By now, we all are aware how a websites landing page plays a crucial role in bringing in leads and conversions. So a perfect landing page would have a clearly displayed unique selling point (USP), a tagline that hooks the audience and all that follows with it. All of this typical 6-ways-to-have-a-killer-landing-page talk can wait. Why dont we just ponder over the basics first: Are people really aware of what exactly are landing pages and what is their reason to exist? Do we know the when we have a homepage or other pages, are these any different? Are they really that necessary? I have a website, now why on earth do I need a landing page? Yes, these are just some of the many questions that may come to your mind when you see people shedding light over the importance of the landing page. These questions are legitimate and they all need to be answered before anything else.
WHAT IN THE GLORIOUS WORLD OF WEBSITES IS A LANDING PAGE!!
If I were to simply explain, What exactly a landing page is or do you really need a landing page or pages, then the answer simply would be, it is the page that your visitor lands on. Yes, thats that! But, what makes it different and so important from a conversion-centric point of view? Well, thats where theres more to the story. First and foremost, they are a part of your website, but can stand alone to achieve some major objectives, like conversions and leads. So they are in no way similar to your homepage or any other pages. The core goal is not to spill the entire beans of your website on this page(s) but to guide your visitors from here to the real road of conversions. Thats the simplest answer to the many questions about the complicated landing pages.
Now lets see how they can work in giving you what marketers, web designers, SEO and PPC experts all collectively strive for.
The formula to win with flawless landing pages is this: there is no particular formula. Theres always room for better and no particular page can have it all. In this constantly evolving world of online marketing theres hardly ever a formula or a secret recipe for anything. However, there are a few tried and tested tips which have been effective at some point that can help us all drive in more traffic, leads and conversions.
Wait, what are we getting from Landing Pages again?
Okay, lets be a bit more precise here.
As Seth Godin has rightly stated, Landing pages are even more important today because they are the pages that someone clicking on a Google Ad words ad, sees. So your landing page is basically doing the tough job here.
- It is the page(s) which directs a visitor to an intended page.
- From landing page(s) you can lead visitors to buying a particular product.
- From here, they can improve your websites share-ability through other platforms.
- Your visitor is more likely to register for direct marketing or provide their information for follow up from landing page(s.)
- Indirectly though, this is where your audience learns about your business or website. Similarly, this is where you can motivate them to improve interactivity by telling them to leave a comment or to give feedback.
- So these oh-so-famous-and-necessary pages set a subtle foundation for your online empire.
Lets get this cookin
In order to simplify things, lets break it to some key elements and understand how they work in boosting your websites conversion rates, traffic, leads, share-abilty and all that there is to them.
- The Unique Selling Point
- A headline and perhaps a sub-heading to support the main headline (The sub head is rather optional – your main headlines defines it all)
- What are you offering and why should one get the offer
- Some aesthetically pleasing elements (images, videos or illustrations)
- A testimonial to prove your offer is what people need (optional)
- Proof of your social media existence (because you dont really exist if youre not social, right?)
- And the real dealyes, Call to action (CTA)
- Good design and user interface
- The key is to maintain the right balance between content, CTA, USP, design and optimization without over exaggerating and inundating your prospect with too much of anything.
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
This is where you can get creative with content by playing around with your USP. But before that, you should have a defined business objective to keep your USP in lined with your ultimate goal. You are going to tell people how youre unique from others and what are people getting from your product, service or brand. Brevity and your ability to communicate the difference in the best way possible and can surely keep your landing page copy strong
You can make it easier for people to interpret your proposition if you break it into a Headline and a sub-heading. This can make it understandable, readable and can help support the entire content on your landing page until the CTA (yes, its that powerful!).
What you Offer and why should one care?
Well, these two questions are what your USP answers but if your landing page is that of a product or a particular offer then you should list down the benefits. This would be more descriptive in nature than the USP and can serve best, if presented in bullet points. However, dont get into too many details and keep even the description succinct.
The Eye Candy:
You cant really expect to win through just some textual content. You need some sort of visual aid to make things more attractive. If your visual element gets fused with interactivity, it can do wonders. This may require some tech upgrades, but will prove to be beneficial in the long run. If it is a particular product your landing page is leading to then imagine how perfect it would be for people to see how the product is used before they click, buy. Adding some aesthetic appeal, in the form of pictures, gifs or videos can add a ring to your landing page.
Social media existence:
How do you exactly plan to get conversions without any proof of your social media presence in the form of people buying or sharing your offer? The best way to do so is to put some social authenticity on your landing page. The idea is to let people see that what you offer is used by people and what better way to do so than connecting it with your social media testimonials, number of people converting to your offer, or comparisons?
The Call to Action:
This is the point from where your visitor is directed to your ultimate goal. It can either be in the form of a click through page, button or a form. This element is extremely important for the conversions youve been working so hard for. Curate this part carefully, because this encompasses the crucial objectives of lead generation or conversions. Your CTA also involves your customers data, so it is essential to ensure protection of their privacy through a privacy agreement.
Dont forget the Design:
By now, you all must have somehow understood the elements based on the content of your landing page, but what about the design? We all know how design plays a significant role in online marketing. Hence, it is as important (or sometimes even more) in tailoring your landing pages, as words or your clearly defined USP. The design and the content of your landing page should all work, hand in hand to convert your visitors. Therefore, smooth use of colors and images along with a neat and minimalistic layout can make your primary goal more achievable. Dont compromise on A/B testing of your landing pages layout to keep things more flawless and achievable.
A well designed and curated landing page can strengthen your conversions for PPC too, so dont settle on a website without landing pages, which will direct your visitors to exactly where they need to be.