What is a Landing Page?

Matt Brennan — March 21, 2018 Follow @MattLBrennan

Businesses looking to increase their online sales can benefit from having a firm understanding of what a landing page is, and some of the best strategies for using them.

A landing page can be on your main site or stand alone, and is designed to convert traffic into leads. They can be used in a PPC campaign, or as part of other marketing efforts in to bring people into your sales funnel.

The content can be written by a professional landing page copywriter, or in some cases written by the business itself. There are a few factors that make a landing page different than standard pages on your website.

• A landing page features a contact form. Visitors are encouraged to exchange their email and personal information as part of an offer. The offer can be a free informational product, or selling a specific product or service from the business.
  
• A landing page typically hones in on one product or service that a company offers. It may be targeted at one specific segment of the business’s audience. For example, a roofing company may set up a landing page for insulation, and run a PPC campaign in the fall, encouraging people to make sure their homes have proper insulation to stay warm in the winter months.

The Elements of a Strong Landing Page

The Offer

Above all else, your landing page needs an enticing offer. This can be accomplished in a few ways.

• You can discount your product or service. To make this approach successful, you will need to sell enough to offset the cost.
  
• You can give away something of value in addition to the product. This way the customer is receiving more value than they would during a regular purchase.

The offer can be accomplished through a combination of these two factors.

An Enticing Headline

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent 80 cents of your dollar.” – David Ogilvy

Advertising legend David Ogilvy’s insight on headlines is as true for landing pages as it was for magazine advertisements. You need a headline that is compelling, and strong. You need a headline with the power to convince someone that your landing page offer will improve their life in some way.

Spend some time learning what it takes to write a convincing headline. There is an artform to it, and the sooner you can pick it up, the better off you’ll be. Jon Morrow has a book called Headline Hacks that can help you out. David Garfinkel’s Advertising Headlines that Make You Rich also offers some wonderful insight.

A Compelling Hook

A reader liked your headline, and wants to know more. That’s great! They click on the link and start to read. Each sentence should build on the next and keep people moving ahead.

Pretty quickly, readers should get into the hook. They should see that you understand the problem that sent them to you in the first place. They should understand that you are offering something that can help solve that problem. The hook is essentially demonstrating that you have what it takes to improve their life in some meaningful fashion.

Visually Friendly Copy

When you are writing a landing page, it is critical to make sure that the copy is as readable as possible. This is especially true if you are creating a page with 1,000 words or more. There are a few ways to make sure you are creating visual, readable copy:

• Short paragraphs
  
• Subheads
  
• Lists
  
• Multiple images

Including these elements in your page will give it a more visual appeal and allow readers to be able to scan. This can work to keep people more engaged from beginning to end.

A Conversational Tone

Picture yourself out for coffee with a potential customer. You should write the landing page copy in the same tone you would use to sell to someone sitting across from you. For example, you wouldn’t hit them with a slough of industry lingo just to sound smart. They’d give you the visual clue of their eyes glossing over. You’d lose them.

You’d explain it in a way they’d understand. You’d make it a goal to sound informative, but not condescending. You’d smile and laugh and be human. At least a good sales person would. Your landing page should be the same way. It should be friendly and build trust at the same time.

Multiple Calls to Action

Some of your readers may know what they want more than others. For one reader, it may take the full 1,000 words before they are convinced on your offer. For others, it may take the top section, which was less than 200 words.

You can put a “Buy Now” or “Fill Out Our Form” button up top, as well. This saves people the hassle of having to scroll. You can also include your email, and other contact information in multiple places to make it easier.

A call to action needs to be persuasive. You’ll need to make a solid, convincing argument at the conclusion of your piece for why people should buy. It needs to be more than an abrupt “Fill out our form!” or “Contact us today!” Think of yourself as a lawyer making closing arguments before the end of a trial.

For example:

You could go on spending an hour of your day at the office fighting with the copy machine while your boss grows increasingly impatient. But if you’ve gotten this far, my guess is that’s not what you want to do. Instead you could try our XXXXXX copy machine. Our customers have told us repeatedly how easy it is to use. Simply fill out the contact form, and one of our sales reps will call you back within 24 hours.

In that example, we lead into the hard sell. It’s not random and abrupt. It’s subtle, and friendly.

Testimonials

If you’re looking to make sales off your landing page, testimonials will be key. You can talk about how great your product is, but testimonials offer the social proof that you can do what you say you can do. Make sure to include the relevant testimonials in the copy.

The Contact Form

Make sure that you are using your landing page to spread value and grow your email list. The form should be right there on the page. You can entice people to fill it out by offering them a free eBook, PDF report or video simply for registering.

One tip on the form. Do not ask for information you don’t need. People may only fill out 2-3 pieces of information before losing interest. Make it easy for them. Their name, email address and possibly phone number should be it.

Conclusion

A landing page is a great way to enhance your online efforts. It’s a highly effective tool for generating traffic and converting that traffic into leads. If you have a product or service that you’d like to sell more of online, creating a quality landing page can help.

(59)