A landing page might be your site’s first impression. When users search for a service or product online and click on your site, they can be taken directly to a page you have designed to (hopefully) drive a sale. The layout you choose and the ease with which customers can navigate your page is, therefore, very important! But what separates a mediocre landing page from a great one? 

What Is a Landing Page?

First, let’s talk a little more about what a landing page is. A landing page is a standalone web page meant to convert visitors into leads or customers. It is often confused with a homepage, since it may be where a user is taken when they click your site URL in search engine results. However, the two serve very different purposes:

Homepage

You might think of the homepage of your website as its front door. It is so-called because it acts as a virtual “home” or central point where users can get a sense of your brand and tour other parts of the site via a navigation bar at the top. While a home page can (and should) include various calls to action and plenty of ways to get in touch, they are a softer introduction to the brand and designed more to encourage organic traffic to a site as opposed to direct sales. 

Landing Page

Rather than the front door to an entire house, think of a landing page as the entryway to a particular room within a house, like the kitchen or dining room. A landing page focuses on one, specific action and often removes navigation bars and unrelated links to avoid distractions. These pages are, presumably, in response to a very specific good or service that the user searched for. Instead of promoting organic traffic to a site, a landing page focuses on local traffic and sales, highlighting a single call to action. 

Why Are Landing Pages Important?

You might wonder what the point of a landing page is if you have a good homepage and your site seems to be doing well organically and locally. But remember that landing pages are tailored to a specific customer for a specific product , service, or goal. Unless you have one, single product and one, single service, you’ll need a landing page at some point. They are particularly useful in:

Finding Potential Leads

A landing page could offer a free eBook, initial consultation, or other helpful product in exchange for a visitor’s contact information. This “mined” information can be used to help tailor a targeted marketing campaign later on. 

Driving Sales

One of the main goals of a landing page is to drive sales. A page with a single call to action with no other distractions simplifies the buying process for customers. You can create a sense of urgency by including a limited-time or one-time offer to further boost the likelihood of a purchase.  

Promoting Events

If your goal is to encourage sign-ups for an upcoming event, you can create a registration landing page specifically for it. A dedicated page with centralized event details, such as date, time, and RSVP options, will help streamline the process and make it easy on users who want to sign up.

Supporting Ad Campaigns

If you are using pay-per-click, you want to have a landing page to support it. Users can click on the ad and be taken to a page tailored specifically to the ad’s messaging and keywords. 

Testing Marketing Messages

A landing page can also be useful in researching the best ways to market to your target audience. You might test two versions of a landing page, for example, and see which headline or CTA works best. This can help you design future landing pages for additional campaigns. 

Creating A Better Customer Experience

Perhaps most importantly, landing pages enhance the user experience by helping them quickly find what they are looking for and reducing barriers to making a purchase. 

Consider the User Experience When Creating Your Landing Page

User experience (UX) always has to be at the forefront of your mind when creating a landing page design. A great UX ensures visitors can navigate the page easily and understand what they need to do next. Be sure to include:

• Clear headlines that grab attention with a compelling headline that reflects your offer.
• Concise content that uses bullet points or short paragraphs to convey information quickly.
• Add testimonials, badges, or case studies to build credibility.

Choosing Your Landing Page Design

Ultimately, you want to strike a balance between engagement and simplicity. Removing the navigation bar is only one step in ensuring your potential customer remains on track to accomplish whatever goal your landing page is trying to accomplish. 

• Have a minimalist layout. Avoid clutter to keep the focus on your call to action (CTA). This is important for the user experience as well. Try to empathize with the task they will be trying to accomplish. Make it as easy as possible for them by clearing away any unnecessary links, pop-ups, buttons, menus, and other distractions. 
• Use relevant images or videos that align with your brand, and make sure they load quickly (see below).
• Choose readable fonts, so your message is clear. Again, stay on brand with your site’s chosen font families and styling. 
• Make sure your page looks great on all devices, but prioritize mobile views especially.

Optimize Your Landing Page for Speed

Page load speed significantly impacts user satisfaction and conversion rates. Slow pages lead to high bounce rates–the name for when users abandon your site because it is taking too long. And high bounce rates negatively impact your SEO. 

This is another reason why minimalist design is preferable. Overloading your landing page with too many videos, images, and widgets can slow it down. Stick with a simple, yet impactful design and compress videos and images to a more optimal size. There are several plugins you can install to do this, or your web developer can help you. 

Choosing Your Landing Page Call to Action

The CTA is the most important part of your landing page. Without a clear and compelling CTA, visitors won’t know what to do next. Choosing the most effective call to action can involve a bit of trial and error, which is when A/B comparison’s can be useful (see above). In general, however, keep the following in mind when coming up with your landing page CTA:

• Use phrases like “sign up now” or “get started” that encourage the “action” part of the CTA. 
• Make the CTA as prominent as possible by placing it above the fold. This is the part of a webpage that is visible to a user without scrolling. Make sure you adapt the positioning of the CTA for the fold on different devices, then repeat the same CTA throughout (aim for every 2-3 sections).
• Add a sense of urgency, when appropriate, by adding time-sensitive language to encourage immediate action or risk missing out on a limited-time opportunity.

Landing Page Examples

Let’s take a look at a few successful landing pages to help visualize what we have been talking about.

Sample Landing Page 1

Pros: Clear CTA, Large Font, Minimal Design

Cons: Separate Form Fill and CTA Overkill

This is an example of a landing page users reach after clicking a PPC ad. It encourages them to schedule a free design consultation with the goal of mining potential customer contact information. The page is bright and simple, and its purpose is easily understood. However, there are two CTAs within the fold (overkill), and the user must click a button to go to a separate form in order to schedule. Being able to enter contact information without leaving the page would streamline the process.

Sample Landing Page #2

Pros: Minimalist Design, Obvious CTA, On-Page Form Fill

Cons: More Than One CTA

Here is an example of a landing page designed to mine email addresses in exchange for a discounted trial. Its simple design and on-page form fill make it a good landing page. However, we wouldn’t recommend having the added distraction of the offer at the top of the page, with the clickable “learn more” option. This could distract users from the primary goal, which is to obtain an email address and a new subscriber.  

Need A Landing Page For Your Business? Let Us Help!

Redstone Communications Group is an omnichannel marketing firm based in Omaha. We help our customers create engaging, high-traffic sites with strategies tailored to your unique business goals. We can help you design a thoughtful landing page that drives conversions while maintaining your carefully crafted brand and voice. Give us a call today to see how we can help your business grow to the next level.