A landing page is any page on a website where a visitor first arrives or “lands”. This means that every page on a website is potentially a “landing page”. But not all pages are created for the same reason or purpose.
In marketing, when experts talk about website landing pages, they are talking about highly focused website pages. These are usually created for very specific reasons. Landing pages are highly results oriented to get the lead captured, get the website visitor to sign-up, buy, or any other call to action (CTA).
Landing pages have no global navigation to tie it to the primary website. The main reason for this is to limit the options available to the visitors, helping to guide them toward the intended conversion goal.
Websites are often not developed by marketing or sales experts. This results in poorly optimized and unfocused website pages, structure, and CTA (call to action) elements.
Types of Landing Pages
There are 2 basic types of landing page, Click Through and Lead Generation (also referred to as Lead Gen or Lead Capture pages).
Click Through Landing Pages
Click through landing pages are used for persuading the website visitor to click through to another page of the website. Typically used with e-commerce websites, they can be used to describe a product, special or offer. The destination page from a click through page is typically the product-shopping page, registration page, or sign-up page.
Lead Generation Landing Pages
Lead generation pages are used to capture site visitor’s information, such as a name and email address. The sole purpose of the page is to collect information that allows a business connecting with the prospect. As such, a lead capture page will contain a form along with a description of what you’ll get in return for submitting your personal data.
There are many uses for lead generation landing pages. For example e-book and whitepapers, or webinar registration, consultation for professional services, solutions, discount offers and vouchers, contest entries, free trails, and gifts.
Benefits of using Landing Pages
– Landing pages drastically broaden the opportunity for people to find a business through search engines.
– Landing pages provide better user experience because you’re giving site visitors pages tailored for what they are searching for online.
– Landing pages have much higher conversion rates because they are giving site visitors pages focused on exactly what they searched for.
– Landing pages give site visitors many more opportunities to link to website content and pages. These links improve search engine rankings.
Using landing pages is an intelligent strategy for any type business wanting to compete in today’s digital market place. For companies that want to ensure best results, experts can assist a business to create results oriented and effective landing pages. A business can then reap the benefits ongoing from these landing pages.
