3 min read
What are Landing Pages?
Landing pages exist to convert website visitors into leads. They're one of the most vital elements of inbound marketing, and without them you simply cannot have an effective inbound strategy.
To turn visitors into leads, you must obtain their contact information, and a landing page is where you "offer" something in exchange for this. Whether it's a white paper, an eBook, or some other type of free content, the offer is what drives the transaction and turns strangers into contacts.
Purpose of a Landing Page
Your landing page should direct visitors to the offer without the distractions of everything else on your website. That's why you should remove menu navigation and other links so they will only have one place to go.
What Makes a Great Landing Page
To start creating your own landing pages, these are the key elements you should strive for:
- Provide a compelling offer – craft content that resonates with your target persona’s needs and interests and they will happily exchange their information
- Keep it simple – minimize all distractions and make it easy for visitors to decide they want your offer
- Match your call to action – any disconnect between what you promise on your CTA and what you deliver on your landing page will drive visitors away
- Never use your homepage – never link to your homepage as a landing page
- Remove main site navigation – once on your landing page, you want visitors to do one thing, download the offer, and not keep searching your website
- Reduce friction – Make it easy to accept your offer - just type in your name, email and click a button
- Use a minimal form – only require the information you absolutely need, and learn to balance the value of the offer with the amount of detail you ask for
To help you visualize what this looks like, here’s an example of a landing page we recently created for one of our clients:
Note the following in the above example:
1) Clear headline that introduces the offer
2) An actual image of what they’ll get
3) Concise description of the offer with bullet points to highlight value
4) Simple form with clear call to action: “download eBook”
5) Sub-header makes it clear why the form is there (“Download a Free Copy!”)
6) Main navigation has been removed
Creating stellar landing pages is one of the most essential inbound methods, and now you know what it takes to do just that. It’s time to go turn your website into a lean mean lead generating machine!
Read More Inbound Marketing Creates More Knowledgeable Prospects
Check back in soon for more online marketing solutions, and download "25 Website Must Haves" for more on building the perfect company website.
