What Makes an Effective Landing Page?

Landing Pages Are Important for Your Lead Generation Strategy

What is a Landing Page?

A landing page is really any web page that a consumer can land on but it’s usually a standalone page, distinct from your homepage or any other page, that serves a single and focused purpose. Your landing page provides a special targeted piece of information in return for providing customer contact details. Landing pages can be found through a general search engine or via your website navigation, increasing the likelihood that a potential customer will end up there. 

Landing pages can be lead generation based or click-through. Lead generation landing pages typically offer items like a free trial, a special seasonal offer, or a contest entry in return for the submission of contact information. A good landing page will do its job by convincing a potential customer that it’s worth it to provide personal details in exchange for whatever you have to offer. 

Why Use Landing Pages?

You’ve done a great job building your brand and creating a website that represents it. A landing page is a great way to increase website traffic by improving your organic SEO or by being an integral part of a Pay-Per-Click strategy. Landing pages lead customers to a specific product, service, or offer and encourage them to take action. This is your opportunity to create conversions and build your customer base, ensuring all of that hard work translates into sales.

How Do Landing Pages Work?

Landing pages are focused on one goal or call to action by providing information about a specific offer or item. It has limited navigation, and the simplicity keeps a visitor focused on the goal rather than being distracted by multiple links taking them away from the page. A dedicated landing page is also a destination for site visitors when an advertisement promotes a special offer.

What Makes a Good Landing Page?

Building an effective landing page is less about flashiness and more about getting the consumer what they’re after. You need to send prospective customers to a specific page that will let them take advantage of whatever special offer or information you’ve promised them. Since they are tied to something specific, your landing pages have a better chance of capturing a visitor’s attention for a longer period of time, making it more likely that they become customers.

Essential Landing Page Elements for Effective Lead Generation

To succeed in your lead generation efforts, an effective landing page should accomplish several things:

• Emphasize the Offer.  Your future customers are clicking for a particular reason and don't need a detailed company history here. The landing page should serve a separate specific function, yet should still be an extension of your brand.
• Be Focused and Free of Distractions.  The content on your landing page should only have one end goal - guiding the user to what they want while completing the form submission process.
• Have Easy to Use Forms.  This is how to convert a site visitor from browsing to buying. Lengthy forms can be intimidating and may encourage them to move on, rather than take advantage of the opportunity you are offering. 
• Speak to a Specific Audience.  Segmenting your customer base helps you to target specific consumers. Customized campaigns will allow you to nurture these leads effectively going forward.
• Collect Specific Information.  The demographic data submitted should include more than a name and email address. It should also give you an indication of a prospective customer’s short term and long term needs.
• Provide a Thank You.  Form submission should always be followed up with a thank you message. This is not only polite but assures the consumer that they have completed the process.
• A Clear Call to Action.  This is the core feature of your landing page! Make sure you are telling visitors what you want them to do, and how they will benefit if they do it.
• Encourage Access to Further Information.  If a customer likes what you’ve just offered, you can provide links to appropriate web pages with more details, other offers, and your social media profiles.