What Is a Landing Page? Landing Pages Explained | Unbounce

In digital marketing, a landing page is a standalone web page, created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign. It's where a visitor “lands” ... WhatIsaLandingPage?TheAnatomyofaLandingPageWhyShouldIUseLandingPages?LandingPageBestPracticesTheBenefitsofUsingVideoonLandingPagesLandingPages&ConversionOptimizationWhatIsA/BTesting?What’stheDifferenceBetweenaLandingPageandaHomepage?WhatisaCalltoAction?WhatIsaLandingPage?TheAnatomyofaLandingPageWhyShouldIUseLandingPages?LandingPageBestPracticesTheBenefitsofUsingVideoonLandingPagesLandingPages&ConversionOptimizationWhatIsA/BTesting?What’stheDifferenceBetweenaLandingPageandaHomepage?WhatisaCalltoAction?WhatIsaLandingPage?Indigitalmarketing,alandingpageisastandalonewebpage,createdspecificallyforamarketingoradvertisingcampaign.It’swhereavisitor“lands”aftertheyclickonalinkinanemail,oradsfromGoogle,Bing,YouTube,Facebook,Instagram,Twitter,orsimilarplacesontheweb.Unlikewebpages,whichtypicallyhavemanygoalsandencourageexploration,landingpagesaredesignedwithasinglefocusorgoal,knownasacalltoaction(orCTA,forshort).It’sthisfocusthatmakeslandingpagesthebestoptionforincreasingtheconversionratesofyourmarketingcampaignsandloweringyourcostofacquiringaleadorsale.Here’swherelandingpagesmightfitintoyourmarketingfunnel:Asyoucansee,thelandingpageexistsafterprospectsatthetopofthefunnelclickalinkinanad,email,oranywhereelseontheweb.It’swheretheconversion(likeapurchase,signup,orregistration)willtakeplace.Q.Wait,can’tanypagebealandingpage?Technically,sure.ThetermisusedthiswayinGoogleAdsandAnalytics,forinstance.Butnotalldestinationpagesaremadeequal.AtUnbounce,weusetheterm“landingpage”todescribeacampaign-specificpagewithjustonesinglecalltoactionandnowebsitenavigation.TheKeyDifferenceBetweenaHomepageandaLandingPage(orWhyLandingPagesAreSoFreakin’GoodatConverting)Belowwe’vegotahomepageandalandingpagelaidoutsidebyside.Seehowthehomepagehastonsoflinksandthelandingpagehasonlyone?That’sprettytypical.Whilethehomepagehasdozensofpotentialdistractions—youcanbasicallycall’em“leaks”insteadoflinks—thelandingpageissuperfocused.Havingfewerlinksonyourlandingpageincreasesconversions,astherearefewertantalizingclickablesthat’llcarryvisitorsawayfromthecalltoaction.That’swhyexpertmarketersalwaysuseadedicatedlandingpageasthedestinationoftheirtraffic.Sure,thehomepagelooksamazing.Itshowsoffthebrand,letspeopleexplorearangeofproducts,andoffersadditionalinfoaboutthecompanyanditsvalues.Fromhere,avisitorcangoanywhere—applyforajob,readsomepressreleases,reviewthetermsofservice,postonthecommunityboards,etc.Buttheywon’tnecessarilymakeapurchase.Andthat’sthepoint.Thelandingpageforthiscustomerservesacompletelydifferentpurpose.Pairedwithsuperslickadsthatpromoteasingleoffer,everythingaboutitworkshardtoturnthesevisitorsintocustomers.It’sdoingabetterjobtoconvertthetrafficthebrand’salreadygetting.That’sthepoweroflandingpages!Haveanotherquestionaboutlandingpages?Wehearya.Here’sthreequestionspeopleoftenaskus:1.WhatdoIneedtoincludeonmylandingpages?Readabouttheanatomyofahigh-convertinglandingpage.2.Ihavealandingpage,buthowdoIknowhowgooditis?GradeyourexistingpageusingourLandingPageAnalyzer.3.What’sthebestwaytogetstartedcreatingalandingpage?SeehowUnbounce’sdrag-and-dropbuildercanhelpyou.Q.Whynotjustpaytoincreasemytraffic?Runningadsoremailcampaignsgetscostlyandsearchengineoptimizationcantakeaverylongtime.Byusinglandingpages,you’llconvertmoreofyourexistingvisitorsandstretchthoseall-importantresources(moneyandtime,wemean)further.TypesofLandingPagesYou’llseealotofvariationoutthere,dependingonthespecificsofthebusiness,buttherearereallytwoarchetypallandingpage(definedbytheirgoals):LeadGenerationLandingPages:Alsocalled“leadgen”or“leadcapture”pages,theseuseaformastheircalltoaction.Thisformalmostalwayscollectsleaddata,likethenamesandemailaddressesofvisitors.(Youcanreadsomeexpert-certifiedleadgenstrategieshere.)B2Bmarketersandcompaniessellinghigh-ticketitemsusethistypeoflandingpagetobuildalistofprospectivecustomers.Theysometimesofferingsomethingfree,likeanebookorwebinar,inexchangeforcontactinfo.Ecommercebrandscanalsousethesepagesforlist-building,orofferingfreeshippingorspecialdeals,too.ClickthroughLandingPages:FrequentlyusedbyecommerceandSaaS(software-as-a-service)marketers,clickthroughpagesgostraightforsalesorsubscription.Usually,theyhaveasimplebuttonasthecalltoactionthatsendsthevisitorintothecheckoutflow(liketheappstore)orcompletesatransaction.DrivingTraffictoLandingPagesYou’regoingtoneedtofillthatfunnelfullofvisitorsforyourlandingpagetowork.Fortunately,you’vegotalotofoptions.Let’sexploresomeofthemorecommonsourcesoftraffictolandingpages.PaidSearchTrafficMostsearchenginesincludepaidadvertising.Whensomeonelookssomethingup(say,“cheeseofthemonthclub”)theseadsappearclearlymarked—butnottooclearlymarked—inthesearchresults.Here’satypicalexamplefromGoogle:Unliketheotherresultsonthepage,pay-per-clickadsarepreparedandpaidforbymarketers.Someonewhoclickswillbeprimedbyyourcharmingcopy(and,sometimes,yourvisuals).Andyou’velikelytargetedthembasedontheirsearchterm,demographicdata,orinterestsrevealedbytheirbrowsinghistory.Crucially,whenyoucreateanad,yougettochoosewherethelinktakesyourvisitor.Yes,youcouldchoosetosendthemtoyourhomepage.But,aswe’llexplorebelow,it’smuchbettertocreateastandalonelandingpagethatmatchesyouradcopyandoffersaclearcalltoaction.PaidSocialTrafficRunningadsonsocialmediasiteslikeFacebook,Instagram,Twitter,orLinkedInisakickasswaytotargetpeopleandcommunitieswho’llbeparticularlyinterestedinyourbrand,regardlessofwhetherthey’reinthemarketyet.Insteadofpeoplesearchingfor“cheeseofthemonthclub,”youmightadvertisetopeoplewho’veadded“cheeseappreciation”totheirlistofinterestsintheirFacebookprofile.Thebeautyofitisthatyoucanconnectwithcustomersbeforetheystarttolookforyourproduct—orbeforetheywantit!Asidefromofferingadvancedtargetingfeatures,eachsocialchannelhasitsowncharacteristics.Instagram,forexample,workswellforproductsandlifestylebrandswithastrongvisualappeal.Ontheotherhand,B2BadvertisersprefertouseLinkedIntoreachprofessionalsworkinginspecificindustries.EmailCampaignsEmailisoftentoutedasthemosteffectivemarketingchannelouttherebecauseofitsenormousreach(andlowcosts)comparedtootherplatforms.A2018studybytheRadicatiGroupprojectsthatthere’llbe4.2billionemailusersby2022.That’smorethanhalftheplanet!Apowerfulcomboofemailsandlandingpagescanbeusedbothtonurtureexistingrelationshipswithcustomersandtoacquirenewones.Afterbuildingalistofcontacts,yourcarefullycraftedemailletsyouenticereaderswithyouroffer,whilethelandingpagefillsinthedetailsanddirectsvisitorstowardacalltoaction.OrganicSearchTrafficTheterm“organictraffic”referstoanyvisitorswhocomefromanunpaidsource—likethebottomhalfofGoogleorBingsearchresults(SERPs).Bycreatingcompelling,legitimatelyusefulcontentonyourwebsiteorlandingpages,youcanensurethatyourbusinessappearsmorefrequentlyinrelatedsearches.Thehigheryourcontentranks,thebetter.Callingit“unpaid”isalittlebitmisleading,however.Itdoesn’tmeanthereisn’ttimeandmoneyinvestedinranking.(Ifonly!)There’sanentirefieldofprofessionalsdedicatedtosqueezingasmuchorganictrafficfromGoogleaspossiblethroughabalanceofcarefulstrategy,technicalknow-how,andbrilliantcontentcreation.That’ssearchengineoptimization(SEO)inanutshell.(ReadmoreaboutSEOforlandingpageshere.)Q.Arethereanyotherchannelswherelandingpageswork?It’simpossibletocovereveryusecasewe’veseen.Youmightrunnativeadsduringapodcast,forinstance,orcreateinteractivequizzes,orruntraditionalprintadswithQRcodes.Nomatterhowyoufillthetopofyourfunnel,alandingpagewillhelpyoumakethemostofit.WhyNotLearnaLittleBitMore?Hey,you’vegotthefundamentalsdown.Nowthatweknowwhatalandingpageis,let’slookatthefivekeyelementsthateveryhigh-convertinglandingpageshouldhave.