You have probably heard a lot about landing pages in recent years. They have become more and more prominent as digital marketing has grown. These are critical when developing a marketing campaign for your website. This article will explore what a landing page is, why they are important, and some examples for inspiration.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a page that users land on when they visit your website. Simple enough, right? There are many important elements of these pages that set them apart from other pages on your website. These pages need to be optimized to get a certain result.
When a user lands on one of these special pages, they should immediately be presented with a benefit and a call to action. A call to action is what it sounds like, something that leads a visitor to take an action on your website. This is usually a button or contact form.
In online marketing, these are normally used in advertising and lead nurturing. If you are advertising, you would want to lead users to a landing page that prompts them to take a specific action. These actions might include calling your business, viewing a services page, downloading an e-book, or filling out a contact form.
Check out this landing page used by Moz to get visitors to try their content marketing tools:
This is a great landing page example. Notice how this page is different from the Moz website. This page doesn’t have navigation links, tons of text, or any information other than the benefits of using their content marketing tools.
Here are some elements of this page that make it a great landing page that is destined to get optimal conversion rates.
- This page features a clear CTA button. Using yellow and compelling text like “Try it now!” makes the button stand out and leads potential customers to sign up for a free trial.
- A benefit-driven headline is present. Their headline “Take the guesswork out of your content marketing strategy” conveys a clear benefit to using their product. You know that their tools will make planning your marketing strategy easier.
- The subheading gives a little more information about the software. You immediately learn that you can “Quickly audit, measure, and discover engaging content” with their tool.
- There is a photo that adds to the message. It gives you a small inside look into the tool before you decide to try it out.
- Moz included some additional benefits at the bottom of the page to give the user more reason to try the product.
Can you see the difference between a landing page and a normal website page? A landing page is designed to get a user to take one action. There should not be any other elements on the page that lead them away. The user should only have two options, use your call to action or exit the page.
This marketing technique is usually one of the first stages of your sales funnel and turns prospects into leads. Designing a landing page and implementing it properly can lead to increased conversions and more return on your investment when advertising.
A benefit-driven headline, a clear call to action, and simplicity are what make a good landing page.
Why are landing pages important?
These pages are important because they improve conversions by setting users up to take an action that you want them to take. If you want more downloads on your e-book or want to collect email addresses for your email marketing campaign, this is a good place to start.
There aren’t other options on the page that distract the user so they see that strong call to action and complete the action you want.
When a user lands on a regular page on your website, they are often presented with a bunch of different options. They can use your navigation links to look around your website, visit your social media pages, read blog content, or search your website. There are too many options and you don’t have control over which action a user takes.
If you are running an advertising campaign, it is critical that you use a landing page. If you spend money to send users to your home page, you will likely not get the results you’re looking for.
Many of those users will see too many options and bounce from your website. They also might just read a blog post instead of downloading the e-book that you just created.
Pro-Tip for your business:
- Create a piece of compelling content like an e-book or white paper that is beneficial to your target market. Your digital marketing consultant can help you brainstorm some ideas about what your customers want.
- Work with your web designer to create a simple, compelling landing page that drives users to download the e-book. When a user selects “Download the e-book”, collect their email address.
- Run an advertisement on Google about your new content and link that advertisement to your landing page.
- Work with your digital marketing consultant to track how your landing page is performing.
Once you implement this pro-tip, you can A/B test your landing pages and advertisements to get the best results. These are all things that your digital marketing consultant can help you with.
There are two great benefits to this pro-tip. You now have a system that you can work with to get more downloads on your content and you can simultaneously collect email addresses for your email marketing campaign.
Check out these 5 landing page examples for inspiration.
1. Shopify
This landing page is effective because it immediately lets the visitor know what benefit Shopify gives them. You know almost instantly that Shopify makes it easy to start your online e-commerce store.
They also have an email capture form field that will help them grow their email list while also getting people to sign up for their free trial. There are also more benefits that motivate users to sign up under the relevant picture.
What would I do differently?
I would make all of the text left aligned to make it easier to read. People naturally read from left to right so by left aligning the text and email form, it would make the landing page more readable.
2. Norton
This landing page for Norton Life Lock features a strong headline, a relevant subheading that adds to the headline, and a strong call to action. The yellow button both coincides with their brand colors and draws the attention of users.
Another great feature of this landing page is the special offer. Adding special offers and sales to your landing page will help convert more users. This gives added value to your offering.
What would I do differently?
The headline isn’t very benefit driven. It just tells the customer what they want and need rather than convincing them why. The headline should present a benefit to the website visitor immediately.
3. Wave
This Wave landing page makes it clear that their platform competes with Quickbooks. This specific advertising campaign was to show that their platform performs just a well as Quickbooks for free.
The best part about this landing page is how easy it is to sign up for their platform. They don’t present the user with a long sign up form, they just require your email and password. They also make it easier by giving users the option to sign up with their Google Account.
What would I do differently?
The only thing I would change about this landing page is the sign up for free button in the top right. This gives the user another option besides signing up for an account immediately on the page. The button doesn’t serve any real purpose if a user can sign up directly on the page.
4. Discover
This landing page for the Discover it Cash Back card shows clear benefits and has a very clear call to action button. The orange coincides with their brand colors but also contrasts well with all of the white space on the page. When a user lands on this page, they can quickly apply for the card.
The 4.8-star review under the call to action adds value to the offer. People love to see reviews and testimonials when they purchase something. This adds to the brand’s credibility.
What would I do differently?
The “It’s easy to apply” heading doesn’t convey any real benefit to applying. Changing that headline to something that immediately lets the user know the benefit of applying would be a good idea.
5. Experian
Much like the Wave landing page, this Experian page aims to show how their product is better than their competitor, Credit Karma. They give you a list of benefits, extremely relevant photos, and a clear call to action.
The “Boost your score for free” is a personalized call to action and it encourages more users to click the button. Personalizing your call to action can yield great results if done properly. Find a way to do something different from the normal “learn more” or “continue” calls to action. You can A/B test the different buttons to see which one works best with your audience.
What would I do differently?
I would not have included that “see how it works” button. This can decrease the conversion rate of the other button because it gives users another option other than the main call to action.
Conclusion
Landing pages are great tools for marketing campaigns. They are best used when advertising because they drive users to perform a single action. At their core, landing pages are made up of a benefit-driven headline, a call to action, and some relevant information that influences the buyer to complete the call to action.
If you have been thinking about advertising and need help navigating AdWords or Facebook advertising, learn more about Noctem Media’s digital marketing and SEO services. We can develop beautiful landing pages for your campaigns that will get you more conversions and more leads.
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