So, you have lead magnet, and you're ready to try and grow your email list. But you need a landing page and now you feel stuck. You don't want to pay a ton of money for a landing page that you're not even sure is going to work. Luckily, some great free landing page builder tools will help you create high-converting pages in minutes. Let's take a look at some of these.
The following may include affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase after clicking one of my links, I may make some commission. But this will be at no extra cost to you. I only ever recommend things I trust and use myself (or have used). You can use my full disclaimer here.
Recently, I wrote about the benefits of using lead magnet templates. That's all very well, but what if you don't have, or even want, a website? I get it. You don’t need to worry, with these free landing page tools, you can build an email list without a website.
I sell three sets of Done For You Lead Magnet Templates in my store.
Whilst I love these bundles, I am aware that most of my customers sell journals and printables on either Etsy or Amazon. So, you might not have a website. But that's okay; I'm here to help.
Big companies have huge teams of designers, developers, and copywriters. They have a lot of hours and money to create unique, show-stopping landing pages.
I don't know about you, but I do not. I'm lucky enough to have an outstanding VA. But even so, we must make the most of everything we have.
The good news is that you can still stand out even if you have a small budget and only a few hours.
This post will hopefully convince you that it is possible to create converting landing pages to build an email list and grow your audience.
There are several free landing page builder tools to choose from. My job here is to help you choose which one could be the tool for you.
So, to help you find the right page builder for your lead magnets, I have been hunting and testing. I have tested the best free landing page builders I could find. All of the tools I tried do offer additional features on paid plans. But each tool lets you design and host a free landing page.
It would be best if you didn't get overwhelmed by all these choices. So, go through the highlights of each one. Then go ahead and visit two or three websites that stand out.
Before this, let me give you a few pointers on what you need to look for in your landing page builder for your lead magnet - free or paid.
Ooo, and if you have a website, keep an eye out for information on my favourite (paid) popup and sign-up form builder - ConvertBox. I love it!
What to look for in free landing page builder tools
It is important to remember that, whatever your lead magnet is, your landing page needs to include the following:
- An irresistibly enticing headline
- Some laser-focused and compelling information. But not too much.
- Eye-catching images and design
- One call to action (what is the ONE thing you want people to do - do not distract from that).
When choosing your page builder, you probably don't need all the bells and whistles. As long as you have all of the above and people sign up, that's all you need.
5 key things you need from a landing page builder
The landing page designs should be flexible and easy to change.
Free and paid page builders give you a range of super useful templates. Adding in your content should be as easy as pie. Changing the images and styles should never require any coding. If it does, move on. Trust me; very rarely do you want to go down that road.
They need to be easy to use and as few things to learn as possible.
Ideally, if you have your content ready, you ought to be able to create your landing page in around 15-20 minutes. If this is not the case, it probably isn't the tool for you.
Your landing page needs to be mobile responsive.
These days, over half of all internet surfing is done via Mobile devices, meaning your landing pages must work on phones, tablets, and desktops. If it requires effort to make this happen, I would not recommend that tool.
Your landing page builder needs to integrate with the tools you already use.
You need to be able to connect the sign-up forms to your existing email marketing tool (you can get these free too). Otherwise, you'd need to add your leads yourself manually. Plus, you will not be able to automatically deliver lead magnets.
Ideally, your landing page builder will offer you analytics.
It is hugely helpful to know how many people are visiting your landing pages Vs how many sign-ups you get. If you do not know this information, you'll never know what you need to do to improve your page and maximise conversions.
What might you need a landing page for?
A landing page is a single webpage dedicated to one purpose - getting people to sign up for something. This might be a free report, a video, an ebook or anything else you want them to download.
You probably need a landing page if you're running an email marketing campaign. One of the best ways to get people signing up for your email list is by giving them something of value in exchange for their email address.
You can get creative with your freebies and offer lots of tips and tricks that will help people solve their problems effectively (and make sure there's some form of call-to-action at the end for an upsell or exclusive offer).
Here are seven examples of what you might need a landing page for:
- Giving away the ebook you created using my Done for you Lead Magnet Template Bundles
- Getting sign-ups for a webinar or free course
- Giving away a workbook or journal
- Launch a mini-site where people can find out more about you and sign up for a newsletter
- Offering a free consultation
- Offering a free trial of your service
- A sales page
My Favourite Popup Builder - ConvertBox
Convertbox is an online popup sign-up form builder that enables you to easily and quickly create quick and engaging popups that convert. Its features include a drag-and-drop editor, segmentation funnels, lead capturing, and more. With Convertbox, you can build the perfect pop up for your needs in just a few minutes. If you are looking for an easy way to engage your visitors and increase conversions, then Convertbox is the tool for you.
Six free landing page builder tools
Right, let's get on with it. Below is the list of free landing page builders I will discuss in the remainder of this post. I'm not necessarily doing complete reviews of each of them. But I will give you the highlights (and the lowlights).
ConvertKit
I'm going to get my biased opinion out of the way straight away by starting with my favourite email marketing tool. Plus, it is the only all-in-one option on my list. You can build landing pages and email your leads using the same tool.
I use ConvertKit as my primary email marketing tool. I have two accounts: a paid account and a free one.
To clarify how much I love ConvertKit: I do pay for one of my accounts (I'll tell you how much in a second), but I also have lifetime access to Sendfox - a similar tool. Very recently, I was going to switch to Sendfox and save money. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Saying that, you can get ConvertKit for free now.
ConvertKit has recently launched its free account. This gives you 100 free leads (sign-ups), but you can build this up to 1000 free leads by inviting others to get a free account, too.
Honestly, this is a great deal, as my first 1000 leads cost me $249 a year. So, I recommend this.
Get your free ConvertKit account here
ConvertKit has some excellent features you won't always find in free tools. It is often considered to be a best-in-class email platform that does not require you to learn any code or set up a domain.
Amazingly, ConvertKit's free plan gives you access to all the paid version's landing pages and sign-up capabilities. These include features like:
- Around 25 landing page templates.
- You can use your own domain or use a CK.page domain
- Simple photos from Unsplash
- Fully flexible forms to gather any information from your subscribers
- Easy to customise incentive and confirmation emails to send your lead magnets
I definitely 100% recommend ConvertKit as a great all-in-one option.
Get your free ConvertKit account here.
Okay, here ends my biased opinion. I promise I have only studied the remaining tools for this blog post and had no prior knowledge of or feelings towards them.
ConvertFlow
Not to be confused with ConvertKit. Totally different tool.
Straight off, I need to tell you that the free version of ConvertFlow has a limit of 500 unique visitors per month.
Depending on your business, you may exceed this limit quickly, so you'll probably need to upgrade to a paid plan. However, if you are creating your first landing pages, you should be okay for a while.
For example, it would work well if you're putting an invite link in the back of your book - this may not get heaps of traffic, but the traffic you get is already highly targeted.
The cheapest ConvertFlow paid plan at $39 per month. Paid plans unlock higher traffic limits, custom domains and the ability to remove the "powered by" badge from your landing pages.
Honestly, you can get cheaper tools than $39 a month. But if you're sticking with free, it's a great option.
ConvertFlow's landing page builder is straightforward to use and is a pretty powerful tool.
They offer a good variety of templates for different needs. You can host your landing pages directly within their platform. Or you could embed the sign-up forms on other websites.
Editing your content is easy and doesn't take much more than a few clicks. You can also switch between desktop and mobile views to double-check how your pages look on different devices. As I said earlier, this is important these days.
Unlike many other free landing page builders, ConvertFlow uses multi-step forms.
Multi-step forms mean you can break forms up into two "pages". So, you can start with a quick question, then have that followed by the rest of the form. This means your forms are more "fun" and less intimidating. So, you're likely to get more sign-ups.
For a free landing page builder, ConvertFlow is not a bad option. It is worth checking out if you're just starting with lead magnets and landing page builder tools.
Site123
The single-page nature of Site123 makes it an ideal landing page builder. Directing your visitors to the specific parts of your page by adding jump links is simple. You may make your page as long and detailed as you want or as short and straightforward as you like.
You can get online in minutes with this landing page builder, but you don't get as many customisation options as you would with other options. The simplicity, though, means you don't need as much prior knowledge as you might do with other free tools.
You can select from a limited colour palette, and pre-designed content blocks can be added to your page with just a few clicks. You can also add buttons and forms.
You can choose from various contact form templates in the free version of Site123, but you cannot change them as far as I can tell (for example, by adding a drop-down field). It is not well-suited for advanced marketing campaigns because it lacks analytics and third-party integrations.
This would be a deal-breaker for me (I shook my head when I realised). But it might not be for you, so I'm still including Site123 in this list.
Despite everything, Site123 is still a fairly strong candidate if you're a blogger or marketer who needs a simple, straightforward, free landing page builder.
The paid version of Site123 is a fairly reasonable $12.80 per month and includes all of this:
- Free Domain for one year
- 10GB storage
- 5GB bandwidth
- Remove the Site123 Floating Tag
- Connect Your Domain
- Store
My Favourite Popup Builder - ConvertBox
Convertbox is an online popup sign-up form builder that enables you to easily and quickly create quick and engaging popups that convert. Its features include a drag-and-drop editor, segmentation funnels, lead capturing, and more. With Convertbox, you can build the perfect pop up for your needs in just a few minutes.
Landbot
This is not your standard free landing page builder tool. But it is a different option, which I thought would be fun to discuss.
Landbot lets you create engaging, interactive, conversational landing pages designed to guide your visitors through signing up for your lead magnet, course, or product.
When you sign-up for Landbot, you see their chatbots in action as they guide you through creating your account.
You can choose between Casual or Elegant styles for your pages. You can also customise all the colours to exactly match your brand. Plus, you get lots of content blocks to choose from, which you can arrange with the drag-and-drop builder.
Like ConvertFlow, you can embed your chatbot onto your website. Or you can share the links to access your pages directly.
Once your bot is built, you can send messages or ask your visitors questions. Of course, you can collect email addresses from leads automatically.
The free plan on Landbot gives you 100 chats per month and up to 30 blocks within each bot. I feel this is enough for online creators that are just starting out.
The free plan also has a Zapier integration for you to automatically add leads to your existing CRM or email service provider.
You can also integrate Google Analytics to track the traffic on your landing pages.
Landbot paid options start from around €30 per month, which gives you more integration possibilities and unrestricted chats.
I'm not sure I would recommend Landbot for all your lead magnet landing pages, if I'm honest. But it is an entertaining option if you genuinely want to learn more about your audience and give them a unique, stand-out experience.
Carrd
I'll be honest, I think, out of the free landing page makers I tried for this post, Carrd stood out as a favourite. And the price of the paid option? I took a double-take!
There is a downside. But I feel like it is okay because, well, you'll see.
Whilst Carrd most definitely allows you to create landing pages, it offers much more than that.
I would say, if you want any kind of webpage, you could do it on Carrd. The tool lets you quickly spin up a new single-page website for any reason, even for a product.
Carrd gives you a wide range of templates to get you started quickly.
The editor is as straightforward as they come. You have many content block options, and you simply click any block to edit. Once you click a block, a sidebar opens to let you edit the chosen element.
When your landing page is ready, publishing your site is super easy. You only need to add a title and URL (or a custom domain), click Publish, and away you go.
Unfortunately, the free version does not allow you to include a contact or sign-up form.
I know, I know. That means it cannot be classed as a lead magnet sign-up page.
But, hear me out.
The free version lets you build up to 3 sites with Carrd branding and a ".carrd.co" URL. It is, frankly, excellent for creating a speedy click-through landing page or portfolio page.
Now, it is true that to add a sign-up form, or contact form or use a custom domain, you will need to pay for a Pro Standard plan.
BUT at just $19 per year, it is the cheapest landing page creator I have ever seen.
Carrd is a fast and flexible choice if you don't want to spend a heap of time or money on a new website.
Launchrock
Last but not least, we have Launchrock. I've put this last because I think the design features are the most confusing of all the tools I used. But I would say it is still very usable.
Launchrock's setup wizard allows you to choose what type of product/lead magnet/service you are building a page for, add your name and choose a template.
I found it very easy to add text blocks and a sign-up form. But anything even slightly more complicated requires using a code block. This is not great for a newbie. But I think this may be different if you went for a paid plan.
The Launchrock free plan is a bit odd. You don't get a list of what is included in the plan.
I couldn't see any obvious restrictions. On the free plan, you can connect a custom domain and track your analytics, which is unusual for a free page builder.
Not the easiest to use, but you might like Launchrock, especially for simple sites needed quickly.
The Bottom Line
I've given you a ton of options here. As I said, try not to get overwhelmed. Instead, have a look around the tools and see what you like/don't like. Also, breathe a sigh of relief because not everything has to cost a small fortune.
If you're looking for something to give away to your new subscribers, take a look at my ebook and printable templates so you can quickly create your free gifts.
Do you already use free landing page builder tools? I know there are several I haven't included. So, let me know what you think the best landing page builder is in the comments below...
My Favourite Popup Builder - ConvertBox
Convertbox is an online popup sign-up form builder that enables you to easily and quickly create quick and engaging popups that convert. Its features include a drag-and-drop editor, segmentation funnels, lead capturing, and more. With Convertbox, you can build the perfect pop up for your needs in just a few minutes.
The following may include affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase after clicking one of my links, I may make some commission. But this will be at no extra cost to you. I only ever recommend things I trust and use myself (or have used). You can use my full disclaimer here.
