Best Landing Page Tips
The definition of a landing page is simply "the first page
that visitors see on your site," So it is not just any page, it's the one a visitor sees first. This can be any page but any page that a user "lands" on. Any of your webpages can be landing pages, whether you designed it that way or not.
Example: When you type into Google a search term "pens" a list of search results appear, then you select one that looks good to you and you click on it. When you do this that click takes you to a websites landing page or the first page you will see on the website.
Landing pages directly affect your e-
commerce website profits or your bounce rate (how long a person stays). A poorly-designed one can have people leaving the second they land there or just the opposite an effective landing page can drive
traffic into your site to help them answer questions of find a solution to a problem making
your website a success.
You may have heard the terms PPC landing page or affiliate landing page but these all really mean the same thing what different is where the traffic is coming from like Pay Per Click (PPC) or where it is going to like an affiliates landing page either way it's the page a visitor will be landing on first.
One vital measure of the effectiveness of your website is
the "bounce rate," or the percentage of visitors who
immediately leave your site without making any other click.
The bounce rate is inversely proportional to the
effectiveness of the landing page. Basically, this means
that a high bounce rate indicates that your landing page
isn't compelling enough for the visitor to pursue his
interest or take some other action.
Normally, the home page is the primary landing page of most
typical websites. But more and more, site owners are
designing landing pages outside of the home page, and for
good reason.
Most users prefer to skip information which is irrelevant to
their needs. They want to get directly to their search,
hence the need for a landing page that delivers just that.
They can avoid the delays caused by having to click through
pages and pages of information when they already have
something in mind.
Landing pages serve their purpose when the site owner knows
the kind of visitor they are targeting. This is determined
by report research that will show you what the visitor clicked on to arrive at your
site. A visitor who clicks on an ad for your product would
not want to go through other pages to get the information
about the product. Webinars, other event registrations and
special presentations make use of this same principle.
Not all visitors are looking for the same information. One
may click on your link after reading an article you
submitted to a consumer review site while another may arrive
at your site after viewing your pay per click ad.
For each specific visitor, you can design a landing page
that will cater to his needs and contain the information they are looking for. For example, pay per click traffic can be
directed to a specific page www.yoursite.com/product1, while visitors who
clicked on your banner ads for this month's special will be
directed to www.yoursite.com/specials.
These landing pages should be evaluated for their
effectiveness. The bounce rate is a key measurement for
determining the effectiveness of landing pages.
Another measure for landing pages is the success of a "next
action." It might be purchasing the product, requesting more
information, signing up for a free product tryout, etc.
Determine your conversion rate by dividing the number of
action takers into the number of visitors. A typical
conversion rate is 3 to 5 percent for lead generation pages
and 1 to 2 percent for e-commerce sites. If your site is
successful, you should be getting twice those numbers.
A concept that is intrinsic in creating effective landing
pages is "alignment." This is the connection between your
source (where the visitor came from) and your landing page.
The more connected they are, the higher the success of
conversion.
A good example is a banner ad for a specific product from a
beauty products company. Clicking on the banner ad and being
directed to a landing page showing the exact same product
yields a higher conversion rate. If the alignment is not
present, on the other hand, there will be a significant
reduction in conversion rates.
In general, a landing page must stir these positive emotions
in a visitor for it to be effective:
Credibility
Your page must be able to capture the visitor's trust by
presenting a credible appearance. Drop anything that can
cause a negative effect in the minds of your visitors, such
as a lack of contact information, grammatical errors and
typos, buzzwords, "marketese" and jargon, fuzzy or blocky
graphics and too much use of serif fonts, like Times New
Roman.
Recognition
Your page must provide your visitor a "This is what I'm
looking for!" moment upon landing.
Persuasiveness
Your page must be able to convince visitors that your
product or service can help them achieve their goal. Keep in
mind what attracted the visitor to your product in the first
place so you will understand what he is looking for.
Action
You must highlight an action for the visitor to take while
he is on your landing page.
Techniques to Use with Landing Pages
Here are some major principles to guide you in the process
of developing an effective landing page:
Make the Visitor Feel an Instant Affinity With Your Page
The top half of the first screen should be effective in
making the visitor feel that he has come to the right place.
The use of the right taglines, images and a position
statement (usually about 12 to 15 words) can help to
establish your declaration and inform your visitor what the
site is about.
Use Specific Headlines and Sub-headings
Throughout your page, include relevant headings and sub-
headings so that as the visitor skim reads the page they can
see what a particular paragraph or section is all about.
This helps him decide whether he will read the text or which
section he is interested in. The longer the page, the more
you should be using sub-headings. The headline should be
aligned as closely as possible with the banner ad or
whatever the visitor clicked on to arrive on your landing
page.
Focus on a Primary Goal
A landing page can achieve only one primary goal. Examples
of these goals are a lead capture mechanism, such as a free
demo or product trial, or to lure the visitor to go further
and view your main site. The best results come about when
you focus on your goal. However, a secondary goal is possible
in a landing page. For example, if your primary goal is to
make the visitor purchase your product, your secondary goal
would be to entice them to sign up for newsletters or emails
to receive choice offers.
Use Multiple Calls to Action
Using multiple calls to the same action supports the one
primary goal principle. This holds true on a long landing
page. A page that doesn't go below the fold may need only
one call to action. Overall, one call to action above the
fold and another at the bottom of the page are good. |