How to Create a WordPress Landing Page (2024)

Learning how to create a WordPress landing page is one of the most valuable skills you can add to your WordPress toolkit, whether you are promoting a product, collecting email subscribers, or running a paid advertising campaign. A landing page is a focused, standalone web page designed to drive a single action — and WordPress gives you multiple powerful ways to build one quickly and effectively.

What Is a WordPress Landing Page and Why Does It Matter?

A landing page differs from a standard WordPress page in one critical way: it strips away all distractions — navigation menus, sidebars, footers, and unrelated content — to focus the visitor entirely on one conversion goal. That goal might be signing up for a newsletter, purchasing a product, registering for a webinar, or downloading a free resource.

Studies consistently show that dedicated landing pages outperform generic web pages for conversion rates. When you send paid traffic or email campaign clicks to a targeted landing page rather than your homepage, you can see conversion rate improvements of 50% or more. In WordPress, you have three main approaches to building one:

Using a page builder plugin (Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi)
Using a dedicated landing page plugin (SeedProd, Thrive Architect)
Coding a custom page template with PHP and CSS

Each approach suits a different level of technical skill and a different use case. This guide walks you through all three.

Method 1: Build a Landing Page With a Page Builder Plugin

Page builder plugins are the most popular way to create landing pages in WordPress because they offer drag-and-drop editing with no coding required. Elementor is the most widely used and has a generous free tier.

Step-by-Step: Creating a Landing Page With Elementor

Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New.
Search for Elementor Website Builder, click Install Now, then Activate.
Go to Pages > Add New and give your page a descriptive title, such as "Free eBook Download" or "Limited Offer".
In the Page Attributes panel on the right, set the Template to Elementor Canvas. This removes the theme header, footer, and sidebar, giving you a blank canvas.
Click Edit with Elementor to open the drag-and-drop editor.
Use the + icon to add sections and drag widgets — Hero Image, Heading, Button, Form, Countdown Timer — onto your canvas.
Click the gear icon (Page Settings) at the bottom left to set the page background colour, hide the title, and configure other page-wide settings.
Click Publish when you are satisfied with the design.

Pro tip: Elementor's free version includes a form widget only when combined with a third-party form plugin like WPForms Lite. The Pro version includes a native Form widget with built-in email marketing integrations.

Key Elementor Widgets for Landing Pages

Hero Section — Headline, subheadline, and CTA button above the fold
Image/Video — Product mockups or explainer videos
Icon List — Bullet-style benefit lists
Testimonial / Reviews — Social proof sections
Countdown — Urgency timers for time-limited offers
Form — Lead capture (Pro)

Method 2: Use a Dedicated Landing Page Plugin

Dedicated landing page plugins go further than general page builders by offering built-in conversion tools, A/B testing, and coming-soon or maintenance modes. SeedProd is the leading option in this category.

Step-by-Step: Creating a Landing Page With SeedProd

Go to Plugins > Add New, search for SeedProd, install and activate it.
Navigate to SeedProd > Landing Pages in your dashboard.
Click Add New Landing Page.
Choose a template from the library (SeedProd offers 200+ conversion-focused templates) or start from scratch.
Enter a page name and URL slug, then click Save and Start Editing the Page.
Use the visual editor to customise sections: drag in blocks for headlines, images, opt-in forms, countdown timers, and testimonials.
Click the Connect tab to integrate your email marketing service (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, etc.).
Click the Page Settings tab to configure SEO title, meta description, and custom scripts.
Toggle the page status to Published and click Save.

SeedProd's Built-In Conversion Features

Subscriber gating (require email before showing content)
Coming Soon and Maintenance Mode pages
Built-in A/B split testing (Pro)
Spam protection with Google reCAPTCHA
WooCommerce checkout blocks

Method 3: Create a Custom Landing Page Template With PHP

For developers who need full control, creating a custom page template is the cleanest solution. This method lets you write exactly the HTML, CSS, and PHP you need, with zero plugin overhead.

Step-by-Step: Building a Custom Page Template

Open your theme or child theme folder. Navigate to wp-content/themes/your-theme/.
Create a new PHP file. Name it something descriptive, such as template-landing-page.php.
Add the WordPress template header comment at the very top of the file so WordPress recognises it as a selectable template.
Build your HTML structure below the header, calling only the WordPress functions you need.
Upload the file to your theme directory via FTP or the WordPress theme file editor.
In the WordPress dashboard, go to Pages > Add New, and in the Page Attributes box, select Landing Page (or whatever name you gave the template) from the Template dropdown.
Publish the page.

Example: Minimal Custom Landing Page Template

Here is a minimal but complete custom landing page template file. It deliberately omits the theme header and footer to prevent navigation and sidebar rendering:

<?php
/**
 * Template Name: Landing Page
 * Template Post Type: page
 *
 * A minimal, distraction-free landing page template.
 */
?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html <?php language_attributes(); ?>>
<head>
    <meta charset="<?php bloginfo( 'charset' ); ?>">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <?php wp_head(); ?>
</head>
<body <?php body_class( 'landing-page' ); ?>>

<main id="landing-main">
    <?php
    if ( have_posts() ) :
        while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
            the_content();
        endwhile;
    endif;
    ?>
</main>

<?php wp_footer(); ?>
</body>
</html>

Save this file as template-landing-page.php inside your active theme directory. You can also create a child theme and place it there to protect your changes from theme updates.

Enqueuing Custom Styles for Your Landing Page

To load a separate stylesheet only on landing pages built with this template, add the following snippet to your theme's functions.php file:

function my_landing_page_styles() {
    if ( is_page_template( 'template-landing-page.php' ) ) {
        wp_enqueue_style(
            'landing-page-css',
            get_template_directory_uri() . '/css/landing-page.css',
            array(),
            '1.0.0'
        );
    }
}
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_landing_page_styles' );

Optimising Your WordPress Landing Page for Conversions

Building the page is only the first step. Optimising it for conversions is where the real results come from. Follow these best practices regardless of which method you used to build the page.

Above-the-Fold Essentials

A clear, benefit-driven headline — Tell visitors exactly what they will gain.
A supporting subheadline — Add context or urgency in one to two sentences.
A single, prominent CTA button — Use action-oriented text like "Get My Free Guide" instead of "Submit".
A relevant hero image or video — Show the product, outcome, or offer visually.

Below-the-Fold Trust Builders

Customer testimonials with real names and photos
Trust badges (money-back guarantee, security seals, media logos)
A detailed benefits section using icons and short copy
An FAQ section addressing common objections
A secondary CTA repeated at the bottom of the page

Performance and SEO Considerations

Landing pages that load slowly bleed conversions. Use these techniques to keep load times fast:

Compress images with a plugin like Smush or ShortPixel before uploading.
Enable page caching with WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache.
Use a CDN to serve static assets globally.
Minimise third-party scripts — every external script adds latency.
Set a descriptive SEO title and meta description if the page will receive organic traffic.

You can audit your landing page performance quickly using Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. Aim for a Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) score under 2.5 seconds.

Testing and Improving Your Landing Page

No landing page is perfect at launch. Continuous testing is what separates high-converting pages from average ones.

Setting Up A/B Testing

Install a split testing tool. Google Optimize (now succeeded by tools like VWO or Nelio A/B Testing for WordPress) lets you test two versions of a page.
Identify one variable to test at a time — headline text, CTA button colour, hero image, or form length.
Set a clear success metric — form submissions, button clicks, or purchases.
Run the test until you have statistical significance (typically 95% confidence or at least 100 conversions per variant).
Implement the winning variant and begin a new test on the next variable.

Tracking Conversions With Google Analytics 4

Connect Google Analytics 4 to your WordPress site using the Site Kit by Google plugin or by pasting your GA4 measurement ID into your theme or a plugin like MonsterInsights. Then create a conversion event that fires when a visitor reaches a thank-you page URL after completing your form. This gives you an accurate conversion rate to benchmark and improve over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a special plugin to create a landing page in WordPress?

No, you do not need a special plugin. WordPress lets you create a landing page using the built-in block editor (Gutenberg) with a full-width page template provided by your theme, a page builder plugin like Elementor, or a custom PHP template. Dedicated landing page plugins like SeedProd add extra conversion tools but are entirely optional.

How do I remove the header and footer from a WordPress landing page?

The easiest method depends on your setup. If you use Elementor, set the page template to "Elementor Canvas" in the page attributes panel — this removes the theme header and footer automatically. If you use a custom PHP template, simply omit the get_header() and get_footer() function calls and write your own minimal HTML wrapper instead.

Can I create a WordPress landing page without a page builder?

Yes. You can use the native WordPress block editor (Gutenberg) with a full-width or blank page template from your theme, then use Cover blocks, Group blocks, Columns, and Buttons to assemble a landing page layout. For more control, write a custom PHP page template as described in Method 3 of this guide.

What is the best free WordPress landing page plugin?

Elementor Free is widely considered the best free option because it offers a full drag-and-drop editor, an Elementor Canvas template that removes distractions, and a large library of free widgets. SeedProd also has a free version with basic landing page blocks. For most beginners, Elementor Free is the quickest path to a professional-looking landing page without spending money.

Creating a high-converting WordPress landing page takes planning, the right tools, and ongoing optimisation — but the process becomes significantly faster when you have expert help. WP AI Agent is an AI-powered chat tool that can handle WordPress tasks like this through natural-language conversations, from setting up page templates and configuring plugins to troubleshooting layout issues and generating conversion copy, so you can build better landing pages in less time.

How to Create a WordPress Landing Page: The Complete Guide