If you’re running any kind of targeted advertising like pay-per-click ads, display ads, social media ads, or others, you need to have landing pages. Don’t just choose a random page on your site. Build a new page that doesn’t exist elsewhere on the site and is targeted toward the ads and audience (don’t worry, you can just hide it from your menu and Google search results). Your campaign results will be much better.
Why a Landing Page Is So Helpful
Funnels the User Where You Want Them to Go
Go to almost any website home page. There are probably so many options that you aren’t even sure what to do next. Most subpages don’t really direct you with anything to do, and just provide information. Both of these are issues in and of themselves. It’s also a function of the website trying to cater to everyone – existing customers, new customers, partners, people looking for information, etc. On a custom landing page, you’re able to tailor the message to your audience and direct them to the action you want them to take. No other paths.
Stops Users from Getting Sidetracked
Most people browse the web with ADD. If they see a menu, they’ll start to look around. As soon as someone leaves your landing page, it makes them much less likely to convert. A custom landing page helps you significantly limit the temptation to browse. You can limit the links on the page, and if you need to have external links, they can open in a new tab so they have to come back to the landing page at some point
Consistent Messaging with Your Ads
Nothing is worse for converting a user than clicking on an ad and feeling like where they went isn’t what they were looking for. Custom landing pages allow you to create a seamless experience so that the customer feels like they’re on the same page, isn’t jarred, and can find exactly what they want. It also gives consistent reinforcement to your message.
Gives All the Necessary Information
This includes contact forms and phone numbers, selling points, and specific info about the products/services. On a typical page, someone may see your product, but not learn much about your company or unique selling points. Or, they can get general info about a product/service, but not the specific information that they were looking for. A dedicated landing page will give the user exactly what they need.
Focus on Selling (or Converting)
The reality is, most pages on your site have to serve a variety of purposes. They need to help existing customers, new customers, prospects, investors, etc. A landing page has one goal – selling. A well-designed landing page can put all it’s energy towards that, and not have to worry about giving a watered-down message to appeal to the masses.
How to Build a Great Landing Page
Contact Form Near the Top of the Page (and Keep it Short!)
The longer a contact form is, the less likely someone is to fill it out. Keep it to 4-5 fields if you can. Use one field for the name (not 2), and don’t require any more information than necessary. Also, keep it near the top, so it’s very clear how to get in touch.
Keeping the form above the fold is also psychologically beneficial. The issue isn’t just finding the form, it’s putting the idea of contacting you in the user’s head right away. This makes them more likely to fill out a form.
Keep Your Page Copy Short and Focused
For SEO, we typically recommend content that is at least 900 words long. This helps pages rank much better than short content. However, for landing pages you aren’t worried about them ranking anyway. These pages typically aren’t even indexed. So don’t worry about it. Keep the landing page concise so that it addresses the issues, doesn’t sidetrack, and ultimately leads to filling out a form or contacting you.
Use Trust Factors (Such as Reviews)
This is another psychological factor that increases conversion rate. Trust factors include things like reviews, awards, BBB rating/membership, membership in trade groups, etc. Showing that you’re a trusted business and a known commodity helps the user feel more confident in reaching out. Nobody wants to get scammed. Show your trustworthiness, and do it close to your contact form.
Keep Out External Navigation and Links
If you’ve ever worked in an office, you know how quickly people are distracted by absolutely anything. If a user is on your landing page and they see links to things like “about us” they’re going to click on them and start reading about your team. Then they’ll look at the article you’re mentioned in. Of they’ll see you’re a Yankee fan and it will remind them to check the score. In 2 minutes, they’ve forgotten all about your service and contacting you. You’ve lost them. Keep your main navigation and other distractions off the page. Focus!
Include Incentives
Many industries really can’t include incentives (it’s very difficult in healthcare, for example). But, if you’re able to offer a free legal consultation, a product discount, or any other kind of incentive, do it. Even if it’s something that’s pretty standard (like a free legal consultation), it’s worth including in order to eliminate any question or potential barrier. Give the customer a reason to contact you.
Continue to A/B Test
The work of a landing page is never done. Test out variations on your landing page constantly. The differences add up. If you increase conversion rate 10% by adding a new image, that’s a lot. But if you increase it 10% with a new image, plus 5% by reducing one contact form field, and 16% by adding images of your key team, and 20% by removing an external link, that’s a 61% increase (technically more because it’s cumulative – you’re doing this over time). Always see if there’s a way to improve. Results add up.
Need Help?
Need to get a landing page started, or have one that just doesn’t seem to be performing well? We can help. Give us a call or send us a note through our contact form and we’ll get in touch with you to see what we can do to help you take the next step.
