Difference between revisions of "Learn/The-Importance-of-a-Landing-Page"

Latest revision as of 07:26, 6 May 2014

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A destination for ad clicks

When you're about to launch a new marketing campaign, creating a special landing page on your site should be at the top of your list.

What Is a Landing Page?

A landing page is a page on your website that you link people to for a specific purpose.

Marketers often create a new landing page as the destination for people who click on a particular advertisement.

The example below shows the landing page you reach when you click on a Tassimo ad. If you look closely, you can see that the URL for the landing page has the word "promotions" in it. This indicates the page was designed for the company's ad campaign.

Why Use a Landing Page?

Your website’s home page is the place to tell the world who you are and what you do. If you link people to your home page from an ad, you'll either force people to search around on your site for what the ad promised, or you'll have to put your promotion on your home page. A big promotion on your home page can dilute your primary message and confuse some of your visitors.

Using a special landing page for each marketing campaign or ad provides a better experience for your visitors. It's also a good way to get people to focus on your offering, without other distractions.

What To Include on a Landing Page

A landing page should include a brief overview of the product or service it's promoting. The page should include enough information for a visitor to decide right then and there that they want to purchase the product, or should provide a way to learn more.

You must decide what you want from people visiting the landing page. Do you want them to:

Buy a specific product right now?
Request information so you can capture their email address or other contact information?
Download a trial version of your product?
Watch a demo video?

Including a call to action and a button to click will help you convert visitors - that is, get them to do what you want. In the example below, the call to action is quite obvious: Wirefly wants to find out if you're in their service area before they even start trying to sell you a phone or phone plan.

A call-to-action button can say almost anything, but it should urge action in language such as “Contact Us Today!” or “Click here to order...” or "Learn more."

Writing a Landing Page URL

It's a good idea to create an easily remembered URL for a landing page:

http://www.YourWebsite.com/campaign-name/

First-time visitors to your landing page will get there by clicking on an ad or other link, so the URL won't matter to them. But if someone wants to return to the page, they might try to find it in their bookmarks, in the drop-down menu of their browser's navigation bar, or by using a search engine. A simple, memorable URL can really help these folks recognize the page quickly.

Using an Existing Page as a Landing Page

You don't have to create a new landing page to make your ads effective. If you want somebody to buy a specific product, and you have a page for that product already, you can use it as the landing page.

But don't be careless about it. You don't want someone to click on your ad for HealthyPet Fur Conditioner and land on a catalog page that's filled with images of many different products. Your prospective customer might get confused, or feel impatient and click away without searching for the fur conditioner.

Here's an example of a product page that works well as a landing page. Why? Because the product image is large and clear, and the call to action is obvious: "Add to Cart."

Some companies go as far as purchasing a separate domain name a high-priority landing page. This can be useful if you want to create a distinct identity for the product and the campaign.

It is, however, a strategy that's most suitable for a big company that already has a strong brand, not to mention plenty of cash. Investing in a new domain name, creating a separate website, maintaining it, creating the marketing campaign and analytics - all of this adds up. Plus, if the campaign is successful, lots of SEO (search engine optimization) benefit will accrue to the product-specific site - but not to the company's own site.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | Name = Kristin Page
 | Header = The%20Importance%20of%20A%20Landing%20Page
-| Subhead = Launch your campaign from a landing page
+| Subhead = A destination for ad clicks
 | Bitly = http://bit.ly/AdLandPage
-| Date = January 8, 2011
+| Date = January 19, 2011
 }}
+==A destination for ad clicks==
+----
+<big>When you're about to launch a new marketing campaign, creating a special landing page on your site should be at the top of your list.</big>
-When starting a new marketing campaign there are a few things to consider and creating an online landing page is at the top of the list.
+==What Is a Landing Page?==
+----
+A landing page is a page on your website that you link people to for a specific purpose.
-A landing page is a page on your website dedicated to one product or service. Landing pages are often created specifically to support one ad or marketing campaign.
+Marketers often create a new landing page as the destination for people who click on a particular advertisement.
-[[Image:ATT .png|390px|right]]
-'''Why is a landing page important?'''<br>Your website’s homepage is the place to tell the world who you are and what you do. Using your homepage for ads doesn’t provide the best user experience for your visitors. A landing page lets you highlight the when, where, and why of your specific offering.
+The example below shows the landing page you reach when you click on a Tassimo ad. If you look closely, you can see that the URL for the landing page has the word "promotions" in it. This indicates the page was designed for the company's ad campaign.
-Directing visitors to a page specifically designed for ads or marketing campaigns gives visitors information about your new product or service without making them search your entire website.
+[[Image:TassimoLandingPage.png|575px]]
-'''What goes on a landing page? '''<br>Every landing page will be different. The first step is to decide what content needs to go on the landing page and what you want from people visiting the page.
+==Why Use a Landing Page?==
+----
+{{SiteReportMedRecAd}}[[Home Page Analysis|Your website’s home page]] is the place to tell the world who you are and what you do. If you link people to your home page from an ad, you'll either force people to search around on your site for what the ad promised, or you'll have to put your promotion on your home page. A big promotion on your home page can dilute your primary message and confuse some of  your visitors.
-* Do you want them to become new customers?
+Using a special landing page for each marketing campaign or ad provides a better experience for your visitors. It's also a good way to get people to focus on your offering, without other distractions.
-* Do you want them to renew a membership?
-* Do you want them to walk away with specific information?
-Most landing pages include a call to action button that invites visitors to do something. This helps a company gain new customers and encourage existing customers to request more information.
+==What To Include on a Landing Page==
+----
+A landing page should include a brief overview of the product or service it's promoting. The page should include enough information for a visitor to decide right then and there that they want to purchase the product, or should provide a way to learn more.
-A call to action button might say, “Contact Us Today!” or “Click here to order...” By having a call to action button you are making it easy for a customer to find the product or service they want. Some call to action buttons lead the visitor to a contact forms so the company can contact them with more information.
+You must decide what you want from people visiting the landing page. Do you want them to:
-Some landing pages simply show a "call to action button" that takes visitors to a contact information form. After filling out the form, all they have to do is wait for an answer.
+* Buy a specific product right now?
+* Request information so you can capture their email address or other contact information?
+* Download a trial version of your product?
+* Watch a demo video?
-'''Where Do You Put a Landing Page?'''<br>Creating a unique, yet easy to remember URL for your landing page is key to getting visits. For a landing page directly off of your company's website the URL should look something like this:
+Including a call to action and a button to click will help you [[Learn/Design-Your-Website-for-Conversion|convert visitors]] - that is, get them to do what you want. In the example below, the call to action is quite obvious: Wirefly wants to find out if you're in their service area before they even start trying to sell you a phone or phone plan.
-	http://www.yourwebsite.com/campaign-name/
-Some companies go as far as purchasing a domain name for some of their higher priority landing pages. This makes the URL even easier to remember. It can be associated directly with the campaign and will not necessarily need to be associated with the company.
+[[Image:WireflyCallToAction.png|375px]]
-Have you had a chance to create a landing page? Did it help your company with marketing? Feel free to share your experience below!
+A call-to-action button can say almost anything, but it should urge action in language such as “Contact Us Today!” or “Click here to order...” or "Learn more."
+==Writing a Landing Page URL==
+----
+It's a good idea to create an easily remembered [[Glossary/URL|URL]] for a landing page:
+<nowiki>http://www.YourWebsite.com/campaign-name/</nowiki>
+First-time visitors to your landing page will get there by clicking on an ad or other link, so the URL won't matter to them. But if someone wants to return to the page, they might try to find it in their bookmarks, in the drop-down menu of their browser's navigation bar, or by using a search engine. A simple, memorable URL can really help these folks recognize the page quickly.
+==Using an Existing Page as a Landing Page==
+----
+You don't have to create a new landing page to make your ads effective. If you want somebody to buy a specific product, and you have a page for that product already, you can use it as the landing page.
+But don't be careless about it. You don't want someone to click on your ad for HealthyPet Fur Conditioner and land on a catalog page that's filled with images of many different products. Your prospective customer might get confused, or feel impatient and click away without searching for the fur conditioner.
+Here's an example of a product page that works well as a landing page. Why? Because the product image is large and clear, and the call to action is obvious: "Add to Cart."
+[[Image:VibramFiveFingers.jpg|400px]]
+Some companies go as far as purchasing a separate domain name a high-priority landing page. This can be useful if you want to create a distinct identity for the product and the campaign.
+It is, however, a strategy that's most suitable for a big company that already has a strong brand, not to mention plenty of cash. Investing in a new domain name, creating a separate website, maintaining it, creating the marketing campaign and analytics - all of this adds up. Plus, if the campaign is successful, lots of [[Glossary/SEO|SEO]] (search engine optimization) benefit will accrue to the product-specific site - but not to the company's own site.
 {{LearnBottomBio
 | Writer         = KristinPage
@@ Line 41: / Line 70: @@
 | Image         = Image:KristinPage.png
 | AuthorWebsite = KristyPage.net
-| ShortBio      = Kristin Page is a project manager at Golden Technologies [[Golden-Tech.com]]<small> Ms. Page has a special interest in SEO, Blogging, Social Media, and Internet Marketing. She has been involved in web design of a variety of forms since 1998. Have a question for Ms. Page? Contact her [[User:Kristin_Page|here]]...</small>
+| ShortBio      = Kristin Page is a project manager at [[Golden-Tech.com|Golden Technologies]], an information technology services company based in Valparaiso, Indiana. Kristin has been involved with web design since 1998 and is interested in SEO, blogging, social media and Internet marketing.
 }}