Are you ready to make your first sales?
By the time you finish this tutorial, you should be.
I’ve been building sales pages for over 7 years — pages that have led to product sales, packed-out webinars, and steady streams of new leads. I’ve tested countless approaches, learned what works (and what doesn’t), and refined a process that delivers results without wasting time or money.
In this guide, I’m showing you exactly how to create your own high-converting sales page on WordPress — step by step — using a budget-friendly tool that doesn’t cut corners on quality: Thrive Architect.
Whether you’re selling your first digital product, promoting a service, or filling seats for an online event, you’re about to get the exact framework I use to turn visitors into paying customers.
FAQs: Building a High-Converting Sales Page
If you’re creating your first sales page, you probably have a few questions — especially about what to include, how to structure it, and which strategies actually move visitors to click “Buy.”
This FAQ brings together the most common (and most important) questions I hear from entrepreneurs, course creators, and small business owners when they start building their own high-converting sales pages. Each answer is based on proven best practices I’ve refined over the past 7 years, so you can skip the trial-and-error and focus on getting results faster.
A sales page is designed with one goal: to persuade a visitor to take a specific action, usually making a purchase. Unlike a homepage or blog post, it removes distractions such as navigation menus and focuses entirely on guiding the visitor toward that conversion.
The most effective structure follows a narrative arc: start with a compelling hook (hero section), outline the problem, present your solution, reinforce with social proof, share offer and pricing details, address objections, and close with a strong call-to-action.
Use clear, benefit-driven headlines that speak directly to your audience’s needs. In your body copy, focus on benefits over features, use the same language your customers use, and format content with short paragraphs, bullet points, and bolding for easy scanning.
Research your audience through interviews, surveys, sales conversations, and online forums. Categorize pain points into areas like cost, productivity, process, people, and support. Then, address these pain points directly in your copy, positioning your offer as the solution.
Good design supports the sales message by guiding the visitor’s attention, building trust, and removing distractions. Use a clean layout, high-quality images or videos, mobile-responsive design, and a clear visual hierarchy that makes your call-to-action stand out.
Incorporate testimonials, reviews, case studies, trust badges, and recognizable brand logos to show that others have had positive results. Place these elements strategically throughout the page to reinforce credibility at different stages of the buying journey.
A high-converting CTA is specific, benefit-focused, and visually distinct. Use action-oriented language (“Get Started Today” instead of “Click Here”), place it in multiple sections of your page, and consider adding urgency with limited-time offers or bonuses.
Base the length on your product’s complexity, price, and audience awareness. Short pages work for simple, low-cost offers targeting warm audiences. Long pages work for complex, high-cost offers targeting cold audiences that need more education and trust-building.
How to Build Your First High-Converting Sales Page on WordPress
In this section, I’ll walk you through the exact steps I use to create sales pages that turn casual visitors into committed customers. Each tip is designed to help you plan, write, and design with conversions in mind, so you’re not just building a page… you’re building a revenue-generating asset.
Want the big-picture playbook before you build? Read Sales Page Strategy.
If you want a deeper dive as you go, these guides pair perfectly with each step: Sales Page Elements, A/B Testing on WordPress, and Conversion-Focused Pricing.
Step 1: Install Thrive Architect to Build Your Page
Before I discovered Thrive Architect, I’d tried just about every type of page builder you can imagine. Some were half code, half visual builder — clunky and slow. Others promised simplicity but buried it under confusing settings (no names mentioned). I could make them work, but it always felt like I was wrestling with the tool instead of building the page.
Then a freelance client asked me to use Thrive Architect for their site. I wasn’t working at Thrive Themes at the time, but within minutes of using it, I was blown away. It was fast, intuitive, and packed with ready-made elements designed specifically for marketing. No workarounds. No wasted time. Just a smooth, straightforward way to create pages that looked professional and were built to convert.
Here's why I recommend Thrive Architect for your first sales page:
- Looks professional from the start with conversion-focused templates you can customize in minutes.
- Built for marketers with pre-designed elements like testimonials, countdown timers, and call-to-action blocks.
- Effortless to use thanks to true drag-and-drop editing and an interface that makes sense.
- Saves time by removing the need for workarounds, extra plugins, or manual coding.
- Delivers results by combining good design with features proven to turn visitors into customers.
With Thrive Architect, you can design a page that looks polished, feels on-brand, and is optimized for sales from day one — without the tech headaches.
💬 "Okay… but what if I want more than just a sales page?"
If you’re serious about building your business online, you probably want more than one good sales page. You want a system — something that brings in visitors, turns them into subscribers, nurtures those leads, and then sells your products or services.
That’s where Thrive Suite comes in. Think of it as your all-in-one business growth toolkit. It’s a collection of powerful WordPress plugins designed to work together so you can:
- Build beautiful, conversion-focused pages with Thrive Architect
- Test and improve your designs, headlines, and CTAs with Thrive Optimize
- Keep your entire site on-brand with Thrive Theme Builder
- Sell online courses or programs with Thrive Apprentice
- Showcase real customer success with Thrive Ovation
- Segment your audience & grow your list with Thrive Quiz Builder
Instead of stitching together a bunch of different tools from different companies, you get everything under one roof — built to work seamlessly together and focused on one thing: helping you get more signups and sales.
If you like the idea of your sales page being just the start of a smarter marketing machine, Thrive Suite is worth a look.
Step 2: Outline Your Sales Page Structure Before You Write
By now, you've probably set up your homepage (if not, here are some tips for an awesome homepage) so now it's time to start showcasing your offerings with an effective sales page.
Now you're ready to start planning your page design and sales page copy.
Thrive Architect lets you outline your sales page right from the visual editor, making it easier for you to edit as you go.
With its easy-to-navigate drag-and-drop elements, you'll have a clear structure for your sales page in minutes. Add labels for each section so you know what to add later.
Notice that snazzy looking testimonial block? We didn't need to build that from scratch.
Thrive Architect gives you access to a wide variety of block templates that you can drag and drop into your sales page and customize to your liking. There are blocks for almost every part of your conversion-focused sales page.
But if you're a Thrive Suite, or Thrive Theme Builder + Thrive Architect user, you'll also get access to a library of block and page templates from any of our themes - Ommi, Shapeshift, Kwik, or Bookwise.
Here's an example of some of the theme-specific page blocks:
And if you want to use a landing page template, instead of building a whole sales page from scratch, you can select any of the relevant landing page templates in Thrive Architect:
Step 3: Add Compelling Copy, Visuals & Conversion Elements
Now that your sales page structure is in place, it’s time to bring it to life with words, visuals, and features that persuade. Because you’ve already done the heavy lifting during the wireframing stage, this part is faster and more focused — you’re simply filling each section with content designed to guide your visitor toward a “yes.”
Here’s what to focus on:
- Copy that connects – Speak directly to your audience’s needs, pains, and desires. Keep your tone conversational and your message benefit-driven. Start here: Copywriting Tips for Beginners and PAS Copy Technique.
- Visuals with purpose – Use images, mockups, or short videos that illustrate your offer in action and help visitors picture the result for themselves.
- Conversion elements – Add trust at key moments with testimonial strategy and how to collect & display testimonials; use urgency ethically with countdown timers; sharpen buttons with CTA examples.
- Formatting for attention – Break up text with bullet points, bold highlights, and subheadings so it’s easy to skim without losing impact.
Every piece you add should have a job — either to inform, build trust, or move the visitor closer to taking action. Avoid “filler” that looks nice but doesn’t help with conversion.
💡Pro Tip: If you’re unsure how much copy you need, this will help: Long Sales Page vs Short Sales Page.
Step 4: Include Features That Boost Your Conversion Rate
Every web page should serve a clear purpose. They need to encourage users to take action - it doesn't matter how great they look; if they don't achieve this, then you won't be successful.
With the case of sales pages, the action you want people to take is clear: make a purchase, or, at a minimum, fill out a contact form so you can reach them with your email marketing.
The best sales pages achieve this more often because they're laser-focused on converting.
They'll seamlessly:
- Headlines that stand out (learn more here)
- Integrate social proof (written and video testimonials, product reviews, and more)
- Link to case studies to reinforce the value of the product
- Place CTA buttons in strategic locations
- Use a lead magnet to capture leads when people don't make a purchase there and then
People often think that the key to a great sales page is beautiful words, but copywriting is much more than this. It's about understanding the actions you want people to take and how you lead them on the journey towards that action.
Without conversion focused elements, you simply won't convert visitors into customers at the same rate. And remember if you want to make an immediate impact to your bottom line, it's much quicker (and cheaper) to improve your conversion rate than it is to get more traffic.
Step 5: Preview Your Page & Optimize for All Devices
After you've filled in all your content, preview your sales page and take note of any changes that need to be made.
Don't forget to view your sales page on different devices.
If you want a quicker way to do this, use the multi-device preview tab at the bottom of your Thrive Architect screen.
Remember, your target audience will view your sales page from varying devices - mobile phones, tablets, etc. Your sales page should be easy to view and navigate from each device type.
But if you want to make device-specific changes to your sales page, you'll need to use the "Responsive" tab in the menu on the left.
Getting the hang of mobile responsiveness can be tricky.
But this video walkthrough from Tony will help you navigate this feature in minutes:
Step 6: Connect Your Sales Page to a Seamless Checkout
The purpose of your sales page is to get your audience to buy.
Link a few of your call-to-action buttons to a checkout page, so your potential customers can purchase your offer quickly and seamlessly.
If you're looking for a checkout tool for your WordPress website, we recommend Easy Digital Downloads for digital products and WooCommerce for physical products.
This process should be as straightforward as adding a checkout form URL to your buttons, but if you're struggling to get this done you can find assistance on:
- Your checkout tool's "Resources" page (or similar)
- The Thrive Themes Knowledge Base
- The Thrive Themes Blog or YouTube Channel
Watch this video to learn how about building a high-converting sales funnel to make your sales page even more effective:
Step 7: Publish Your Page & Start Driving Targeted Traffic
After you've tested all your sales pages' links, buttons, videos, and order process, it's time to click save and then launch your page.
Hit "Publish" when you're ready and start driving traffic to your page. Some of the best ways to promote your offer include:
- Targeted email campaigns
- Paid ads on social media
- Content marketing
- Influencer marketing
- Social media marketing
And that's it! You've launched your new sales page, but there's still important work to do.
Step 8: Test & Improve Performance with Thrive Optimize
Regular A/B tests help you make data-driven decisions to improve your sales pages and get more conversions.
You can test a variety of elements like visuals vs no visuals, testimonials vs no testimonials, and even a long sales page vs a short sales page.
If you're struggling to find a simple, straightforward A/B testing tool that you can learn to use with ease in minutes...we recommend Thrive Optimize, our A/B testing plugin.
Thrive Optimize is easy to use, enables you to start A/B testing quickly, and provides you with data that is simple enough for you to understand.
If you're a Google Optimize user who's looking for an alternative plugin to use when your current A/B testing plugin shuts down, we strongly recommend Thrive Optimize.
You get access to this top tier A/B testing plugin when you purchase Thrive Suite.
Remember, this isn't just an additional step we've tacked on the end of the article - it's key. Optimization is the number one way for business owners to quickly improve their fortunes.
Elements of a Conversion-Focused Sales Page (Checklist)
Use this list as a checklist when creating your pages, to confirm that you've included all necessary conversion-focused elements:
- Clear, compelling headlines to capture your audience's attention
- Hero section to create a great first impression
- Relevant, appealing images to show off your offer
- Video to support your written copy
- Copy that connects with your audience & tells a compelling story
- Testimonials to establish credibility and win trust
- Detailed benefits to showcase the value of your offer
- Clear call-to-actions to prompt your audience to take action
- Smart pricing tables to clearly communicate your price tiers
- FAQ sections to answer your potential customers' questions
Watch the video below to learn more tips on how to create sales pages that convert:
Further Reading to Improve Your Sales Page
Now you've seen how easy it is to build your first sales page. With these tips, you can build a stunning sales page that makes your target audience want to buy immediately.
For more resources on how to generate conversions for your business, check out these articles:
- Map your page before you design — Understand the core sections that move a visitor toward “Buy.”
Do this now: Sketch your hero → problem → solution → proof → offer/CTA on paper, then build it in your editor. - Write headlines that earn attention — Use clear patterns that signal value fast.
Do this now: Draft 5 headline options using a How-to or Big Benefit pattern and pick the clearest, not the cleverest. - Structure prices people understand — Present tiers and guarantees that reduce friction.
Do this now: Choose 1–3 tiers, mark one “Most popular,” add a short guarantee under the CTA, and list 3–5 benefits per tier. - Run a simple A/B test — Improve results with quick, focused experiments.
Do this now: Duplicate your page, change only the headline or CTA, run until you have meaningful traffic, keep the winner, repeat.
Conclusion: Your First High-Converting Sales Page Starts Here
Building your first sales page doesn’t have to feel overwhelming. When you break it down into clear steps — outlining the structure, adding persuasive copy, using visuals with purpose, and including proven conversion elements — you end up with more than a page. You create a focused, persuasive asset that works 24/7 to sell your product or service.
The key is to start with the right tools and a clear plan. Thrive Architect makes the design process fast, intuitive, and marketing-focused from the very first click. You don’t need to wrestle with clunky builders or piece together mismatched plugins — you can focus on what matters: launching a page that looks great, speaks to your audience, and drives real results.
If your goal goes beyond “just one page” and you’re ready to build the systems that turn visitors into loyal customers, Thrive Suite gives you the full toolkit to make it happen — from list-building and quizzes to course delivery and A/B testing.
Your sales page is the first step. The next step is hitting publish.
→ Start building your high-converting sales page today with Thrive Architect.
