Why You Need Landing Pages

The term “landing page” is commonly used in digital marketing, but it’s misleading. Technically, *any* page someone visits is a landing page. What makes a true landing page different from others on your website is the goal, which is conversion.

A landing page is all about conversions - getting a visitor to take a single action. A conversion happens when someone arrives on your landing page and takes that next step by engaging with you in some way. A few examples of conversions:

• Making a purchase in your online store
• Downloading a white paper
• Signing up for an offer, such as a free trial
• Registering for your upcoming webinar

A landing page is unique in several ways, but one aspect in which it differs from your home page or other pages on your site is how visitors end up there. Landing pages are often found via organic search results. It is also common to use mechanisms like Google AdWords to drive traffic to landing page(s).

• No navigation. This may seem counterintuitive at first, but the goal here is to make sure your landing page is free from distractions.
• A snappy headline and great copy. Make sure your site visitors are intrigued enough to stay on the page and . . . convert! The headline and copy should be a clear reflection of the offer that brought them to you.
• Images/videos that enhance the experience for your site visitors. Visual elements should serve a purpose, however - not just eye candy. According to EyeView Digital, relevant video can increase conversions by up to 86%.
• The form itself. The lead capture form should be well-organized and impossible to miss. It’s important to be critical in terms of how many fields are on the form, and whether or not they’re required. Too many form fields can significantly reduce conversions.
• Consider adding a customer quote or testimonial to build trust. The buzzword for that is “social proof,” which goes a long way in terms of conveying legitimacy.

Don’t forget to set up a “thank you” page for those generous souls who gave you their contact information in exchange for your amazing offer!

When I first started working in the world of web development, a landing page was simply a page that had sub-pages nested below it. Moreover (and I know I’m showing my age here), there was no real way to track traffic to landing pages (or any other page for that matter). Today, a landing page is an invaluable tool that definitely pulls its weight when it comes to helping you to achieve your business goals. Plus, it’s easier than ever to track performance with the plentiful data measurement tools available. You can find out how a site visitor arrived at your landing page, what browser or mobile device they used, and whether they prefer Slurpees or Icees (just kidding on that last part). You may also find that you need to do some testing with your landing pages to increase their effectiveness. Should your form live on the right side of the landing page or on the left? A/B testing lets you try it both ways and analyze your results.

A landing page is a critical part of any solid marketing plan. One of the biggest advantages is that you’ve interacted with your potential lead in a very positive way - after all, they’ve indicated an interest in your offer and they’ve voluntarily provided their contact information. It’s a win-win!  Keep in mind that you can also have multiple landing pages on your site, depending on your marketing initiatives at any given time.

There are many vendors out there providing landing page templates, many with drop-and-drag technology that’s very user-friendly. If you have an Umbraco site, you may be wondering if landing pages are an option for you. The answer: absolutely.

While we can’t speak for other Umbraco shops, at Fyin.com we work with our client-partners to determine what their needs and goals are. Then, we build feature-rich templates that allow you to choose the layout elements that you need for a particular landing page. For example, you might have two landing pages, one with video and one without. With Umbraco, it’s easy to pick the elements you need and then organize them to achieve the final product.

Once your new landing page is live, you can review your analytics periodically to see what’s working and what isn’t. If people aren’t taking that final step of filling out the form, you may need to make some tweaks. Perhaps it’s a matter of removing some fields to make the form shorter and more concise, or perhaps the form will perform better in a slightly different position on the page.

Without a doubt, landing pages are highly effective. When set up correctly, they lead directly to conversions. What’s not to love?