Landing Pages The entry point to your marketing
A Landing Page is a specialized web page where traffic from digital ads, emails, blog links, main site pages, etc. is initially directed.
Think of it like a reception area.
Homepage or landing page? Can’t I just use my homepage or another page on the website?
Yes, you could use a main site page as a landing page…but you probably shouldn’t!
A homepage (and pretty much any other type of primary website page) is usually designed to provide information on the page topic and multiple links to associated material. Besides providing valuable content that people will (hopefully) appreciate, having good site flow with multiple entrance and exit points is important for your SEO because it keeps people engaged on the site.
There are 3 main ways that landing pages differ from standard web pages:
- Limited navigation. Landing pages should optimally have 2 links—1 in and 1 out—with a single, clear call to action (CTA). This simplifies the user experience by reducing the number of potentially confusing choices, which reduces the time and effort required of visitors to take the desired action…and we want to make it as easy as possible.
- Speed. Online users, especially mobile users, run out of interest extremely quickly. If they’re clicking on the ad, we only have their attention for about another 5-10 seconds before we lose them. The page should load in about 2 seconds. After that, conversion rates start to drop off.
- Creative aligned to the advertisements. Because ad-driven traffic will often be unfamiliar with your company, they need near-instant reassurance after they click on an ad that they’re in the right place. To provide this assurance, landing pages should closely match the ad creative (imagery, fonts, messaging, etc.).
The purpose of a landing page is to convert traffic.
Digital ads will draw users to the landing page. From there, it will be the quality of the landing pages that drives those users to make a purchase, fill out a form or take some other action that you want them to take. In web analytics parlance, when people take these desired actions, it’s called a conversion.
To facilitate conversions from digital ad clicks, landing pages should contain eye-catching imagery and just enough relevant information to compel visitors to take further action. The page should be uncluttered, mobile optimized, include a clear call-to-action (CTA) and provide the easiest way possible for interested customers to take the next step.
There are several different types of landing pages. Here are a few of the more common varieties:
| Purpose | Use | |
|---|---|---|
| Lead Capture (Squeeze Page) | Gather personal data (primarily email) | Top-funnel tactic, often promoting a lead magnet (item offered in exchange for providing an email address). |
| Splash Page | Inform visitors about something (offer, new exhibit, etc.) | Precedes a main web page and doesn’t usually include a form fill. |
| Microsites | Promote a specific product or service with focused content. | Multiple-pages, supplemental to main website, used for larger campaigns. |
| Click-Through | “Warm up” visitors before directing them to a conversion page. | Typically a bottom-funnel tactic placed just before the credit card (sales) page. |
| Sales Page | Facilitate a sale. | Bottom-funnel tactic, usually promoting a single offer. |
| Mahalo Page | Provide feedback and additional information/direction after a user converts. | The bottom of the funnel. Confirms form or order submission, tells people what to expect next and says "thank you". |
Typical layout for a squeeze-type landing page:
Static vs. Dynamic Landing Pages
It is possible to build landing pages on the main website domain. We call these “static” landing pages because they don’t do anything beyond what a standard web page does. However, because these pages already reside on the website, they are usually much easier to create and don’t require additional work to integrate into the funnel.
“Dynamic” landing pages are built and hosted using 3rd party platforms. These platforms provide a much more robust set of analytics tools and other features than website builders. Typical advanced features include native mobile-optimization, split (A/B) testing and dynamic text replacement (matches ad content to page copy). The page builders tend to be streamlined, with fewer formatting “bells and whistles” than many web builders. This is by design to keep them lean and fast.
Most landing page builders include application programming interfaces (API) which allow the pages to “talk” with 3rd party platforms such as email managers, ad platforms, CRMs, analytics tools, marketing automation tools, etc.). So, for example: a user clicks on your ad and is taken to the landing page where they fill out a form. Their information is then recorded in your CRM or email marketing manager as a new contact and the session is tracked in page performance analytics.
The downside of dynamic builders is that they are more difficult to integrate into the funnel and generally require a web developer or at least someone who is familiar with web builders, common analytics tools and basic html.
Because landing pages are so closely related to digital advertising, we offer dynamic pages as part of all our digital ad management packages. For website development projects, we typically create a static mahalo page for general use.
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