If you have been talking to your web designer, you’ve probably heard the words ‘landing page’ several times and wondered what they were talking about. Isn’t it the same as any other page on the website? Why do they keep talking about designing a separate landing page? Shouldn’t it have the same look as the rest of the website?
We’re here to clear this up once and for all.
A landing page is a separate, stand-alone page, which has a definite purpose… i.e. it wants your customer to perform a specific task or action such as, for example, download an e-book or call a specific number or fill in a specific form.
The landing page is like a gateway to something your potential customer needs or wants. It usually has some information on it that will capture your target audience’s attention, for example, a free consultation or site visit or a link to download an e-book. To access this, your potential customer will need to fill out their details, perhaps a number or an email.
That’s instantly a lead… it’s your job now to follow up with this lead and find out how you can help them with your product or service offering.
It is different from any other page on the website as it’s not a general information page. It has a single purpose. Often landing pages are temporary. They are built for a purpose or goal and when that’s been achieved, they are taken down.
And in terms of design; it must stand out and be different from the rest of your website page, whilst maintaining your company’s branding and overall feel.
The most important aspect of a landing page is the Call to Action (CTA). It’s the ‘raison d’etre,’ for the landing page, as they say. In fact, whilst on any other page on your website you may have several CTA’s like a phone number, email, contact form link, subscribe to newsletter and others, on the landing page, there should be just a single CTA… so that your customers don’t get distracted or confused about what you want them to do.
Purpose of a landing page?
The primary purpose of a landing page is to get leads. Creating landing pages allows you to target your audience, offer them something of value, and convert a higher percentage of your visitors into leads, while also capturing information about who they are and what they’ve converted on.
You can also create a landing page that gives you more information about your target audience in terms of their demographics.
Hubspot, our ‘go to’ website for all things relating to content marketing has its own highly effective landing page…. On landing pages :-). You will notice how there is only one CTA – Download Now, spread across the page. If you click on it, you will need to fill out a contact form (giving Hubspot an instant lead) to access the information.
What should a good landing page consist of?
• The headline – this is the most important aspect of the landing page. It needs to make an instant impact on your customer when they land on the page. Statistically, a landing page has only 8 seconds to capture your target audience’s attention. So, the headline has to be wow.
• The text – Of course, the copy or content on the page must be engaging and interactive, drawing the customer further in. Stories and questions are usually successful in getting your audience hooked.
• Keywords – Make sure you’ve done your keyword research and your headers and copy are optimised for it.
• Social sharing buttons or links – Do not underestimate the importance of social media in today’s world. You will lose potential leads and customers if you do not use the power of social media. Make sure your landing page can be shared by people on Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin.
• Lead conversion form – This is critical. This is where a target audience becomes a lead. Make sure the form asks only the relevant questions. Forms that are too long put people off. Make it short and sharp.
• The image/s – The impact of imagery on web pages is often underestimated. The image must capture your customer’s attention and interest. It gives a visual summary of what your customer can expect. As the saying goes “a picture can speak a thousand words.”
How effective are landing pages?
• According to Hubspot, companies with 10 to 15 landing pages increase leads by 55%.
• Landing page headlines are key. According to Marketing Sherpa, 90% of visitors who read your headline will also read your CTA.
One of the most important ways to measure the effectiveness of a landing page is through testing. There are number of tools available via Hubspot or Optimizely to run A/B tests on the conversion rate of different landing pages in terms of their design, their length, the messaging and the images.
We do realise all this can get quite confusing and technical. That’s what we are here for… to simplify all this techie jargon and create brands and website’s that do what they are supposed to do -bring in new customers and grow your business.
That’s why we have designed a 90-day Brand Elevator Package, to give your branding and website a boost through design, SEO and content marketing and get it working for your business as quickly as possible. If you believe we can help you take your brand to the next level, please do give us a call.
Our contact details are: tel: 020 7112 9068, email: [email protected]or you can fill up the contact form on our website for us to call you.
