Remaining competitive in the world of online marketing is a challenge that many businesses are facing today. The online sales rate is only increasing and online competition is fierce. Most organizations are not only learning how to develop a strong online presence, but are also working to generate traffic and convert that traffic into leads or sales. The landing page is a powerful tool used by businesses to monetize online traffic successfully.
A landing page is essentially a web page that is optimized for landing users from various online marketing campaigns and specifically designed to convert those users. Typically landing pages are not linked from the site’s navigation or sitemap.
The effectiveness of a landing page is measured by its conversion rate, or the rate in which a visitor lands on the page and takes action. It can be used to market a product or service, advertise a contest or promote an event. It is a powerful tool because it allows companies to be extremely targeted when tailoring their messaging to a specific audience.
For example, if your company is marketing a new product, it may be more effective to send traffic to a landing page specific to the product, instead of directing traffic to the main website. The main website may list other products or services which could cause the visitor to become quickly distracted or lost, or even bored. The focused messaging of a landing page could help drive user engagement and capture the desired conversion.
There are several fundamentals that go into creating an effective landing page; we’ve listed some of the essential ones below:
WRITING TIPS
Keep it Simple
Keep the page copy concise and digestible. Users typically read the first and last paragraphs before diving into the middle of the page. It’s more effective to bullet out important points and leave out the fluff. It’s also good to speak in the second person and explain exactly how your service is going to benefit the reader.
Matching Language
Headlines and page copy should reference the ad copy that sent the user to the landing page. This will keep the page more familiar and engaging for the user. If you say 20% off the product on the banner that sent the visitor to the landing page, then the landing page should also say 20% off to keep the customer experience consistent.
Clear Call to Action
Prevent your reader from getting lost on the page by creating a clear call to action. Make sure the page copy is persuasive enough to guide the reader right to it. Best practice is to have a minimum of two conversion points per page. It is also effective to provide incentives for your visitors to convert such as sending them a white paper or report once they have completed the conversion.
Communicate, don’t Advertise
The focal point of your landing page should always be to communicate, not to advertise. Advertising should get users to click the link to your landing page, but then your landing page itself should provide valuable information that clarifies the value of your offering.
DESIGN TIPS
Above the Fold
For landing pages, it’s important to keep as much content as you can above the fold in order to make the conversion as easy as possible. The user should not have to scroll far on a landing page to find the main message. Make sure your conversion point is at the top of the page and pops right out for the user to see.
Remove the Navigation
Consider removing the main navigation from the landing page. This could be distracting for the visitor and may cause them to overlook the conversion calls to action. The narrowing of navigation options you present to the user will help funnel them to where it is you want them to go. You can link to main areas of your site through footer links so you’re not completely restricting users who seek to visit other domain pages.
Properly Branded
Is your landing page properly branded? As important as it is to keep your brand consistent across all platforms (including your landing pages), it is just as important to use graphics carefully. Don’t use any images or graphics that will distract the visitor. Again, keep the page simple.
Supporting Material
If you’re marketing a service or product, then include awards or portfolio images on the landing page as supporting material.
On-Page Optimization
Use proper on-page optimization tactics to help your landing page achieve higher rankings in search engines. On-page optimization helps reinforce a page’s content theme through incorporating the target keyword phrase throughout various areas of the page. But, if you do not want the page returned in the natural search results because it’s only meant to be visited from certain campaigns, then be sure to block it in a robots.txt file and a place a noindex tag on the page.
EFFECTIVENESS OF A LANDING PAGE
All of the fundamentals listed above play into the result of the visitor completing the process that you have lined up (purchase, subscription, download, sign-up, etc.). It is how well you execute on these aspects that will determine if the landing page is successful or ineffective.
Contact Verndale today and find out how you can take full advantage of an effective landing page.