Brands always want a landing page that compels visitors to subscribe a newsletter, fill the registration form or make a purchase. Often, people confuse Landing Page with Home Page. But both are distinctly different.
So, what is a Landing Page?
It is the first web page that any visitor sees on clicking a promotional email, PPC ad or a banner ad. Instapage defines landing page a standalone page. It is neither a sales letter nor does it emphasize on how well the particular product or service is but satiates the need of target audience. It highlights the products or services that audiences are looking for.
Types of landing pages
There are two distinct purposes of landing page- capture leads and “warm up” target audiences for the product or service before sending them to the next step in sales funnel. Three types of landing pages that marketers should know are
- Lead Capture Page – Intent of this landing page is to gather demographic details from the target audience. Lead capture pages should not have any navigation link and the contact form is always the center of attraction. The product or service is explained properly so that the visitors are forced to click CTA buttons.
- Click-through Page – The simplest type of landing page that aims at warming up audiences- provide visitors information about products or service by clicking through. The click-through pages are benefit-oriented as these speak of the value These pages have only CTA button and no lead generation form.
- Sales Page – It is a standalone page used for selling products or services. The aim is to provide information to visitors so that they can make a purchase decision. Depending on the nature and complexity of product or service, you can have a long or short form sales page.
A targeted and optimized landing page assures conversion. You cannot afford to lose your chance with a wrong landing page. So, the question is how to make a good landing page that will convert?
Landing Page in Online Marketing
Landing Page is not any isolated form of online marketing but strengthens it. It is integral to the success of both PPC and SEM campaigns- capture leads and generates sales. In terms of branding, landing page plays an important role. In short, landing page helps in
- Generating leads easily
- Collecting demographic information about prospective clients
- Highlighting offers and provide insight about those to target audience
- Track conversations and gather information about client behavior
- Beef up other marketing campaigns
It creates an impression on the visitors and takes them to the next step of the sales funnel. Thus, marketers consider it an important ingredient for Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click , Conversion Rate Optimization and Social Media Marketing campaigns.
Tips for Landing Page Optimization
Research prove that conversion rate might vary depending on the nature of the particular industry. On an average, AdWords advertisers can expect conversion rates around 2 to 5 percent. But, the best landing page conversion rate can be around 10 percent.
Though there are no fixed rules of designing a landing page, but years of experimentation and experience tells that key aspect are- specific information, mention benefits to attract visitor’s attention, express sense of urgency and simple lead conversion process.
Landing page optimization improves different elements crucial to conversion. Optimization lowers the cost of customer acquisition, acquires customers and boosts revenue. Businesses do use landing pages, but often its potential is underutilized. The following tips ensure high landing page optimization.
- Know the Audience – Identify the specific audience- know their problems and requirements. The design and content of the landing page should be in accordance with that. Craft the message such that it is easily understood by the target audience and appeal them. Test the message and refine it to make it relevant.
- Headline Matters – A headline is a driving force as it impacts the conversion rate. It should attract the attention of your target audience. Almost 36 percent success of any landing page is contributed by the headlines. Make it short (the length should be within 10 to 20 words), engaging and let it highlight the crux of your campaign. Investing on headlines will yield you high profits.
- Persuasive Subheadline – A subheadline makes a target audience stay. So, make it persuasive and add more depth than mentioned in the headline. The trick is- just push the headline a bit further and it will lure the target audience to stay on the landing page.
- Use Bullet Points – On the online media visitors, skim the content. Long paragraphs will give your page a cluttered look, turn-off the visitors and lower the conversion rates. Replace the long paragraphs with bullets and if research findings are to be believed true, your conversion rate will increase by almost 40 percent.
- Benefits or value proposition – State the benefits, best features of your service or product and the value proposition clearly, it will answer the question of target audiences “what is in this for me”. These benefits or value proposition attracts the customers to the page.
- Highlight Call-to-Action button – Your Call-to-action button should be above the fold to attract the attention of visitors. It should stand out from the other contents in the landing page. A different colored registration form, bright colored button will attract the attention of visitors. You can also embed the form or button in the bottom of the page so that the CTA button does not go unnoticed.
- Images work – Meaningful and relevant images improves the conversion rate. But, you have to use it wisely or it will affect the conversion rate. An image is an effective tool for conveying your message or benefits of your service or product.
- Give Irresistible Offers – Your aim is lead generation and you want your visitors to take the action just now. Within the first few seconds on the page, if a visitor finds a lucrative discount that the competitors are not offering, the chances of conversion manifolds. The offers should be specific and the visitors can use right away.
- Urgency and Scarcity Motivates – For eCommerce this is an important factor. Showing the scarcity of a product motivates the readers to take action fast or they will miss the opportunity. Best landing pages often showcase real-time count of products or how fast the sale will end.
- Offers are Value for Money – A good deal attracts all. When a visitor sees something that is worth the money they spend, chances are there that they will take the desired action. Research prove that few visitors even bookmark the same so that they can refer to it later.
- No Distracting Links – Once you have defined the action that you intend your target audience to take, make sure there are no addition links, buttons or menus. There should be no clutter on the page to deviate your visitors from the message or let them navigate away.
- Testimonials – Trusting the product or service is important. A testimonial from authentic and real users instills that trust. Testimonials from celebrities are great but these might not be consistent with the brand image or relevant to the target audience. Images of users with the testimonial infuse trust, use of real numbers and specifications can also be effective.
- Consistent with Brand Image – In no way should the landing page differ from your brand image and identity. The look and feel- color, font used in the landing page should be consistent with the website to reinforce brand identity and awareness.
A landing page is an effective marketing and lead generation tool. Implementing the above-mentioned tactics will assure better optimization and conversion.
Source: high performing landing pages
How to make a Good Landing Page?
The landing page has a single purpose- taking the visitors to an intended marketing process. There are few nitty-gritty that the marketers should take heed of if they want their landing page to convert as expected.
Create landing page in HTML – To design landing pages from the scratch, designers need to know both HTML and CSS. Different HTML tags are used for placing the brand logo, headline, images, lists, bullet and CTA buttons. Different elements of HTML5 like semantic elements, form control attributes, multimedia elements and graphics help in creating a simple but attractive landing page. Beginners can refer to various tutorials on how to create a landing page in HTML.
Landing pages on WordPress – Marketers can even create engaging landing pages on WordPress. But the question is how to make a landing page in WordPress? There are various themes, templates, and plugins that offer great slides forms and scrolling that make designing a landing page easy. Few popular plugins for WordPress are Qards, Optimize Press, Thrive Landing, WP landing, and Beaver Builder. These five plugins are responsive and mobile-friendly and easy to use. Extensive coding skill is not required with the use of these plugins.
Mobile responsive Landing Pages – Now, 60 percent of internet access is dominated by mobile web traffic. The majority of the users view landing pages on mobile rather than desktop. To improve the reach it is important to make a landing page responsive. You can use free mobile responsive landing page template with unique features and designs to generate lead and sales.
A stunning landing page will not fit the need of all the brands. Determining the perfect landing page for any brand involves various rounds of trial and error. A/B testing is a must to assure effectiveness and better experience. To accomplish the marketing goal of your brand make the landing page simple and ensure that your audience knows the action to take when they are on it.