The Guide to Landing Pages
Are you currently still sending web traffic to your home page and hoping for the best? If you answered yes: Stop. It. Right. Now. Hard-won web traffic is too precious to waste on an under-optimized page that points people in a dozen different directions. It’s time to create landing pages and make the most of your marketing efforts.
Whether you’re branching out into new audiences or engaging with your existing customers, landing pages make it possible for you to deliver the right targeted message to the right audience at the right time so that you can get the biggest possible return on your time and money.
What is a landing page?
In the world of web pages, think of a landing page as being a single, lone ranger: a standalone web page where a visitor lands after they click on a link.
A landing page is different from other web pages because it serves one very specific purpose: to convert visitors into leads or sales. Each page typically contains a form that asks visitors for their contact information—such as their email address—in exchange for something of value (a.k.a. an offer).
Whether you’re running an ad on social media or announcing a promo on your website, we want you to be more strategic about which landing pages you create and how you create them.
What is the purpose of a landing page?
A landing page’s number one goal is to transform targeted web traffic into email subscribers and customers. Wherever your web traffic comes from—a social media post, a paid Facebook ad, a blog article, etc.—when people “land” on your landing page, they’re met with just the right amount of persuasive and educational information to click and convert.
Landing pages are unique to a specific audience segment and are focused on compelling that audience to take a single action or to make a specific decision. The decision can be practically anything: make a purchase, download a free e-book, sign up for an e-newsletter, register for an upcoming event—the options are limitless.
To sum things up, landing pages are stand-alone web pages that are used to convert web traffic into leads (potential customers) and sales—and then, finally, into raving fans of your brand!
Why are landing pages important?
The expression “my customers will find me” should have died out with MC Hammer pants and shoelace hair clips. Unfortunately, some online businesses are still operating like it’s the 1990s. In today’s fast-paced digital world, it no longer pays to bank on the idea that people will simply stumble upon your business and discover the amazing products and services you offer. There are too many distractions and the competition is too fierce.
To set yourself apart from your competitors, you need to appeal to the right audience and craft an enticing and memorable journey for customers—and this is exactly when landing pages find their time to shine.
We mentioned earlier that landing pages are designed to convert. Because of this, one of their key advantages lies in their ability to guide traffic to the next stage of a business’ sales funnel. No other webpage has this kind of targeted approach.
A few additional key advantages to incorporating landing pages in your online marketing strategy include:
- They help your business reach its goals. Do you need to reach a certain sales target? No sweat! Simply use a sales page to close the deal. Are you looking to generate a specific number of new customers within a designated time frame? No worries—use a landing page with a focus on email collection as your point of conversion. The beauty is that a landing page can be dedicated to a specific conversion goal—especially if it has a laser-focused call to action (CTA).
- You get more bang for your buck. You put a lot of time and money into marketing your online business, so isn’t it about time you get the greatest possible return for all of that hard work? Landing pages have the ultimate power to persuade because they unite a targeted audience with a personalized offer and message. Because they’re designed to convert, landing pages are an efficient and effective use of your paid traffic.
- Personalized content wins the hearts of customers. Remember that special feeling you get when your favorite online shop hooks you up with a personalized coupon? When it comes to winning over the hearts of customers, personalization is the name of the game. Landing pages are versatile and can be used at touchpoints all along a customer’s journey. What makes them even more stellar is their capability to be personalized and customized to a specific target audience with a relevant offer. It’s all about deeper, more meaningful communication.
Homepage versus landing page: what is the difference?
Unlike a homepage or a primary business website, a landing page is tasked with one unique and important mission: to convince a visitor to take a single, specific action (such as purchase, sign up, download, etc.).
Both pages serve different purposes and operate in unique ways. Here are a few of the notable differences:
| Key areas | Homepage | Landing page |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | Highlights a broad range of content to offer an overall perspective. Multiple objectives. | Focuses on one single objective—to deliver specifically requested content. |
| Distractions | Many. Full range of navigable options. A web design that includes links, images, navigation bars, etc. | Very few. Clean-cut. Call to action, image, text. |
| Desired action | Entice visitors to dive deeper into the website. | One single call to action that captures leads and drives sales. |
Landing page and website: what is the difference?
Landing pages are the lone rangers that do the heavy lifting without linking to other pages or platforms. They’re typically not connected to other parts of your website but are oftentimes situated between an ad and a thank-you page. They are built and designed to drive traffic for a very specific marketing campaign goal.
A website is like a grand buffet platter for your business. It’s a set of interconnected pages that explain what your business is, what it sells, the services it offers, and more.
When should a landing page be used?
Whenever you’re encouraging a specific action that pulls your customer through the marketing funnel. When you can pinpoint the exact specific action you want your audience to take—such as download this e-book, subscribe to this e-newsletter, sign up for this coupon code—you should use a landing page.
When it comes to incorporating a landing page into your marketing campaign, if you’re trying to move people along their journey and into the next stage of your sales funnel, a landing page should be your tool of choice. Or when you’re looking to:
- Generate leads: Offer a free e-book; sign up for a free consultation; enroll customers in an e-newsletter.
- Encourage a purchase: Promote a product launch; share a sale or promotion; offer a printable coupon.
- Nurture a relationship: Encourage signups for a live or digital event; book an appointment; contact your business via phone or chat.
Do landing pages actually work?
Yes, they do! As a general rule across the board, landing pages have conversion rates that are 2 to 10 times higher than the average webpage. And get this: small businesses with more than 10 are able to grow their email lists twice as fast. How is this possible? Because these pages have a single goal: receive web traffic and compel visitors to take a single, specific action.
Unlike other web pages or websites, landing pages are unique tailors and narrowly focused on a specific action such as signing up for an e-newsletter, downloading a resource, making a purchase, or registering for an event. By having a single focus (and goal action) it’s possible for a landing page to deliver the right message to the right audience rather than talking about ‘all the things’ to ‘all the people’ and failing to persuade anyone.
What should be included in a landing page?
Think about it this way: it’s not what you include, it’s what you don’t include. Landing pages should be ultra-focused on one single point of conversion. Forget the extra lingo, jargon, and overabundance of flashy images. Instead, when it comes to creating an effective page, know that less is more.
At Leadpages, our professionally-designed templates take the guesswork out of effective marketing, so be sure to check out our landing pages. It’s also important for you to keep in mind these 5 essential elements:
- Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Your USP should be evident throughout your page, but it should make its primary debut in the headline and supporting headline. The headline tells a visitor why they’re on the page and gives them the extra nudge they need to keep reading. You’re looking to pique their curiosity and make them desire whatever you’re offering.
- Your offer—make it too good to pass up. The details of your offer should (ideally) combine both features and benefits such as a benefit statement, bulleted lists, and/or descriptive summaries. Successful offers are easy to understand, tailored to a unique audience, and can be expressed in both features and benefits.
- Visuals (imagery and graphics): From the hero image that headlines the page to videos and iconography, any multimedia you include should provide context and compel a visitor to take action. Resist the urge to clutter or introduce too much variety and instead focus on minimalism and a clean design.
- Call to action (CTA): Your call to action is typically in the form of a button placed (at least once) on the page, guiding visitors towards an opt-in form. It’s important to be specific with your language, be concise (it’s a button, not a novella), and include a high-contrast color to ensure your CTA button stands out.
- Supporting evidence (social proof): Increase your trust factor and further persuade your audience by including testimonials, reviews, social signals, trust seals, and awards. You want to reassure the visitor that what you’re selling is worth the opt-in or purchase.
How much do landing pages cost?
The cost varies, depending on how you create them and the tools and type of builder that you choose. Unlike other digital marketing platforms, Leadpages doesn’t limit the amount of landing pages you create or charge you more based on how much traffic you receive or how many leads you collect.
What will I learn in The Guide to Landing Pages?
Whether you’re running an ad on social media or announcing a promo on your website, it’s important to be strategic about which pages you create and how you create them.
This guide is designed to cover the ‘must-know’ fundamentals of landing pages as well as the most important tips and savvy strategies that have proven to work across hundreds of thousands of businesses. We’ll start with the very basics and make our way down to the nitty-gritty elements of effective copywriting and design.
We’ll cover topics such as:
The basics: What a landing page is (and what a landing page is not), why it’s essential for your business to have landing pages, when they should be used, how they work, and we’ll explore the different types of pages.
Creative content: Essential elements and why they matter in your marketing campaigns, copywriting tips, design, and how to create a landing page.
Optimization: Best practices, tests to run to ensure your page is performing to its full potential, how to promote your page so that it increases conversions for your business, and a 101 guide to lead magnets.
Ready to dive into the Guide to Landing Pages? Here’s what we’ve put together for you:
