What are Landing Pages and Why You Should Add Them to Your Web Marketing Mix

Sep 02 2016

What are landing pages?

Landing pages are powerful inbound marketing tools. They have a simple goal: to convert incoming page visitors into customers of some kind. Landing pages fall into three general categories:

Stand-alone examples: lead capture and generation pages and squeeze pages
Microsites: A small multi-page website (or sitelet) usually created as a supplement to the main website.
Internal site pages: Homepages and product detail pages.

Example: Lead generation landing page courtesy Unbounce (image source) Each landing page type and category share a common goal; convert incoming visitors. Each landing page, by type, goal and otherwise will require it's own unique strategy and design to achieve respective goals. Perhaps the easiest way to think about how you can use a landing page is this: you can take virtually any marketing initiative or campaign, and consider deploying a landing page a pretty good solution. Now let's take a look a few unsung benefits of adding a landing page to your web marketing mix.

Amplifies business and marketing goals

A landing page can serve several different purposes and goals, for instance, driving more people to subscribe to your email list or requesting a product demo. The core or, foundational goal is converting a target group of users or prospects into a customer. Other examples can include acquiring shares on social media, promoting products, or gathering data target prospects (perhaps using gated content of some kind). Landing pages work well with endless marketing campaigns. Protip: Maximize Versatility - Not all incoming traffic channels need to lead to the same landing page, and not all landing pages have to be designed with the same goal. Depending on the campaign and needs, you can deploy multiple segmented landing pages for a single marketing initiative. Segments can include criteria such traffic source, user demographics, location, etc.). Protip: Create High-Level Strategy Plan - To help you start thinking about conversion strategies and landing pages, here's a high-level outline to build from:

Start by building out a conversion funnel. This is an incredible way to build out your conversion plans from start to finish (conversion). The best conversion funnels touch on nurturing and loyalty efforts like brand advocacy.
Once you have your conversion funnel built, create a landing page that uses your funnel as a guide.
Set up Your Google Analytics Conversion Funnel

(Image Source: "Paving the Path to Sales: The Conversion Funnel Explored")

Augments brand and product credibility

Landing pages should visually appeal and resonate with your segment user. In fact, some brands aren't afraid to bring the brand's personality forward (depending on the campaign and audience). The look and feel of your landing page should capture visitor's attention and interest quickly. How much is visually appealing, exactly? The key in the design of the page will be striking a balance between alluring and providing a distraction-free zone where you can focus on pitching your campaign and getting that conversion. A professional-looking landing page gives your website an air of credibility. Visitors are more likely to request a demo if you can convince them how it will make their jobs easier through a landing page.

Drives persistent leads

An intelligently built landing page can help generate qualified leads. Some landing page types don't require as much maintenance compared to other marketing strategies like email and social media marketing (SMM). Some landing pages can be left to do its magic for months at a time, working the background, generating leads for your business even when you're working on other things. Protip: Think Re-Engagement - Generally, you won't be working on your landing page on daily basis post launch. It's important to understand that even on well-optimized landing pages, prospects will come to your landing page without the intent to convert (yet). Think about who these folks are and how they might be grouped or categorized. And if they're not yet ready to convert, where's the next best place for them to go? The key is to create a persistent journey for folks who are yet willing to convert. One way to do this offers them the opportunity to go back to your site for more info. The page you choose should correspond to the landings page's topic. You'll also want to track these types of instances if you can. Think about re-engagement strategies to help move these folks towards conversion success. Remember, landing pages should keep your prospects focused on goal-completion versus overloading them with distracting information.

Conveniently improves SEO

Landing pages help with search engine optimization efforts. The best landing pages have a keyword strategy in place largely informed by their unique segments. Google, Bing, and other search engines love landing pages because they act as a traffic magnet, and they're packed with high-quality content and keywords. Let's face it; they love landing pages for all the pay-per-click (PPC), and other advertising campaigns (Adwords) love they receive. Search engines thrive on delivering useful pages to people, and few things are more relevant than mission-critical content wrapped in an authentic-feeling, on-brand design.

Wrap Up

Landing pages are a goldmine of potential leads. Their goal is simple, to convert qualified incoming traffic and re-channel other users who are not ready to commit. It's a powerful marketing tool to have in your digital mix. Landing pages come in different categories, and they can serve different audiences and needs. Remember, they're dexterous, in some instances, a single marketing campaign may have multiple landing pages. No matter the occasion to create a landing page, the unsung, foundational benefits include: