To answer this question, we'll begin with what's not a landing page. A website usually has more than one page which is called a web page. Some websites have only a single long web page with many sections. These web pages all share the same issue: they carry too much information, targeting various target audiences, thus distracting people from the main goal (if any).
The web page above has header and footer navigation that can distract visitors away
A landing page, is a web page that focuses on a single goal (and most of the time for a single audience). Let's say that we have a new upcoming event, we can create a landing page to contain only information about this event, without any distraction or any link to any other pages.
In online marketing, a landing page is sometimes known as a "lead capture page", "static page", or a "destination page".
Landing pages can be used to capture information on website visitors in exchange for services, branded content or experiences including:
A few more examples may help you better understand the landing page concept:
As we have noted, a normal website has too many objectives which may distract its visitors. If you are running a marketing/ads campaign, you want to ensure that they perform the desired action. If the visitors come to your marketing destination pages, and they do not buy or sign up then all your ads spend and effort go to waste.
For example, lets say you run an ad for some specific product:
Now when this ad is clicked, which of the following pages should you show him?
If the customer is shown an ad for watermelons, he/she expects to see that exact information when he/she clicks through.
Following the example above:
A landing page allows you to laser focus your marketing efforts and achieve optimal conversion rate. In fact, the best landing pages out there help to boost the conversion rate up to 400%.
You can also use a landing page to boost your SEO. Take this opportunity to get your landing page organically ranked higher on search result list. A landing page allows you to focus on a single topic so you can target your audience without making it feel spammy.
Landing pages also give you the flexibility you need to promote a seasonal or one-off deal. It’s much easier and cost-effective to create a specific landing page than remodeling the entire website for a new offer every single time.
Whenever you want to maximize the effect of your Call To Action. Landing pages can certainly act as lone rangers (standalone websites) or they can be used to supplement your business’ primary website.
If you’re promoting one-off events or products, you may need only a landing page. If you are a startup launching a new product or service, a simple landing can also do the job and help you to start fast.
However, if your business offers many products/services, in-depth information, you may want to have a primary website where you can structure information in meaningful and easy-to-navigate structure.
At the same time, if you are spending money and effort to promote your product, service, and content, never send that traffic to your website homepage.
Landing pages are great for:
Simplicity is the key. You want your landing page to instantly capture the visitors' attention, explaining your offering and give them a solid reason to perform the desired action.
I use the singular form of "goal" to stress how important it is to define a clear, single goal for your landing page. While it's possible to have more than one goal, it's strongly recommended to laser focus your goal to avoid distracting your visitors.
With a concrete, specific goal, you can set up tracking tools to measure the success of your marketing campaign.
You've spent a lot of resources to bring your targeted audience to a landing page where they can take your desired action. Don't distract them! Limit the number of exits from your landing page. In the famous Wall Street film, Gordon Gekko said: "Greed is good". However, for a landing page, greed is no good. Don't try too much by linking to different parts of your website hoping that the visitors will perform more than one desired action.
Sometimes you only need a simple, straight-forward message with a Call to Action
To ask your visitors to perform your desired action such as giving up their contact information, you have to offer something valuable in exchange. Ask yourself if your offer is compelling to your audience and make sure your landing page demonstrates that value. One way to ensure your landing page adds value is to show your audience the content they're going to receive -- directly on the page.
Tips: many businesses think their ‘regular newsletter’ qualifies as a valuable offering, but that's not the case. Most visitors are likely to look at these offerings and see: free sales pitches. As if people would generally pay for the privilege of receiving marketing emails. Instead, offer a bonus that gets people excited to subscribe, then immediately delivers the information they’ll devour.
Your copy should be clear and concise. It should be persuasive, too.
Every single sentence and word on your landing page should serve the purpose of calling the visitors to perform the desired action. Follow this success proven format for your copy:
The design of your page is just as important as the copy. A good design supports the call to action, while a bad design detracts from it. In general, a landing page design should be clean, clear, simple to help the visitors focus on your offer.
It should be noted that a landing does not necessarily have only one single page. A landing page can have more than one page (in which case it can be called a mini-site).
Place your most important messages and Call-to-action above the fold(*) to ensure that all visitors see them.
(*)Above the fold (or "above the scroll") to refer to the portion of the webpage that is visible without scrolling.
A 2006 study by Jakob Nielsen found that 77% of visitors to a website do not scroll, and therefore only see the portion of the website that is above the fold. In a more recent article by Amy Schade and NNgroup, it is stated that there is an 84% average difference in how users treat the content above and below the fold, there is a big dropoff in attention below the fold.
Marketing research done by Google shows that the viewability of adverts is affected by its position in relation to the fold as there is a significant drop-off below the fold.
Place your most important messages and Call-to-action above the fold to ensure that all visitors see them.
At the same time, you not should neglect those users who scroll. Make sure calls to action appear at regular intervals on your page corresponding to the surrounding copy. Make sure that your users have to do minimal scrolling once they decide to convert.
There is no best formula for creating effective landing pages. What works for one site might not work so well for another. You have to constantly measure, experiment, and tweak your landing page for better result. It’s important to test the different versions of your landing page to find the one that works the best for your particular situation.
A few important metrics to measure the success of your landing page can be:
Once people visit your landing page, you can make an assumption that they have an interest in what you have to offer on your page. You should make the most out of your spent ads money by:
There are a number of ways to drive traffic to your landing pages:
Landing Page plays an important role in the Sales Funnel
You need to continually invest your skill, time, money and resources for desired results. Many people make the mistake of changing things on their landing pages too fast, too often. You need to measure the results, analyze the interaction data you collect on your page before making changes accordingly.
When you go fishing, it's important to choose the right lure. When you plan and build your landing page it's important to understand your target audience, their goals and their challenges. Once you know exactly what they want and how to target them, it's not very difficult to see your effort rewarded.
