What is a landing page?
A landing page is essentially that – a place for your prospect or visitor to “land” when they visit your website, especially when you want them to take a certain action. That action is usually filling out a form in response to a call-to-action they might have received from your email, a paid ad, your blog, or some other communication that drove the visitor to your site.
Many organizations use social media, email, blogs and other mediums as part of their communications to prospects and their efforts to drive visitors to their website. But unfortunately, when trying to get visitors to engage with them, they often simply point the visitor to their homepage. Once on the homepage, the visitor may be overwhelmed with information, not be sure where to go next – or worse, take no action and simply bounce off the page.
The goal with a landing page is to provide a clear message, a valuable download that is exactly what the visitor was looking for – and, at the same time, capture their information via a form for further, targeted communications.
Landing pages should be a key component to any demand generation and digital inbound marketing plan.
Landing pages are all about conversions. With landing pages you’re able to provide relevant information to a specific group of visitors that find your offers meaningful…and therefore, more likely to continue to engage with you.
Here are 7 tips to get you started with Landing Pages:
- Create a strong headline
Like with any content, a strong and intriguing headline is the first thing your reader will see. Make your offer clear and compelling. Don’t assume that your visitor understands the value of your offer or what steps you want them to take. Make that as clear as possible in your headline.
- Build in a trust factor
When visitors come to your site via a call-to-action they may not know much about your organization. After all, we’re using landing pages in most cases to attract new customers. So try to build trust into your copy and page whenever possible. A short testimonial, quick review, security seals or links to your privacy policy all will help reduce the risk some visitors may feel in providing you information via your form.
- Keep your form simple
Your landing page, in most cases, will include a form. Don’t ask for too much information on your form and give your visitor reasons for not continuing. In most cases, the shorter your form the more leads you will get. The longer the form, you’ll get less, but more qualified leads. This formula isn’t true in every case, so our recommendation is to ask for the basics only. If you have a marketing automation system in place, you’ll be able to continue to engage with the visitor. As you build trust and confidence, you’ll continue to get additional information from them in the future – when they feel more comfortable giving you that information.
- Avoid clutter on your landing page
Like your form – simple is better. A common mistake in building landing pages is to put too much information about your organization on the page. You’re not trying to tell the entire story of your organization, how great you are, all your benefits, etc., etc., on this page. Remember your goal with this landing page is to create a conversion. Not close a sale. Keep your message simple and you’ll get more conversions.
- Be consistent
Make sure the copy you use in your call-to-action is the same copy your visitor will find on your landing page. Be consistent with your headlines as well. Visitors will often glance quickly at your landing page – if they are confused, or think a bait/switch is in play – they’ll quickly leave.
- Limit the navigation
Remember, the goal of your landing page is to get a particular action. If you give your visitor multiple options, or your full navigation menu, you’ve sabotaged your own landing page by creating unnecessary distractions that will limit the conversions.
- Don’t forget to test
Creating the right offer, the right visual and clear, concise copy isn’t always accomplished on the first pass. Finding the right combination may take a series of tests to get the most conversions from your page.
Tags: Landing Pages
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