Have you been hanging out in the digital marketing world? Then most likely, you’ve been bumping into the term “landing page” a lot of times.
So what is a landing page? Is a landing page a website? How does it differ from other webpages? Why is it important? Do you need a landing page for your small business? If so, what are the elements of a good landing page? And what are the great tools to use to create your own landing pages. How do you use them for your digital marketing.
The questions about landing pages go on and on. One by one, we will find answers to these questions.
After investing some time reading this, you will understand:
What is a Landing Page
In this post, let’s take a dive into the world of landing pages. Let’s start with making sure we’re on the same page (pun intended! sorry can’t help it.) about what it is and what it's not in the context that we are using it in this discussion for digital marketing.
So what is a landing page?
According to lexico.com (powered by Oxford), a landing page is:
“the section of a website accessed by clicking a hyperlink on another web page, typically the website's home page.”
This may not exactly be the same definition in online marketing.
According to Unbounce, a landing page, in digital marketing speak is:
a standalone web page, created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign. It’s where a visitor “lands” after they click on a link in an email, or ads from Google, Bing, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or similar places on the web.
So let’s dissect this landing page software company’s definition of a landing page by talking about the significant terms.
Stand-alone - it operates independently; it doesnt have to be a part of a website
Visitor - it’s created for your visitors, ideally your target audience
Marketing or advertising campaign - the only purpose of the page is to convert (whether to visit store, to sign up for a newsletter, to register for a webinar, to buy the product, to download the ebook, etc.) There should only be sole purpose of the page.
Link in an email or ads - you cannot typically find a landing page out of nowhere. For a target audience to find it, it has to be advertised in Google, Facebook, etc., or to be made part of an email marketing campaign to be made known. This link is the gateway to the landing page.
Now let’s take a look at Leadpages’s definition of a landing page:
“A landing page is a webpage that is designed to take web traffic, and convert visitors in a particular way, for a particular reason.”
Again, let’s take some of its significant terms and how it relates to the terms used in Unbounce’s definition:
Web traffic/visitors - same as visitor/target audience
Convert (in a particular way) - this definition directly uses the term “convert”. In relation to the concept of “marketing and advertising campaign used in the previous definition, the purpose of a landing page is to convert visitors to a specific campaign “in a particular way” - whether to visit store, to sign up for a newsletter, to register for a webinar, to buy the product, to download the ebook, etc.
For a particular reason - the specific purpose of the landing page
Can a homepage be landing page?
To help get a better grasp of what a landing page is, let’s understand what it is not. Your homepage is not necessarily a landing page. So what is the difference between a landing page and a website homepage?
While a landing page has a sole purpose of converting a visitor, a homepage carries several functions as seen on the several navigation bars that lead its visitors to many door options. It has various doors that lead to the About Page, Contact Page, Blog, Plans and Pricing, Products or Services Offered, FAQs, etc. The navigation bar encourages the visitor to explore the entire website depending on what they are looking for.
In contrast, the landing page may feature one or more doors, but all these provide access to one place and one place only - a place where the visitor will ultimately decide whether she will proceed or not. A landing page is created with a sole goal which is referred to as the 'call to action' or CTA. Owing to this focus, landing pages have the advantage of raising conversion rates of the marketing campaign and reducing the cost of generating a lead or sale.
How a Landing Page Works
This is what happens with a landing page.
Someone sees an ad or material and clicks the call to action
After clicking the CTA button, the visitor lands on the landing page.
The visitor fills out the form on the landing page, converting them from a visitor into a lead.
The data gathered from the form fields are then stored in your leads database.
You then execute your marketing strategy to nurture the lead based on the information you have about them.
When to Use a Landing Page
As I've already mentioned, landing pages are valuable marketing tools when you want your visitors to focus on a particular thing you are promoting, using a single call to action that sways people to provide their email in exchange for more information or buy your product. By getting their email, you can reach out to them whenever you have a message to convey.
The ultimate goal of using a landing page is conversion. Whether you want people to sign up for your webinar, download your ebook, guide, or any useful material, register to your ecourse, purchase your product, etc., the singular intent of a landing page will come in handy. So when your goal is to make any of these conversions, it is the best time to use a landing page.
Where to Create a Landing Page
Some of the best softwares to create a landing page are (not in any order of preference:
- 1Thrive Theme Builder - my favorite. This is a site builder with conversion in mind. You can design your WordPress site using Thrive Themes as well as create individual landing pages for your specific conversion goals.
- 2Unbounce
- 3Leadpages
- 4Hubspot
- 5Clickfunnels
- 6Instapage
- 7Mailchimp
- 8Elementor
- 9Wix
- 10Elementor
In my future posts, let's talk about the essential elements of a landing page as well as a quick look into how to make landing pages using Thrive Themes. Stay tuned!