What is a landing page?
Landing page design
It is an independent website, created solely for a marketing or advertising campaign.
Typically some websites have many objectives and encourage exploration, landing pages are designed with one objective, known as a call to action (or CTA, for short).
Landing pages are the best option to increase the conversion rates of your marketing campaigns and reduce the cost of capturing a lead or sale.
Wait, any web page can be a landing page?
Technically, yes. The term is used this way in Google Ads and Analytics, for example. Every landing page is different. At Unbounce, we use the term “landing page” to describe a specific campaign page with a single call to action and no website navigation.
A home page and a landing page side by side. Did you notice the home page? It has many links and the landing page only has one, it is quite common.
While the home page has dozens of potential distractions—you can call them “leaks” instead of links—the landing page is super focused.
If you're considering what's best for you, keep in mind that having fewer links on your landing page increases conversions since there are fewer enticing clicks distracting visitors from the call to action. This is why experienced marketers always use a dedicated landing page as a destination for their traffic.
Sure, the home page looks amazing. It showcases the brand, allows people to explore a range of products and offers more information about the company and its values. From here, a visitor can go anywhere: apply for a job, read some press releases, review the terms of service, post on community message boards, etc.
But they won't necessarily make a purchase. And that is the point.
Coupled with super-bright ads promoting a single offer, it all works to convert these visitors into customers. It's a better job, if you convert the traffic that the brand is already receiving.
This is the power of an effective landing page!
Why not pay just to increase my traffic?
Running email ads/campaigns becomes expensive and search engine optimization can be time-consuming. By using landing pages, you'll gain more existing visitors and expand those all-important resources even further.
Types of landing pages
You can see many variations, and that will depend on the specifics of the business, but there are actually two archetypal landing pages (defined by their objectives):
Lead generation landing pages: Also called “lead generation” or “lead capture” pages, use a form as a call to action. These forms typically collect data from potential customers, such as visitor names and email addresses.
B2B marketers and companies that sell premium items use this type of landing page to build a list of potential customers. You might be able to find some free stuff, like an ebook or webinar, in exchange for contact information. They can use these pages, the brands to create lists or offer free shipping or even special offers.
Drive traffic to landing pages
You'll need to fill that funnel with visitors for your landing page to work.
Fortunately, you have many options. Let's explore some of the most common traffic sources to landing pages.
Paid search traffic
Most search engines include paid advertising. When someone searches for something (for example, “cheese club of the month”), these ads appear clearly, but not too clearly, in the search results.
Unlike other page results, Google ads are prepared and paid for by marketers. pay per click . Someone who clicks will be drawn to your lovely description (and sometimes your images). And you've probably targeted them based on their search term, demographics, or interests revealed by their browsing history.
Basically, when you create an ad, you can choose where the link takes your visitor. Yes, you can choose to have them sent to your home page. But, as we'll explore below, it's much better to create a standalone landing page that matches your ad copy and offers a clear call to action.
Paid social traffic
Posting ads on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn is a great way to reach people and communities who will be particularly interested in your brand, regardless of whether they are already in the market.
Instead of people searching for “cheese club of the month,” you can announce people who have added “cheese appreciation” to their interest list on their Facebook profile. The great thing is that you can connect with customers before they start looking for your product or before they want it!
In addition to offering advanced targeting features, each social channel has its own characteristics. Instagram, for example, works well for products and lifestyle brands with strong visual appeal. On the other hand, B2B advertisers prefer to use LinkedIn to reach professionals working in specific industries.
Email campaigns
Email is often touted as the most effective marketing channel due to its large reach (and low cost) compared to other platforms. A 2021 study predicts there will be 4.200 billion email users by 2023. That's more than half the planet!
A powerful combination of emails and landing pages can be used to nurture existing customer relationships and acquire new ones. Once you've built a contact list, your carefully crafted email allows you to engage readers with your offer, while the landing page fills in the details and directs visitors to a call to action.
Organic search traffic
The term “organic traffic” refers to all visitors that come from a free source, such as the bottom half of Google or Bing search results (SERP). By creating engaging and legitimately useful content on your website or landing pages, you can ensure that your business appears more frequently in related searches. The higher the level of your content, the better.
However, calling it “unpaid” is a bit misleading. This does not mean that there is no time or money invested in the ranking. There is a whole field of professionals dedicated to squeezing so much organic traffic from Google as possible through a balance of careful strategy, technical know-how and brilliant content creation. This is search engine optimization (SEO) in a nutshell.
Are there other channels where landing pages work?
It is impossible to cover all the use cases we have seen. For example, you can run native ads during a podcast, create interactive quizzes, or run traditional print ads with QR codes.
No matter how you channel your information, a effective landing page will help you get the most out of it.
