In today’s technologically advanced world, having an online presence is critical to a business’s success. By making use of a website and having a social media presence, businesses can capture consumer interest in their products or services, increasing sales while expanding their reach.
A landing page is another online tool that is often employed to attract new users to a product or service. The first use of landing pages was made by Microsoft’s tech whizzes. As the company was having a challenging time selling the new version of Windows in 2003, their IT department suggested building a stand-alone site just for Windows instead of putting the offer on the Microsoft.com website. Due to this innovation, their sales of Windows increased by 30% overnight.
When you create a landing page, you instantly separate yourself from your competition. In this blog post, we’re going to explain what a landing page is, why it’s essential for your business, and the best practices for creating a landing page.
What is a landing page?
A website is essentially a collection of pages. Website visitors see the main page, then follow the links to each page. Sometimes you see a ‘home page’ or ‘about us’ page and then a list of other pages on the landing. By definition, a landing page is a section of a website that users “land” on by clicking through a hyperlink on a different page. It is typically a single page on a website that’s been designed for a specific purpose (such as a product overview, demo, or sales pitch). Landing pages are meant to engage the visitor in a particular way, leading them to complete some sort of action.
It’s important to note that landing pages don’t replace the website’s home page where visitors can explore by clicking navigation and sub-navigation buttons and menus. Visitors usually land on a landing page after clicking on an ad, promotional link, or through a search result.
Most people understand why they need a website, but many don’t think about the importance of having a landing page for their domain. Landing pages are some of the most valuable ways to get people to take action on your website. Businesses that use landing pages can get more visitors to their website and sales on their products. Those who don’t use landing pages are missing out on a lot of opportunities to acquire customers.
Types of landing pages
Lead-generation landing pages
A landing page is part of a website that’s also dedicated to a single conversion event. A conversion event is a specific action that a visitor wants to perform, such as signing up for a newsletter, downloading a coupon, or signing up for an event.
The most common reason for creating a landing page is to capture a lead. A lead is a piece of contact information like a name and e-mail address, or sometimes a phone number or mailing address, that can be used to contact a potential customer.
There are different kinds of landing pages, used for different purposes. Some are more focused on generating leads while others aim to outright sell the product or service.
Lead capture page
A lead capture page is used to gather potential leads (visitors interested in the product or service). This type of landing page usually contains a contact form that visitors are meant to fill out with their name, email address, and/or other information. Copy on the page should clearly explain what is being offered while simultaneously persuading the visitor to fill in their details.
Lead capture pages often offer a free promotional item (such as a white paper, discount code, newsletter, etc.) in exchange for completing contact details. They are most often used to identify visitors that are already interested in the product, with the aim that future promotional contact converts these visitors into sales.
Squeeze page
A squeeze page is a more aggressive type of landing page used to gather contact information from visitors. Squeeze pages don’t allow visitors to proceed further into the website if they don’t enter their email addresses.
The copy and design of a squeeze page should be simple and straightforward. It should highlight the product or service’s offer (such as a free white paper, consultation, or other promotional items) while subtly “forcing” visitors to enter their contact information. This strategy is most often used to help marketers grow their email lists.
Sales-focused landing pages
Click-through page
A click-through page contains information that aims to inform the visitor about the offer and encourages them to click through further to reach that specific product or service via a call-to-action (CTA) button.
This type of landing page has images and copy focused on the benefits of the product or service, with the aim of convincing visitors to buy once they reach the next page (which is generally a sales page).
Pitch page
A pitch page is specifically created to promote the product, rather than generate leads. This type of landing page is straightforward, listing the benefits of the product or service using bullet points to quickly capture the visitor’s attention.
Pitch pages may have CTAs that encourage the visitor to purchase or further explore. They are generally simple, but persuasive in their design and copy.
Sales page
A sales page represents a standalone page that intends to sell a product or a service. This type of landing page is meant to be very persuasive, encouraging visitors to make their purchase right away. A sales page plays an essential role in your marketing and sales strategy.
Depending on what the offer is, a sales page can have a shorter or longer format. More complex or expensive offers might require a longer format that has further explanations and two CTA buttons (one at the top and another at the bottom of the page).
Visible or hidden landing pages
Landing pages can be fully integrated into a website by simply adding them into headers, footers, or other menus. “Visible” landing pages may double as a website’s main sales or lead generation page.
Alternatively, landing pages can also be “hidden” from general website visitors, made accessible only through specific ads or links that intend to direct the visitor through a set exploration path. They can also be accessed from links added to blog posts, social media accounts, and/or other content pages.
The type of landing page used by a business depends on what the page’s main purpose is. Robust or complicated products and services may choose to have multiple hidden landing pages to direct visitors down different paths, whereas more basic products may only need one or two simple landing pages to generate leads or increase sales.
Why use a landing page?
People usually go online because they need something – whether that something is a product, service, source of information, or entertaining distraction. As globalisation continues and consumer choices keep increasing, it’s very easy for visitors to get overwhelmed with all of the options available.
Numerous studies have shown that the average person has an 8-second attention span nowadays. That’s why it is becoming more and more important for businesses to have customised solutions to capture and engage consumers quickly, especially when it comes to the online world.
Attracting more visitors to your business requires you to customise your offers in order to meet the unique needs of your target audience and that’s exactly where a landing page comes in. Displaying a unified message, a landing page is one simple page with one purpose and one call to action.
Landing pages are especially effective and arguably irreplaceable when it comes to particular uses, such as:
- highlighting special offers like price reductions;
- promoting last calls for orders on specific offers;
- gathering newsletter signups;
- collecting blog subscribers;
- getting webinar registrations;
- featuring open house events;
- increasing ebook downloads;
- encouraging free product trials or demo signups;
- and other promotional uses.
What’s in landing pages that convert?
Effective landing pages are void of all distractions and help visitors focus on the particular product or service being offered. Using both professional and personal touches, this single page can convey all of the information about a product or service that the potential customer needs to make their choice.
High-converting landing pages optimize your message because they make you come up with a short, to-the-point summary that highlights the most important aspects of your product or service.
Most landing pages are made up of the following components:
- captivating headlines;
- visual aids such as relevant images and/or videos;
- clear descriptions of the unique value of a product or service;
- trust indicators like statistics, customer testimonials, client logos, etc.;
- lead generation forms;
- and a specific call to action.
Landing pages are often made to be mobile-responsive, targeting mobile visitors more effectively than a full-fledged website. When doing landing page development, it’s important to analyse where your business gets most of its conversions from (desktop or mobile?) and then building your campaign accordingly to target particular segments of pages visitors.
A domain name is another thing to consider when carrying out landing page development. The name of your one-page website should be memorable and best describe what your brand is about to attract potential customers. To come up with a good domain name, you can benefit from domain name generators such as the best domain name generators hostinger that provide great and relevant name suggestions based on your keywords.
You can choose to promote your landing pages through both paid and unpaid channels such as Google AdWords, social media ads, mailing lists, guest blogging opportunities, and other available options.
Create a business landing page today!
A converting landing page is an online tool that can be extremely beneficial to your business by increasing the number of potential customers. Landing pages focus on targeted audiences and provide visitors with easy, direct access to a product or service they’re interested in. They are customised to keep visitors engaged with the offer, encouraging them to perform a desired action and boosting sales. In addition, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, because you can always use the best templates that already exist on the page market.
Research has shown that businesses who make use of 40 or more landing pages generate ten times more leads than those with less than 4 landing pages. If you’re not using landing pages to promote your product or service, you could be missing out on a great marketing opportunity!
Wondering how to start using landing pages for your business? Or need help improving the design of your landing page strategy? Visit our Dribbble page for inspiration or contact us for more information.