first thing that customers see and read. Focus on the keywords that best apply to your business and a key Reason To Believe (RTB) that complements your business — simply put, why your customer should believe that your claims and promises are credible and trustworthy.
Pro tip: Get creative with your RTB and let it guide the tone of your page. An RTB can highlight anything from your level of experience – “20+ years as a Coast Guard certified captain”, to your stellar reputation – “#1 tour in the area on Tripadvisor”.
Copy
Your copy should quickly answer the question: Why should someone book this tour right now?
Organize and structure your content so that it is digestible and quick-hitting. Use visuals to support your content and guide your audience’s eyes down the page around your content – think: icons like arrows, colored boxes, etc.
Call to action (CTA)
While your website and landing pages maintain your core brand colors, your on-page CTA is an opportunity to be disruptive with color. Consider using a complementary color or shade that will stand out on the page.
Don’t be afraid to make your CTA stand out — a slightly larger button and bold color can improve visibility and clicks.
Also, keep your CTA concise while telling readers exactly what action you want them to take when they click the button. Instead of “Sign up today,” use “Book your sunset sail” or “Claim your 10% discount now.”
To learn more tips and tricks, we have an entire article dedicated to using CTAs to drive bookings.
Purchase or lead form
Keep your lead form above the fold, meaning in a place on the page where users do not have to scroll to find it. FareHarbor’s Book Form can be embedded or linked here
Pro tip: Keep your forms short and sweet. Focus only on collecting the essentials like contact information (to join an email list) or payment options (to make a purchase), so viewers don’t get discouraged by endless fields to fill out and abandon the form or page.
Thank you page
Thank you pages are important not only to the customer experience but also for internal tracking. A thank you page serves as both a confirmation of submission or transaction and an opportunity to keep your visitors excited about their upcoming tour.
This page should contain the following:
- Thank you (to confirm)
- Exact instructions on how to proceed
- A strong CTA that promotes engagement with your business by including your social media links or asking people to sign up for your email newsletters.
- Bonus: thank you pages make great goal URLs when setting up goals in Google Analytics
Formatting & alignment
Keep your layout and design minimalist and clean, with plenty of white space to help CTAs and other visuals pop.
Most travelers book from their phone. Make sure your CTA button is visible and tappable on every device.
It’s also a good idea to check how your layout is displayed at different resolutions to make sure that everyone can see your heading and CTA without scrolling.
Put it into practice
Think of a landing page as your digital call to action. Whether you’re running a seasonal email campaign or promoting a limited-time tour offer on social media, a landing page keeps your message tight, your design clean, and your CTA front and center.
Start by identifying a single goal, like filling up your midweek walking tour, and work your way through the list of elements to include in this guide.
Like all things in digital marketing, there is room to test and learn, so don’t be afraid to A/B test several elements and designs to see what works best.
