Amanda Strouse — April 6, 2017 
You may have heard the term “landing page” from a marketing agency or an employee or maybe even from reading the headline of this blog post.
You know what a website is. But what is a landing page? How does it differ from a website? How is a landing page used?
Definition of a Landing Page:
A landing page is a single web page that is most popularly built to acquire leads through a short online form. In general, a landing page directs the visitor to its single purpose, which is for them to click the main (or only) call-to-action button (CTA), such as “Buy now” or “Signup”.
Whereas websites are a multitude of pages with various information, media, lead capture forms and call to actions (Learn what a Call-to-Action is), an efficient landing page should just focus on one informational subject and have one call to action (CTA). The goal of a landing page is to get conversions, and landing pages can be stand-alone pages (without navigation to your website) or can be located on your website.
A landing page helps avoid that your web visitors start to “wonder” by clicking on links to other parts of your website, instead they’re forced to stay on one page (or leave) and click the only button you want them to click, the CTA. By not offering people the option (links) to go to other pages, you ensure that you’re able to “control” the flow of how they act or direct users to where you actually want them to click on in order to “convert” into potential leads.
The image above shows the landing page of our Vanish It customer.
Think of it like this:
A website is equivalent to your corporate overview or corporate brochure. A landing page is equivalent to a one-page flyer your business might send out about an upcoming event, a coupon, etc., asking the reader for one specific action.
Here are some uses for a website and a landing page, to further help you understand the difference:
Website Uses:
- All-in-one informational solution for people curious about your company
- Attract long-term interest and establish trust between the business and the website visitor
- Comprehensive and up-to-date contact information
- Lead capture form to gain more leads for sales and marketing purposes
- Thorough explanation of products or services
- Explanation of who the company is and the company’s executives or owners
- Center of the business’s marketing efforts
- Helps establish SEO for the business so that it will show up in search engine results
- Informs visitors of how to connect with the company in other ways
- Can serve as the destination for online and traditional advertisements
Landing Page Uses:
- Attract sudden interest, especially from people who don’t know your brand or who are very busy
- Gather leads and contact information for other marketing or sales purposes
- Distribution of enticing content which will ultimately benefit your business
- Inform a specific group of people about a one-time event, webinar, discount, etc.
- Can be effectively used as the destination for a new marketing campaign or new product campaign
- Can be effectively used as the destination for an online advertisement
If you want to create a hyper-focused online ad and want to get a lot of leads within a short period of time, a landing page could be the best option for you.
If you want to establish your business online and spread out your brand’s messaging to various online and traditional channels, then you will want to make sure you have a well-developed website.
Do you know which would benefit your business – a fresh, new website or a killer landing page?
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