Landing pages are one of the most effective online marketing tools you have in your arsenal. Effective landing pages can increase conversion rates, capture more emails, and ultimately, grow your sales. However, they can be confusing. In this article, we’ll cover the diverse uses of landing pages and break down their key components to understand how and why they work.
Landing Page Basics
A landing page is a page that readers are directed to after clicking (or typing in) the link to an offer. These are dedicated pages, built for specific marketing campaign, with one purpose: to drive conversion—whether it’s an online user converting into a lead, a lead converting into a customer, or a customer converting into a rewards program member.
How Landing Pages Work
Landing pages are a page on your website, but they are different the typical pages on your website. They aren’t typically found in the navigation menu of your website, unless you have a main offer that is central to your marketing efforts like a free trial or consultation. Landing pages also aren’t easily stumbled upon when a website visitor is browsing through your website. Rather, you land on them by clicking or typing in a link to a specific offer.
Landing pages work best when they are easily distinguished from other website pages. You might distinguish them via:
• URL – with something like: yourdomain.com/landing-page/your-offer, or
• Domain – with something like offers.yourdomain.com/your-offer
Here’s an example of one of our landing pages, which you will see is distinguished by “landing-page” in its URL:
Being able to isolate your landing pages makes it easy for you to add plugins, calls to action, or other features like live chat to those pages. It also allows for easier reporting and data collection to find out which campaigns are performing best.
Most marketing platforms and content management systems offer a landing page service that makes it easy for you to design templates and track their performance.
How Landing Pages Work with Marketing Campaigns
Landing pages dedicated to specific campaigns help to guide the audience through the action you want them to take, to continue on their journey through your sales/marketing funnel. Let’s a take a closer look at the specific ways you can use landing pages for your business.
Purchases
If you have a product or service that you’re actively promoting through marketing campaigns, landing pages are perfect for giving potential customers the detailes they need to justify making a purchase.
Free Trials
Free trials give customers a chance to test drive your product or service in hopes that they will make the purchase once it’s ended. Landing pages are ideal for making these kinds of offers and include the extra information that influences their decision-making.
Demos
If your product or service is a little more complex, a demo gives you the opportunity to set up an over-the-phone, shared screen, or in-person demonstration of how it solves a problem and adds value. Landing pages can be used to outline the features and benefits that will be explored during the demo.
Free Content Downloads
Valuable information is central to an effective content marketing strategy. Create landing pages for each piece of content that your website visitors can download for free, such as eBooks, pocket guides, and webinar recordings. This way you can capture their email address or phone number and convert them into a lead. You can also increase their chances of downloading the content by pointing out the value they’ll get out of it.
Events
Landing pages work nicely with event marketing, They can be used to build interest, capture registrations, generate leads, and even capitalize on lead-generating offers after the event.
Blog & Email Subscriptions
There are few better ways to grow a loyal following of potential customers than by offering consistent, high-quality content. If you can deliver on this, readers will be more inclined to continue reading. A well-designed landing page that tells users exactly what they can expect by signing up, works to increase your subscribers.
How to Make Landing Pages Work
So it’s clear that landing pages work with a diverse range of marketing activities and work to drive conversions, but that doesn’t mean they will work optimally without some effort on your part. Here are some tips on how to make landing pages work for your business.
1. Optimize the Initial Marketing Campaign
Landing pages drive conversion, but only if the initial campaign is driving traffic to them. It’s important that you spend just as much time focusing on the design of the initial piece of content that promotes your offer and landing page. Be sure to carefully craft (and test) the copy for the ad or post, the call to action, and any other visual elements.
2. Perfect the Landing Page
Make sure you adhere to landing page best practices. Strategically write and place the necessary information that will help the visitor to convert with confidence. Highlight the key benefits and answer any questions that may come up in the reader’s mind. Make sure your call to action aligns with the call to action in the initial piece of content, is easily visible, and makes clear to the visitor what clicking on it means.
3. Track the Results
The true beauty of landing pages is the easy ability to track their results. With the unique tracking codes that get applied to each visitor, you’ll be able to see which campaigns are performing the best so you can determine what’s working and what’s not. This gives you invaluable insight for further optimizing your landing page to convert the best. 5. Post-Conversion Marketing Once the reader performs the desired CTA, it’s good practice to follow up with a simple “thank you” page or email. This will help to reinforce their purchase decision and make them feel like they are a valued customer. Buyer’s remorse most commonly sets in directly after a purchase, so you can use this strategy to settle that concern. A Quick Recap Hopefully, by now, you have a better understanding of the different ways that landing pages can be used, as well as an effective outline to help you build your own. As with anything, if it’s your first time, it’s going to take a little bit of trial and error to see what works best with your target market and product or service. As your skills increase and you gain more experience with the different kinds of landing pages, you’ll be well on your way to reaping the benefits of increased conversions with this powerful tool.
4. Create a Thank You Page
Once the reader performs the desired CTA on the landing page, it’s good practice to follow up with a simple “thank you” page or email. This will help to reinforce their purchase decision and make them feel like they are a valued customer. It also serves to provide a sense of closure and confidence that the purchase or action is complete.
Landing pages can be confusing at first, and take some trial and error, but once you get past those initial hurdles, you will be equipped with a powerful marketing tool that works to grow your business.
