A landing page is a webpage where visitors land or arrive when they click on a digital advertisement, a sponsored listing, a newsletter or a social media post. The objective is to influence the visitors to undertake a strategic action — fill a form, subscribe to the company’s offering or make a purchase.
They should not be confused with home pages. The home page of a company is the show window for all the products and should never be used as a landing page.
Successful landing pages have tailored content that match the visitor’s intent and interest, and a strong call to action (CTA). There are no distractions and no unnecessary content, only a strong sales pitch.
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Companies that offer multiple products or services must create a dedicated landing page for each product. They will then be able to do justice to each product or service and give customers sufficient reason to click on the CTA button.
Companies can also create a standalone landing page if they do not own a website.
Characteristics of good landing pages
Landing pages must be engaging. They should use well-crafted headlines that encourage customers to dive deeper. The copy must be compelling and backed by powerful images, and the subscription or registration form must seek the required information without being intrusive.
Here are some points that must be kept in mind while designing powerful landing pages:
- They must be built around the offer or the reward that the visitor seeks, and avoid pushing unnecessary details about the company.
- The data-capture forms must be short and simple and limited to one page. The customer should not be made to move from page to page to complete the form.
- Companies must acknowledge the information provided by the customer with a thank you page, and ensure that the ebook or free template that was promised is provided.
- Headlines, the main message and call-to-action buttons must be placed above the fold. The visitors should not be forced to scroll endlessly to get the full information.
- The page must use only one call to action. The readers should not be distracted with multiple call to actions messages.
- The call to action button must be displayed prominently. It should stand out and catch the attention of the visitor easily.
Kinds of landing pages
Lead generation landing page: The purpose of lead generation pages, also called lead gen pages, is to collect leads. The visitors are dangled a reward to fill up a data-capture form. The reward can be an ebook or a set of free templates and the bait is to provide contact details such as name and email address. The leads are then used by the marketing team to follow up with the audience.
Click-through landing page: The click-through landing page does not use a form to capture customer details. It is a midway page between the digital advertisement and the end action that the company desires the customer to perform. For instance, the company wants the customer to make a purchase. It brings the customer from the digital ad to the landing page, and places a strong call to action encouraging the customer to click and proceed to the shopping cart or the payment gateway.
Squeeze page: The squeeze page is used to collect data. However, it does not offer any incentive to the visitor to part with data. It uses strong headlines, minimal text and a bold call to action to motivate the reader to enter contact details. The page also has a button that guides the visitor to move to the next step of his buying journey. The visitor is also given an opt out option.
Sales page: This is the ultimate landing page, both in terms intent and design. The intent is to make the visitor make a purchase. The design and text is to give him sufficient reason to make the decision.
Splash Page: Splash pages serve very limited purpose. They use minimal text and guide the visitors to the right section of the website. For example, the visitors for a website which is available in multiple languages, the splash page will ask them to choose the language and direct him to the right section.
SEO landing pages: These landing pages are optimised for search engine indexing and ranking. They use keywords that match customer intent, have user-friendly URLs, informative meta descriptions, and search engine-friendly content to generate organic traffic. Companies develop SEO landing pages to showcase high value content that meets the search intent of potential customers. Such pages increase online visibility and improve brand awareness.
Advantages of landing pages
Essential for digital marketing: Digital advertisements can make promises and arouse customer interest but it is the landing page that can have a positive impact on the mindset of customers. That is why the landing page is like a digital salesman. It displays relevant and detailed information, and increases conversions. Digital marketing will stutter and falter without landing pages.
Important for lead generation: Landing pages are the best way to entice readers to share their personal information. Companies use landing pages to offer freebies in return for personal details. For instance, to download a free eBook visitors are asked to fill a registration form. The leads so generated become the basis for marketing, and to drive conversions.
Obtain demographic data: Some companies use detailed registration forms. Besides name and email address, they ask visitors to enter details such as their designation, age, city name, income range, company size etc. Such detailed demographic data helps in targeting customers better.
Build relationships: The leads generated through landing pages help companies build deeper relationships with their customer base. They keep the communities engaged and interested in the activities of the company through contests, offers, discounts on new launches, etc.
Evaluate effectiveness of marketing campaigns: Landing pages help companies optimise customer response. They use A/B testing methodology to track conversion rates by designing two landing pages with different sales pitches for the same product. Such screening and selection can lead to more effective marketing campaigns.
How companies drive traffic to the landing pages
The companies drive traffic to landing pages through two different routes. The first is the content marketing route where they create content and let potential customers find them. Th second is the paid route where they advertise on the net to bring customers to the landing page.
1.Content marketing route
Organic search traffic: When customers click on web articles or videos created by companies that rank high on search pages, customers reach the landing page. They may then be encouraged to take follow up action. The cost to the company is creation of content.
Referral traffic from social media: All companies are present on social media. Many of them have used a proactive approach to build communities. They can tap into this audience by posting a call to action that brings potential customers to their landing page. Such traffic is called referral traffic and is free.
Newsletters: Most companies use newsletters to keep their customers posted about important developments. The same newsletters are used to share information about product launches, new services, hosting of events etc. Hyperlinks are embedded in these posts to drive customers to the landing pages.
2. Paid marketing route
Search listings: Search listings are a great way to tap into the search intent of customers. The listings are a form of paid advertising, called search engine marketing, and are displayed on top of search engine results page. When the customers click on the search listings, they end up on the landing pages.
Contextual advertising: These are digital advertisements that have been perfected by Google. They are displayed on web pages that have same or related keywords. When potential customers browse these pages and click on the advertisements, they arrive at the landing page.
Social media advertising: Companies place ads on social media platforms where they expect to find their target audience. The ads include CTAs or click to action messages to encourage visitors to click on the ad and reach the landing page.
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