You might have heard marketers talk about ‘landing pages’ for your website, especially if you’re running a promotion or sale. But what is a landing page and what are they used for? Our simple guide takes you through the details.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a web page, often on your site, which serves a specific purpose and includes a ‘call to action’, often to do with:
Landing pages are also specific places people can ‘land’ on when directed from elsewhere (for example, through emails or social media).
What’s the purpose of a landing page?
You can use a landing page to get visitors to complete a ‘call to action’, such as signing up to a newsletter with their email address, giving you a phone call or encouraging them to purchase a specific product.
A landing page is generally separate from your main website and doesn’t have any links taking you to another page. This is so people ‘landing’ on the landing page have limited options to explore, to increase the chance of them completing the next action you want them to do.
Using a landing page also means you can track where people are coming from and what they’re doing on the page much more easily. This is because visitors to this page have only come from a limited number of places – for example, your email marketing – and because there’s limited information on the page itself.
What’s the difference between a landing page and a home page?
The home page of your website will probably have plenty of information on it, like links to your blog, social media, your contact details and links to other pages on your website. A landing page doesn’t have this.
A landing page is generally used for a specific sales or marketing campaign, so it’s much more tailored to your visitor and what they expect to see than a home page. It’s also much more focused on your visitor completing just one action, rather than lots of different ones.
When should I use a landing page?
A general rule is if you want your audience to do something specific (for example, signing up to a newsletter) then using a landing page is a good idea. If you want people to explore your website, don’t use a landing page – send them to your home page instead, or another relevant web page.
What should I include on a landing page?
It’s important everything on your landing page directs visitors to the ‘call to action’, whether that’s downloading a voucher, signing up to a newsletter or buying something from the sale.
Your landing page should exactly match the information you’ve given people when you encouraged them to visit. For example, if you sent a tweet saying “20% off summer dresses” and linked to a landing page, that landing page should repeat that message and include further details – otherwise visitors will be very confused.
You can use text, images, video and good design to improve your landing page, but don’t make it too cluttered. The point is to get people to complete the ‘call to action’ so focus your attention on that.
Make your ‘call to action’ very clear and concise. You need to give clear instructions on what visitors need to do. Here are some examples:
The ‘call to action’ is the most important part of a landing page, so spend time working on the best way to encourage people to complete that action.
A landing page is a useful tool if you’re running specific marketing or sales campaigns. It can push your visitor towards completing a specific ‘call to action’, such as signing up to an email list or buying a product, without the distractions of your full website. Make sure your landing pages do what you say they will so people aren’t confused, plus keep them clear and to the point for the best results.
For more information on website must-haves, take a look at these articles:
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