Converting website visitors into leads is one of the many steps in establishing a relationship with your customers. This can often be achieved through a landing page on your website, which allows you to grab hold of your visitor’s information in exchange for a special offer or product of their interest. Christina Perricone, the content strategist for HubSpot, writes that “a landing page eliminates distractions by removing navigation, competing links, and alternate options so you capture your visitor’s undivided attention.”
Many marketers confuse a landing page with a homepage, especially if there’s a form included on the homepage. It’s important to consider what makes a landing page different from other pages. Knowing these key differences can help you implement landing pages into your marketing strategy.
On this blog, we’ll go into the specifics of landing pages, including what they are and how they can help you in the long run.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a standalone page on your website that allows you to offer visitors with a valuable product or service in exchange for their contact information. Creating an effective landing page can do wonders for whichever form of traffic you want your company to focus on. For instance, if your business is promoting a white paper, a good landing page will target customers interested in the exclusive information that this document will elaborate on, leading to a high percentage of your visitors to your website into leads that you can contact, send promotional materials, and more.
What are landing pages used for?
Marketers use landing pages as a form of lead-capture, in which visitors can enter their name, email address, phone number, and more. In return for sharing their information, visitors often expect to receive some form of branded content or document such as white papers, ebooks, email newsletters, webinars, events, and free product trials. Each of these pieces of content can assist you in defining the leads you want through a landing page.
- Ebooks and whitepapers. While blog posts are a great way to introduce an interesting topic or subject related to your industry, your audience may want something that elaborates on it in greater detail. That’s where ebooks and white papers come in. With a landing page, you can use these documents to perform a lead-capture form that people can download.
- Email newsletter. Along with blog posts and white papers, you may also offer your audience with an email newsletter that they can subscribe to receive relevant content in your industry. On the blog posts on your website, we recommend using a call-to-action (CTA) that entices readers to subscribe to your newsletter. Through this CTA, visitors can be redirected to a landing page where they can enter their information in exchange for addition to your email list.
- Event registration. Industry events are another opportunity for businesses to collect important information about their audiences. Any event your company hosts should have their own landing pages to turn your visitors into leads.
- Free product trial. If you’re offering a free trial of your product or service, you can also use a landing page to your advantage. Encourage users to a page to subscribe for a free trial and have them enter their name, email address and other information you need to provide them with exceptional customer service.
- Course enrollment. You may offer your customers with certifications or educational courses about a particular topic within your industry. If so, these courses should have their own particular landing pages as well. A landing page invites interested students to sign up for a course or webinar that offers valuable insights about the industry while you capture information about them.
What are some types of landing pages?
There are many facets of a landing page that takes in numerous design elements. Because of this, there isn’t an exact “type” of landing page—instead, it varies depending on each business’s objectives. However, there are two types of landing pages that you’ll generally see:
Lead generation landing pages: known as “lead gen” or “lead capture”, these types of landing pages use a form to collect data on their potential leads, including the names and email addresses of their visitors. Some companies may offer a free ebook or special deals to further encourage the exchange of contact info from their audience.
Clickthrough landing pages: Clickthrough pages are directly implemented for sales and subscription purposes. These types of pages are typically used by ecommerce businesses due to their simple and straightforward design. In general, clickthrough pages also use a call-to-action button that redirects a customer to a checkout or transaction page.
What are a few useful tips that can help a landing page?
Once you’ve completed background research, you are ready to create a landing page that converts leads! As you may have guessed, there’s a special combination of features that can make or break your landing page. In fact, according to marketingexperiments, writing long landing pages can generate “up to 220% more leads than above the fold call-to-action (CTA).” This may or may not work for your own company’s landing pages. It’s imperative that you follow the right tips to increase your conversions on the landing page you create.
- Use an enticing headline. We’ve already talked about how important headlines are for blog posts. With landing pages, this same rule applies. You must create a headline that instantly captures your reader’s eye so that they make the decision to continue reading. Since it’s the first thing they see, you need to make sure that it conveys value and interest instantly.
- Showcase your offer’s value. You need to show how valuable your offer is in an effective way as you’re creating your landing page. You only have a span of a few seconds to do so every time a visitor explores your website. Without properly conveying your offer’s message on your landing page, you could risk losing a potential conversion.
- Remove any site navigation. When creating a landing page, you should remove any links and pages that can cause your visitor to leave the page. That way your reader can focus on your landing page’s content, leading to a potential conversion rather than a distraction by other links on your website.
- Add social media buttons. The only links and buttons you should keep on your landing page are social media buttons. Leaving these buttons on your page can encourage visitors to share it with others across multiple social media platforms. Make sure these buttons open a new tab or window instead of redirecting users away from the page.
- Include clear instructions. The copy on your landing page should be clear and concise. This may mean simplifying your copy to give visitors the best way to decide their next steps, which may help them convert.
- Proofread and revise. Credibility is key to the effectiveness of a landing page. If your copy is sloppy or riddled with errors and mistakes, visitors will likely be deterred from converting. Review the copy on your landing page as much as possible and have someone with editing experience look over it a few times.
- Test your landing page. Once you’ve built your landing page, make sure to test it out a couple of times. Click on any buttons you include, fill out the forms, download the ebook or other offers. Ensure that each step you follow makes sense and is easy to follow for a user. Also, make sure that any contact information that’s entered is stored in a secure database.
You will likely make a few changes to your landing page. When you do, be sure to change one element of your landing page and test it out to see how it performs. There’s always room for improvement with your landing pages so make the best of their usage. This method can also help you identify what affects your landing page’s performance. Once you’ve included the perfect combination of elements, your landing page can do wonderful things for your targeted traffic and advertising.