Landing Page Basics

Whether you know it or not, your website has a landing page. What's a landing page, you ask? They are the pages you send people to; in other words, the pages people "land on" when you click on a link. For example, you say, “Visit our web site to learn more.” This call-to-action sens someone to a page that prompts them to do something else. Is this landing page your home age? An order form? or something else all together?

When thinking about landing pages, keep in mind that the company home page is not always the best landing page. If the visitor wants to learn more about you, the most likely aren't going to find that information on the home page. If they've got to go clicking around to find relevant information, you're hindering your chances of that visitor becoming a customer.

Getting your audience to find your website is one thing; keeping them there, and getting results is another. A visitor has already expressed interest in your site. Your landing page's job is to keep them there so you can complete the sale. To do this, it is best to have a landing page that is targeted for the person you have prompted to visit. Each landing page should make it as easy as possible to get the information they need, and to follow your call to action. If a link is located in an email where the goal is to entice to recipient to sign up for your newsletter, you should have a landing page with the newsletter sign up form "front and center." If your goal is to have them make a purchase, you'd want the product, features and benefits, and an order form on the landing page. There's no need to bother the visitor with an about us page, or location information. Landing pages can also have great benefits to your paid search campaigns, for the same reasons.

There are many ways to design landing pages, and many techniques can result in success. It's important to do your research before designing one because a successful landing page can make all the difference when it come to the bottom line.