It’s a common misconception that any page a visitor is redirected to after clicking on a link is a post-click landing page. A lot of businesses use their About or Contact Us page as their landing page, but that doesn’t necessarily make them landing pages. If you’re left wondering, “what is a landing page?” Here’s a definitive answer. It’s an independent web page, distinct from other pages on your website.
A landing page is specifically created to appeal to a visitor and convince them to sign up to your service or place an order from your website. With e-commerce platforms becoming more and more reliant on data, a well-designed post-click landing page is a must-have. Keeping this in mind, we’ll be looking at the different types of landing pages and how you can create one for your business.
Table of Contents
What is a landing page?
A landing page is simply the first page a visitor lands up on after clicking on a link. This could be anything from your blog post to your homepage. However, in online marketing terms, a landing page is a standalone web page that is created to convert leads to paying customers.
So, by using this definition, a homepage will not technically qualify as a homepage since it does not help in receiving consumer traffic and lead generation. To avoid this confusion, next up is a brief look into the differences between a homepage and a dedicated landing page.
Landing page vs. Website homepage
The homepage is at the center of a website and helps visitors navigate through the different locations. It’s mainly designed to make it easy for customers to locate a particular page of interest and look for the information they need.
So, what is a landing page then? A landing page is specifically designed to maximize lead generation by giving the user what they exactly want and stating it in terms that make it easy for a layman to grasp.
What is the purpose of a landing page?
Landing pages have a number of uses. The most important of them are:
1. Collecting personal information
Users furnish their contact details in exchange for some sort of information. This includes:
- Reports with key stats about a particular industry
- Newsletters with ideas to hone your skills in a field of your interest
- Podcasts for the people on the go and are trying to make the most of their commute
- Checklists for people who like to plan out their day ahead of time
- Blog subscriptions to continue to receive relevant content
- Registration links to webinars with subject experts
- Presentations on a particular topic to disseminate information
- Scheduling meetings or consultations
- Online courses and e-books that extensively cover a topic
2. Getting your customers interested in a product you’re selling
By giving them a glimpse, you can get your valued customer to:
- Add your product to their shopping cart
- Subscribe to your email list
- Engage with your brand by reaching out to you via chat or call
- Became a part of your sales funnel by submitting a form
- Register for an event
Different types of landing pages
Now that you’ve familiarized yourselves with the answer to the question of what is a landing page, let’s try to understand the different types of landing pages. All of them serve the basic function of converting prospective leads to actual customers, but the way they go about is different. Here are some of the most common types of landing pages.
-
Lead generation landing page
As the name suggests, this type of landing page helps to capture leads by collecting data. These pages tend to be extremely versatile and are generally used when the user is making up their mind whether to convert or simply walk away. This presents itself as an opportunity to promote your brand for something in return. Whatever is being pushed onto the visitor needs to be relevant enough to make them consider furnishing their personal details through a form.
-
Click-through landing page
A click-through landing page eliminates the need for a form that was deemed to be necessary in the case of a lead generation landing page. It acts as the integral chain link between your advert and the page that you want your visitors to be directed to. This type of landing page is commonly used to link an infomercial to a shopping cart to get them interested in your business.
-
Squeeze page
Similar to a lead generation page, a squeeze page is also designed to collect consumer data, more specifically their email addresses. These are simple landing pages that often show up at the top of the marketing funnel. They generally do not possess a lot of information or headlines but will need to have a link to take a visitor to the next step if they wish to proceed or an option to exit if they decide not to.
-
Sales page
This is the most complex of the lot and is especially hard to design. It’s meant for not just securing leads, but also to convince a customer to make a purchase. This is a very delicate operation, one misstep could mean a customer is walking away from a sale. Go too hard, and you run the risk of your client backing away.
Go too soft, and you might seem like you’re undervaluing the product. So, the objective here is to create the perfect pitch using sales experience and knowledge of the needs of the consumer.
-
Infomercials
An infomercial-led landing page is a great way to advertise to your visitors the functionality of your product. It’s an opportunity to construct a strong narrative around your brand and push it across to your customers. The objective is to captivate their attention so as to get them thinking about making a purchase.
-
Splash page
They are the most basic of all the types and only house a couple of images and possess a request to visitors in terms of a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ communication form. They’re not meant for collecting data unlike the other types mentioned before, but they only function to provide essential info before entering a website. For instance, a visitor may be asked to verify their age or choose their language preferences.
-
Viral landing pages
This type of landing page functions to boost your brand awareness by strategically placing inbound links to a different page within the website. The content featured here needs to be interesting enough to keep them scrolling, thereby reading more and more of the content you’ve produced.
It need not be limited to content, but can also involve interactive quizzes or games. This should hopefully lead them to share about the website in their social media profiles and ask their friends and family to join in on the fun.
-
Microsites
Microsites are a miniature form of your actual website that is dedicated to the single cause of ramping up the sales. Playing an integral part in a business’s marketing efforts, these are created to be displayed alongside online advertisements.
Elements of a Landing Page
Even though the design of a leading page may vary from one type to another, the basic elements that make it up are essentially the same. In this section, we’ll be talking about the fundamental elements of a landing page.
-
The main headline
What is a landing page without a catchy headline? It captures the attention of your visitor and lets them know what you expect from your site. The type of headline that you’ll be using boils down to the type of business you own and the kind of products you wish to market.
It needs to give people an overview of your business and the kind of services you offer. For instance, if you’re a website that offers driving classes, your headline should read “Learn to drive a car in 30 days!”.
Try to take into account the needs of your consumers while coming with an effective headline. Think of the reasons that someone might end on your landing page and what they might be looking for. When you’re equipped with the answers to all these questions, it’s pretty simple to come up with a catchy and effective headline.
-
Supporting headlines
A supporting headline tries to fill in more details related to your main headline. It serves to convince your leads why they should pick your service over other similar businesses. Let’s go back to the example of a business that offers driving classes. You could add information about the expertise of your drivers and that you take the time out to make sure an amateur understands the basics of driving.
Supplement that with the time they could potentially be saving in testing centers as you take up most of the work. This way, you’ve addressed the who, why and what of your consumer base.
So, in summary, the main headline captures the attention of a visitor and conveys the type of business you are. A supporting headline expands on that providing more information about the services you offer. They aren’t a must on every landing page, but when made smart use of it, it evokes more interest out of your landing page.
-
Marketing Copy
This along with your supporting headlines, educate the consumer about your brand—these pieces of text help to communicate the benefits of your products or services. Writing for an audience that is fussy about reading isn’t easy. It needs to be simple enough for even a layman to grasp. However, this information needs to be conveyed using the least number of words. Most readers might not even read through the whole thing, but could instead skim through the key points. So, all these factors will have to be considered while writing a marketing copy.
To be able to accommodate all reading styles, here are some useful pointers:
a. Legibility
Your font needs to be large enough to be read and should contrast the page it’s written on. Steer away from ornate font styles. It might look good on your marketing copy, but readers are going to have a hard time figuring out the content.
b. Readability
This component tests how easy it is for an average reader to go through your content. Keep an eye on the length of sentences. The optimum is about 50-75 characters. Longer sentences are going to bore your readers, while shorter sentences obstruct the natural flow of the write-up. Block texts are never going to keep your reader’s sentences. Break up larger chunks of text into smaller sentences. Try to use active voice as much as possible; passive text doesn’t sit well with readers.
c. Comprehension
This component takes into account if your readers are able to understand what’s being communicated to them. To make it easier for your clients to grasp, use smaller words and remove content that seems unnecessary. Be miserly with your words. The objective is to be clear and concise, not long and uninteresting.
-
Hero shot
We’ve all heard of the adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Staying true to those words, a hero shot is meant to establish an emotional connection without having to use hundreds of words. A compelling image will let your consumers know what to expect and reinforce the idea that you’re trying to sell them. Going back to your driving class example, think of the image of an empathetic instructor teaching someone how to drive or a learner glancing through traffic signs. These images leave a lasting impact on a visitor’s mind and they don’t have to think twice about the services offered.
-
Call to action (CTA)
What is a landing page without its most important element, a call to action button? It instructs the visitor what to do once they land up on your website. For a call to action to be useful, it needs to be simple to follow. Don’t give a prospective client too many things to choose from. Have a clear idea of what you want them to do.
In our case of the driving class example, the call to action can simply be an option to sign up for classes or ask for a contact to get more information. Remember, the easier to follow your CTA, the better the chances of generating a potential lead.
In addition, here’s a couple of things to keep in mind while designing a call to action button:
a. Size
This goes without saying, but your call to action button needs to be large enough to be noticed and more importantly, clicked at. A smaller button is likely to lead to a frustrated customer. The sad part is that this was a customer who would actually be interested in your business.
b. Shape
Stick to shapes that your consumers will be familiar with. A box, a circle, a star- could be anything really. But, don’t try to create amorphous shapes of your own in the name of innovation. A visitor might not recognize and yet again, means a frustrated customer. Adding suggestive text or a shadow effect might make it easier for your users to identify the call to action button.
c. Location
It’s common practice to place the call to action button at the top of the fold since it’s believed that customers don’t scroll all the way down to the end. But, this may not be all that accurate. You can actually benefit by placing the button somewhere towards the end. A visitor is first presented with relevant information in the form of testimonials, infographics, and text. This helps them convince why they should pick your site and hence maximizes the chances of them clicking your CTA button.
d. Colour
Contrary to popular opinion, the choice of color has got little to do with subliminal cues like red implying danger and green implying go. It’s mostly got to do with picking a color that is in direct contrast with the rest of the elements of the page. This will naturally make the call to action button stand out from the other components.
-
Social proof
It’s important to have some sort of social proof to build trust among your consumers. Testimonials from people who’ve made use of your services before can make your claims seem legitimate. Make sure to include those testimonials that are reputable beyond a shadow of a doubt. More the details, the more believable the review. For our driving class website, this could be testimonials from people who’ve learned to drive using your services. They could be asked to elaborate on the condition of the cars or comment on the etiquette of the instructors. Video testimonials are also a great idea to show how enthusiastic someone is about your product.
If you’ve received rave reviews from other third-party sites, then embed them onto your websites. They seem more genuine since content from other social media channels cannot be doctored easily. If you’ve won any awards, be sure to include that too. It doesn’t matter even if they’re from a small organization. It’s still an award in the eyes of a consumer.
-
Infographics
With attention spans dwindling with every passing day, people simply do not have the patience to read through paragraphs of content. So make use of graphs and charts to get your point across. Infographics help your consumers conceptualize data better.
Going back to our case scenario of a driving class, instead of listing down the time they can save by skipping the queues in a testing center, represent the same in a graph. It communicates the idea clearly and is more likely to be seen by a reader instead of a couple of lines snuck in some paragraph.
-
Icons
Just like infographics, icons help you to simplify a concept or an idea. It’s perfect for today’s world, where users don’t want to read through lines of text. Your content could be well-written, but there’s no point if the consumer never ends up reading it. Icons are easy to understand and large enough to draw attention towards a particular feature that they might want to know more about.
-
Trust badges
Just like testimonials, trust badges make your business seem more legitimate. A visitor who knows very little about your organization is likely to be apprehensive about purchasing a product. A trust badge proving that you are an accredited business reassures them that you are worthy of their trust. It’s really up to you to decide what trust indicators to choose. This decision needs to be keeping in mind the kind of message you’re trying to send to your prospective clients. For instance, badges from renowned security firms like McAfee near your credit card field. Another example would be an outbound link to your privacy policy to reassure consumers that their data isn’t being mishandled in any form.
-
Closing argument
This element generally sums up everything that a consumer has learned since the time they landed on your site. It’s obvious that they’re interested in your business if they made it this far, so a reinforcing statement is your last chance at creating a lasting impression. A closing argument is not always necessary, but it can give your visitor that extra minute or two to sign up or purchase a product.
Campaigns that have benefited from a dedicated landing page
Now that we’ve got the answer to ‘what is a leading page,’ let’s try to find out the different types of campaigns that have benefitted from one:
-
Paid search campaigns
A landing page is a must to make the most of Google Ads, Bing Ads, or any other similar search campaigns. In fact, Google mentions the importance of a separate landing page in its handbook to advertising. Your campaign may not be picked by Google’s unique search algorithm if it detects a poor experience with regard to a post-click landing page. Consequently, your website drops down in rankings which drastically impacts your ad visibility and visitor traffic.
-
Paid social media advertising campaigns
With consumer personas becoming more and more accurate, targeted social media campaigns could prove to be a real game-changer. Having a post-click landing page that functions as a distinct entity is your best bet at capitalizing on this untapped marketing space. A prospective client is only shown an advertisement when the algorithm detects that they might be interested in the services you offer.
So, it becomes all the more important to deliver on their expectations to keep them coming back. Having a well-designed landing page is the first step to getting there. Remember, the first impression is always the best impression.
-
Email marketing campaigns
An email marketing campaign may seem old-school, but it still offers the best return. A personalized email can generate as much as six times more transactions. This number is only bound to go up when you have a dedicated landing page along with it.
A landing page helps to eliminate confusion and helps customers to stay focused on a single goal as per your instructions. If there isn’t a specified landing page, your client spends too much fidgeting around and distracts them away from the real reason they were sent to the website.
Building landing pages for your own website
Now that we’ve comprehensively answered the question of what a landing page is and its benefits, let’s try to understand how you can go on to create a post-click landing page of your own.
The first option is pretty obvious. Just create a separate landing page using all the information you’ve learned from this article. It’s exactly like creating any other web page on your site, except that the objectives are very different.
But, for someone with minimal coding skills, creating a dedicated landing page can prove to be a nightmare owing to the multiple elements that need to be inserted. One little misstep in this process could mean thousands of dollars in loss sometime in the future. So, it might be a smart idea to look for help from outside.
Thankfully, this is where landing page tools come into the picture. These useful tools try to simplify the process and cost a fraction of what you would be paying an online marketing firm. You also get to exercise complete sovereignty over the look and feel of your website.
Here’s a list of some of the most popular landing page tools currently in the market:
-
Unbounce
Unbounce is a great platform for any business looking to get the most value for their money. With more than 15,000 brands building their landing page using this platform, it’s one of the most reputed firms out there.
Unbounce gives you the ultimate control with over a hundred customizable design templates. A built-in AI lets you experiment with designs and pick the right one for your business. They even offer a 14-day free trial to help you get started.
-
Instapage
If you don’t have the time to build a robust page of your own using a set of instructions, Instapage is the perfect option for you. They offer a number of template landing pages to choose from.
It might not offer the same room for customization as Unbounce, but Instapage simplifies the entire process so you can use your time and resources for sales and other marketing channels.
-
Webflow
Webflow isn’t just meant for creating landing pages, it’s designed to help to build your entire website. It’s easy to use and gives you the option to integrate optimization tools into your overall site architecture. Webflow is the right choice for individuals for looking beyond the classical A versus B model of testing.
-
Leadpages
Leadpages is probably the closest to Unbounce in terms of the sheer number of features and practical functionality. Similar to Unbounce, you start off with a basic template and build your landing page from there. The only disadvantage is that this platform doesn’t allow you to work on multiple templates at a time.
While all these resource tools can add value to your post-click landing page, they do have strengths and weaknesses of their own. So first, understand what your needs are and choose accordingly. If you have the time to work on creating a landing page from a basic template and wish to customize it the way you want it to, Unbounce or Leadpages are terrific options.
Go with Instapage if you aren’t willing to put in the time and are happy with a basic design that serves its purpose. However, if you’re looking to build an entire website from scratch with a special emphasis on testing, then Webflow is the right one for you.
Testing your landing page
Your job isn’t quite done with just building a landing page. You need to keep testing to identify the parts that work and the areas that you still need to work on. There are multiple moving parts to a successful landing page which naturally means there’s a lot of room for experimentation.
For instance, you could change the location of the call to action button and see how that impacts your user traffic. Construct a spreadsheet and compare the two models. With every little change, you’re inching closer and closer to identifying the landing page that is perfect for your business.
Conclusion
The definition of a landing page might make you assume that any page that a visitor is directed to qualifies as one. But, the truth is far from it. So, what is a landing page again? It’s a standalone web page that exists as a distinct entity from the rest of your site.
A post-click landing page is used to maximize lead generation and warm up a prospective client towards the services you’re currently offering. A good landing page needs to sustain the attention of a visitor long enough to make them consider subscribing to your mailing list or contact you for further information.
This is achieved by using catchy headlines, informative graphs, and trustworthy testimonials. You’ve now effectively added them to your sales funnel.
We’ve included all the information you could possibly need to build a great landing page. In case you aren’t convinced of your abilities as a website designer, we’ve suggested a number of services to simplify this process. So hopefully, you now answer for yourselves as to what is a landing page.
Armed with that information, we believe you can get started on building a landing page for your website which is promised to bring in better returns on your marketing efforts.
