The Perfect Landing Page

(SOURCE: Reputation.com)

What Is a Landing Page?

In online marketing, a landing page is a single, standalone website page that appears in response to a viewer clicking on a search result or an advertisement. Also called “lead capture pages,” a landing page typically displays sales copy that seeks to capture a visitor’s information and is visually optimized to capture that information.

Landing pages often are linked with social media, email and search engine marketing campaigns to convert visitors into leads or sales. In lead generation efforts, the landing page will request the visitor submit contact information, usually a phone number and an email address, in an inquiry form. In sales campaigns, the landing page usually has a link that directs viewers to a shopping cart or checkout. The linked URL allows marketers to evaluate the campaign’s success by its click-through rates and conversion rate.

A common misnomer is that any website that has a form qualifies as a landing page. The definition of a landing page is that it exists solely for the purpose of capturing a visitor’s information. While a website’s home page or contact page may have a similar form, those pages exist beyond the function of capturing information.

What Makes a Landing Page Different?

(SOURCE: Wishpond)

Landing pages can serve two purposes – as a reference page and as a transactional page. The reference page presents information that is relevant to the visitor on which to make a decision. The transactional page uses persuasive copy and elements to prompt a visitor to make a purchase, which includes a form to fill out information. The visitor’s information becomes part of a mailing list with the intent of developing a customer relationship.

Though landing pages can vary because of audience, intent and product or service, Patel says there are several unifying elements that characterize successful landing pages:

• An informative headline that captures the viewer’s attention.
• A persuasive subhead.
• A visually compelling element, such as a picture.
• An explanation of the products or services.
• A value proposition.
• A logical flow of content.
• A persuasive element that identifies a negative behavior.
• A second persuasive element that provides a positive behavior.
• Testimonials, if appropriate.
• Methods of contact.
• A guarantee.
• A powerful call-to-action (para. 15-126).

The inbound marketing product specialist Hubspot cites that the typical landing page viewer tends to have a short attention span, so content needs to be clear and succinct (Hussain, para. 5). Also, landing pages should avoid visual clutter not to distract viewers. A one-second delay in page loading can result in 11 percent fewer page views, a 16 percent decrease in customer satisfaction and a 7 percent loss in conversions, according to the Aberdeen Group (Hussain, para. 9). 

The following landing pages effectively use those practices to create a brief, informative and visually appealing glimpse of their brands, leading to potentially higher conversions:

Measuring Effectiveness

When designing a landing page, marketers need to give clear messages immediately. A 2006 study from Carleton University showed that viewers leave a page within five seconds if they do not find the landing page to be engaging (“8 landing page design best practices,” para. 1).

Monitoring landing page effectiveness should occur at frequent intervals, typically monthly. Three important metrics are a call to action click-through rates; visitor-to-lead conversion rates; and lead-to-customer rates. If a company has multiple landing pages with each page having a separate call to action, companies can evaluate each page’s respective click-through rate and improve those pages with the lowest rates.

Marketers also can measure their landing page’s effectiveness by taking the cost of the landing pages and web traffic per source and dividing them by the number of conversions to calculate the cost per lead for each channel. By evaluating the landing pages with these metrics, marketers can tinker with the content and design to improve conversion rates to the optimal metrics. 

Landing pages are an effective way of reaching an audience with a highly targeted approach. A well-created landing page can reduce buyer hesitancy to try new products and services while gaining insight into the behavioral traits of existing customers by seeing to what they respond.

                                                                REFERENCES:

“8 landing page design best practices.” (n.d.) Wishpond. Retrieved May 30, 2016, from http://blog.wishpond.com/post/91777791230/8-landing-page-design-best-practices

Hussain, A. (2013, April 12). “7 key design tips for high-converting landing pages.” Hubspot. Retrieved May 30, 2016, from http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/7-landing-page-design-tips#sm.000000h4r0vj5dveugm1jlqlknefw

Patel, N. (2014, October 7). “12 essentials of having a high converting landing page.” The Daily Egg. Retrieved May 30, 2016, from https://blog.crazyegg.com/2014/10/07/landing-page-essentials/