Jul 31, 2018 Written by David Barlev
apps need great landing pages, like this one on a mac computer

If you’re doing things right, you’re working on your minimum viable product before finalizing your brand new app’s design. You’re dying to take this thing to market, but you know that if you want to do things right (meaning waste as little money as possible and build a stellar product at the same time!) it means validating your idea with early adopters.

You want to create your product so that people can use it, test it, and validate your idea, but you want to put in as little money as possible to reach that point. You know your friends and family will try it out, but what about your actual target audience? How do you reach those people?

If you want to have a real shot at reaching those people, you’re going to want to ensure you have one super important thing: a rockin’ landing page you can drive traffic to.

apps need great landing pages, like this one on a mac computer

Your MVP Needs A Landing Page

If you want early adopters, investors, and media contacts to know about your new app, you’re going to need to create a solid landing page. When your app finally launches, you will already have done the work to build an audience through this landing page.

In the early stages of creating that minimum viable product for users to test, you may only have designs and ideas. As you work towards getting that MVP ready to roll out, this landing page will start the testing and audience-building process before you even have the beta version ready. It’s part of your validation process, and will help set your app up for success when your big day comes.

How To Create A Landing Page For Your New App

The good news on this one is that today, building a landing page is insanely easy. Whether you use your existing website, Leadpages or Squarespace, there are plenty of cost-effective and user-friendly options for you. You’ll want to buy your domain, and then attach it to your page once it’s live.

Here are the elements your landing page needs to have:

Your value proposition You want to clearly articulate why your product is attractive to your ideal audience. What makes you special, and why are you better than the other guys? Tell the story of your brand and make an emotional connection with your audience.

A demo of your product (designs and images will do if this isn’t possible at this stage) You need to show users how your product will work. What will the user experience be like? Show people to the best of your ability how your app will work, and what it can do for them.

Your product’s core benefits and features Don’t itemize all 25 functions of your app here, but focus on the primary functions. What benefits will your users experience, based on the features? Try to keep this section as benefits-based as possible. People care the most about what’s in it for them.

CTA to register for the release announcement Lastly, you want to make sure you’re capturing the contact information of anyone who lands on your page. This is the only way to contact them when you’re ready to launch, so make this the first thing they see when they land on your page.

If possible, get your value prop, CTA, and the start of your demo above the fold. This way, people see the most important elements immediately without having to scroll down the page.

So remember — even though you might still be working on creating your MVP, you don’t need to wait to start the testing and validation process. With a great landing page, you can start testing the market and demand for what you’re building now and gain even more insight into what your potential customers want and need from your product.

Post originally appeared on gojilabs.com.