Landing page – what is it and how it differs from a website?

A landing page works as the first port of call for your audience, it’s the first page that attracts them to your business – so make it count! Landing pages are separate to your website and despite some confusion are very different to a home page.

To start any successful marketing campaign you must have a strong landing page to attract your audience. There is no navigation, which means there are no links for potential customers to get distracted by, your offering will be their main focus.

Every landing page focuses on ONE aim and objective, which means you can promote a service and describe it to the customer in detail with a clear call to action. The call to action will direct your client on ‘what to do next.’ Many landing pages feature an email button or subscription to a newsletter, by providing them with a short form to fill out, and a concise description of what they are signing up for. For example ‘monthly offers’ or ‘new services’ which will make the potential client feel more inclined to subscribe. A clear call to action will direct them through the page and convert a user into a client.

There are two types of landing pages:

• Click Through page – this acts as a warm up for the visitor, and provides them with the information about a product or service before introducing a long winded fact sheet or pricing.
• Lead generation – Highly used in leading generation advertising campaigns, for example with AdWords or Facebook. Every marketing campaign MUST have a dedicated landing page, according to Unbounce, content marketing leaders, this will maximise online conversations.

The fact

Did you know that if your homepage has 50 links, then a visitors attention ratio is 2% compared to 100% with a single call to action? This is why landing pages focus on ONE call to action, to hold the visitors attention. Click on the example to see website VS landing page.

What makes a landing page stand out?

Headlines are an important key element for all landing pages and advertisements. It’s what grabs the visitor to click on the link. By using message match it means your headline on the online advert, search enquiry or TV advert MUST match the headline on the website. Message match is an essential tool for you landing page to reinforce the message presented on the link.

When a potential client is using a search engine, he will use keywords in order to search for a product or service that he is looking for. If your headline matches his keywords then you have a greater chance that he will direct himself onto your website.

Your personal secretary – Virtual Phone Numbers

The landing page will provide the owner with accurate statistics and logs of how many clients filled out forms and made enquiries through the landing page. But what about Virtual Phone Numbers? Well this is the clever part, you can use multiple numbers for different campaigns! This is effectively track your results, and help you decide whether the campaign works or not.

Stay connected with your clientele

A/B testing makes sure you’re targeting your audience to its best potential. It’s a way of comparing two types of copy against each other. Typically the page is duplicated, with small amendments made to it, such as different headlines or repositioning the call-to-action element. From there it will assess the incoming traffic and divide it accordingly, for example 50% to variant A and 50% to variant B.

The conversion to each page is measured, and from there the page with the lower conversions will be dropped. This is a great way to test out the nature of your ideas in the natural environment.

What should my landing page include?

Make sure your landing page has an element of uniqueness to it. Every marketing campaign should address a specific target market, with the offer broadcasted on the landing page. Allow your audience to understand your product, by splitting up the elements on it, to show the advantages more clearly. It should be fresh and different, but still following the basic structure:

Part 1: Grab the reader

• A catchy headline that matches what was clicked
• A supportive subheader that divulges extra information
• A reinforcement statement to maintain interest
• Your closing argument of why you should by the product

Part 2: Hero Shot – Photo or video

The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” definitely applies here, as it’s very important for high converting landing pages to feature pictures. The main photo should represent your business, product and service.
If you decide to opt for a video then make sure it address the key importance at the beginning, whilst not being too long.

Paint the picture for you client – make them envision using your product or service.

Part 3: The advantages

Back up your unique offer, by providing a list of benefits for the visitor.
You can use three locations to do is: 3A – main and most important features. Keep it short, concise and straight to the point.
3B – top benefits and detailed description of the services or product uses. You should detail why they should buy it and how it will benefit them. Also what are the advantages against the competition products?

Part 4: Testimonials and reviews

As they say ‘the proof is in the pudding’ but in this case the proof is in the reviews and recent buyers.
Real feedback and real people will push your visitor into buying the product/service
Ask existing customers to provide you with feedback.

Part 5: Converting a visitor into a customer

A key role of a high converting landing page is changing the visitors into buyers.
This can be achieved by providing enquiries forms, calling your business directly, sending an email or subscribing to a service which will entail provide you with their email address.

Make sure you have a clear layout and call-to-action in place, for the visitor to easily contact you. The online traffic and direct contact you gather from the landing page will show you the effectiveness of your page. At Sites For Business, we strongly suggest that you use virtual phone numbers as they do not require large investments and allow you to track the effectiveness of campaigns. Tracking the number of enquiries from contact forms won’t be difficult as enquiries arrive to the specified email address.

In conclusion…

Never start a marketing without a dedicated landing page! It has to be very specific to the product or service you want to advertise. High converting landing pages can be deployed cost efficiently and they will allow you to measure your results. There is famous quote of Henry Ford “I know at least half of my advertising budget works… I just don’t know which half”. Landing pages allow you to solve this issue by allowing you to measure results and make decisions.

Do you advertise your business online, but never used landing pages before? We are here to help you with your online advertising. Call now on 02380 011718 to consult.

Sources: http://unbounce.com