Most businesses today have an online presence, regardless of the type of service or product they offer. Everyone wants to be found in those vital search engine results, whether to sell a product or to drive a customer to their business premises as well as everything in between. The key to this is a well-built search engine optimised website, an effective search engine marketing (SEM) strategy, social media reach and CRUCIAL to all of this is the landing page(s). As an extension of your inbound marketing and advertising (paid search and social media), they have the ability to increase your sales conversions rates by over 150% compared to the effectiveness of a campaign that doesn’t use them. But what are landing pages why should your business be using them right now?
Landing pages are a simply well created and crafted focused and customized sales pitch web pages on your website, specifically designed to get your visitor to take an action eg leave their contact details, place an order, join your community etc. Here are six reasons why you should be using them immediately if you have not done so before. Note, landing pages work best when combined with a form of paid marketing such as Google Adwords or Facebook Ad campaigns. (Click to viewFREE FACEBOOK AD CAMPAIGNS training course).
#1 Landing pages generate leads
Done right, a landing page will generate new and valuable leads for your business. Studies show that around 96% of people arriving at a website are not ready or in a position to buy something. They are effectively window shopping, touring the website to see what is going on, probably doing a bit of research for a later buying decision. Regardless of the nature of your business, you want to engage these visitors in some form, get their attention or commitment and draw them into what you are offering.
One way to do this is by getting them to give their email and other contact details in exchange for a valuable content or offer. This is done through your landing page and this would be the sole purpose of the page. Nothing too complex, too many designs or images – simply a path for the visitor to follow to complete the task you want them to. Once you have their information and permission to contact them, you can move to the next stage of nurturing (education and engagement content) the lead through your customer journey to sales conversion.
Example of email capture landing page
#2 Landing pages can be used to increase fans, followers etc
Many businesses use more than one landing page if they have different information or products to convey or sell to their visitors. For example, one page may be the lead generating landing page. Another may direct customers to the shop section of the website where the actual products are found using a ‘Buy now’ or similar call to action. A good landing page gives the customer a hit of information without bombarding them with too much.
Landing pages that direct to social media are another way to engage customers and allow them to interact with the business on their favourite platform. Once someone follows you on Twitter or likes your page on Facebook, you have a better chance to engage them with your products and services – after all, they have chosen to take this action through your landing page.
Example of social media fans and follower capture landing page
#3 Landing pages act like signposts or to request specific information
Your landing page can act like a signpost, or a series of them, directing potential customers to the important parts of your website. If you are an e-commerce company and sell through your website or through a third party site, then the signpost would direct customers to this section. It may direct them to the Contact Us section if they want more information about your services or perhaps to an online booking form to make an appointment. Whatever you want the customer to do, the landing page should clearly signpost it for them, allowing them to make the choice to follow the path you have laid out.
Example of landing page to request specific information ie live demo of product
#4 Landing pages gives an experience of your website without them visiting
As well as signposting where you want the customer to go, the landing pages can also offer them a little insight into the business itself. You can tell a little of your brand’s story while directing them as you require, explaining what the business does and why this is a benefit to the customer, while giving them a signpost leading to the next step in the process.
In fact, studies have shown that well-designed landing pages add to the feel of a good experience when using the website. Visitors feel they are using a well thought out website by a business that knows what they are doing. The website is easy to get around and clearly signposted for all the options they require. This good feeling from customers when using the site can transfer to their willingness to buy from you in the future.
A landing page can tell visitors about your website without them even visiting!
# 5 Landing pages give you insight into your visitor or customer
Let’s face it, every business wants to get insight into their customers, their demographics and what’s they can do to make them buy. A landing page can get you all this information and more and simple manner, if you ask the right questions or make the right offfer Each lead generated, every click on a landing page all collects information, no matter how general. This information can throughly analysed that will allow you to build up a ‘buyer persona’. This will help you see what type of customers are engaged and by what you offer. The data will also help you maximise advertising campaigns, especially on social media as you will know exactly what triggers a buying decision. There’s no point setting up an ad campaign for 30-55 year old males when most of your website customers are 20-something males! Landing pages will give you a far better understanding your customers, and also your potential customers than any survey as it based on actual responses rather than the responses surveyees think they should give!
Facebook Insight results following a landing page PPC campaign
#6 Landing pages gives real ‘behaviour’ based data
As well as gaining insight into your customers and their demographics, landing pages can show you what works. Say you create an e-book on a landing page that is free to download – how many people downloaded it? Or you set up an email campaign – did people sign up for it? Marketing is about results and by studying what works from your landing pages, you get a better idea about the success or failure of any measure.
#Bonus Reason: Allows for A/B testing
Landing pages are also crucial for A/B and multi-variate testing, allowing you to compare two or more different approaches and see what works best. While Search Engine Optimisation has become an industry, there really are no hard and fast rules, a lot of success come from trial and error. By testing different landing pages and studying the results, you can get a much better idea of what works actually brings and keeps customers coming to your business rather than basing it on guessing the best keywords. When you want to try something new, variations can be added to once more test their effectiveness before committing full-scale to the changes.
Conclusion
Alongside a great homepage and accurate information about the business, the landing page is the most crucial part of the website. A well-made landing page can win customers, retain visitors and engage people in a whole range of ways. Engaged customers return when they are ready to buy and are more likely to remain loyal customers in the future than those who simply visit and leave
How you design of your landing page is very important as it affects the conversion rate of your forms. The look and feel of the whole landing page must all be relevant to the offer to obtain the highest possible conversion rate.
Design does matter, so if you feel you help in this area contact we today and we’ll be more than glad to discuss your needs. We’ll even give you a 50% discount on your first landing page design. (Click to view FREE FACEBOOK AD CAMPAIGNS training course).
Click here to see examples of our business landing pages.
Call us 0794 9529 231/0208 090 2233 or email: studio@elcassociates.co.uk
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