Close

What makes an effective Landing Page?

I remember a year or so ago when I started really seeing, and paying attention to this phrase “Landing Page” I remember I was like what the hell is a landing page and why do I need one? I am going to attempt to answer that through what I have found out in my own research and quest into understanding what a landing page is.

 

To be short a landing page is nothing more than a page on your website. But it is not just any old page. It is not your homepage for example and it is not your about us page, contact page, or product list page. A landing page is a specific page you create that has one goal to move a potential customer down through your sales funnel.  You may have multiple landing pages for different stages of the sales funnel for one product. Or you might have only one landing page for a product.

 

The goal of any landing page is to move a visitor towards a goal, be this the next level of your sales funnel or a purchase decision. I want you to notice that last sentence, not every landing page has to move to a purchase decision! You can have landing pages that sign people up for your emails and newsletters just as easily as one that leads to your shopping cart. The goal is to move people towards an intended action. That means two things you need to know what type of people are going to land on your page and what decision you want the to make. You must have both of these questions answered before you design the landing page which I will cover in a moment.

 

What kind of people are landing on your page?

There are typically two ways for someone to land on your landing page. Either you design an ad or another marketing strategy which leads to your landing page, or another of your landing pages leads to the one you are currently working on. Whatever the case you need to determine what kind of people are coming to this page. Are they former customers? New customers, that have never heard of you before? People that have engaged with you in some way in the past but have yet to make a purchase? The possibilities are endless when it comes to what type of people could land on your page. However, you must narrow that down to a segment that you can easily define. For example, working mothers of toddlers, single dads, homeowners in Virginia, people interested in baking, people searching for a plumber. Whatever it is you need a target audience to start with. As soon as you know what kind of people are going to land on your page you can move on to defining what action you want them to take.

 

What action should people who land on your page take?

This could be anything from signing up for emails to purchasing your product or service. But you need to clearly define the goal. The closer your action goal is to your target audience the more effective and useful your landing page is going to be, also the easier it will be to design it. Do you want people to purchase your product, sign up for a newsletter, download a white page, sign up for your membership site, or schedule a service call? If you have someone who is brand new to your business landing on your page and they know nothing about you getting them all the way to a purchase decision can be hard. It might be better to get them to sign up for emails instead. Offer them a freebie if the sign-up. Now your next landing page can take these people, who are now followers and hopefully engaged, and move them towards a purchase decision. Do you start to see how this works? Baby steps are key and useful. I would not have fifteen landing pages between a potential client and a purchase decision but maybe one or two. Landing pages are about leading people. So make your job easy and lead them to one decision at a time. Build trust. Nurture trust. Assure they are doing the right thing. Then purchase.

 

Designing your Landing Page.

Now that you know who is coming and where you want them to wind up, you can start designing your landing page. The key here is the grab their attention, engage them, and gently lead them to the desired goal. Along the way, you will want snappy text, amazing photos, polished (high production value) video, and more. You will want to assure them that this decision that you want them to make is the right decision. Sweeten the deal by offering them a discount or a closely related white page or other valuable product that does not cost a lot for free. All of this is leading towards that decision. And the decision you want them to make has to be clearly articulated. Let them know why they need to make this choice and remind them of everything they will get. And make the choice easy for them submitting their email, clicking a button. When you are finally at the point in your sales funnel that you are selling your product or service be sure your landing page includes reassurances that you are the right choice for them. Be engaging, have high-quality content that effectively communicates the growth you want the person to take. Lead, do not force them to the decision you want them to make. The most effective landing pages all lead to just one goal. So do not have a lot of extra links on your page/s that can lead a client away from that end goal whatever it may be for that landing page.

 

Well, that about covers landing pages in a nutshell. If you have any questions please contact us and we would be happy to answer you. In the meantime keep on excelling at your marketing strategy. Attract clients into your sales funnel and lead them down a landing page like a boss.

Related Posts