If there is one thing that your internet business cannot do without, then that is a landing page and there’s absolutely no doubt about that.
Landing pages are not an end in themselves, but rather a means to an end.
What you ultimately want to gain from a landing page, whether it simply be an advertisement, lead generation or conversion, it is up to you.
Since various objectives can be fulfilled by landing pages, you have to understand what are the benefits of each of the different types of landing pages and how they can help you achieve your goals.
In order to learn the finer details of this magic tool, read on.
1. Click Through Landing Pages
These are perhaps the simplest form of landing pages, devoid of any distraction. CT landing pages give the visitors on your page a clear instruction to basically just ‘get started’ as you can see in the two pictures below.
Unlike other landing pages, this does not beat about the bush with various descriptions and images.
Here are some of the features that make a click through landing page what it is:
- The first most apparent thing on the page is the heading that will hint at what your business is about.
There is little to no description on this page, so it is important that the heading and subheading make the best possible summary of what you have to offer.
For instance, look at the landing page of ZestPage. The first thing that you are bound to notice the title of the page is words CREATE YOUR OWN followed by the rest of the sentence landing pages, web templates and squeeze pages
- The next most important thing about a click through the landing page and the aspect from which it gets its name are where you get your visitors to click themselves on to the next stage.
So you definitely have to have an obvious, eye-catchy call-to-action button.
Since your objective with a page like this is that you want your visitors to simply move on towards only one particular option, you must place your CTA button in a place that the visitor will not fail to notice.
Placing the button right under the heading is always a good option; that way visitors will not have to look all over the page to try and find it.
- The layout of the page is also very important.
Since you already know that there is only one purpose this page is expected to serve, you ought to get rid of all other unnecessary elements and keep it simple.
A self-explanatory, embedded video, image or graph usually does the trick. The graph used by ZestPage hints at how your business can be expected to flourish with technical support from them.
Keeping the page uncluttered will help lift any feeling of pressure since at this point your visitors are probably sweating it out wondering whether to click or not.
- And one last element that you could add to your page is a customer feedback.
You do not have to have several, lengthy quotes from all your clients. Just handpick the most flattering, yet concise piece of recommendation and neatly add it to your page.
That ought to do the trick – make sure you don’t overdo it.
2 Lead Capture Landing Pages
These landing pages help you collect leads, which are the bare minimum information about a visitor that you will need to keep pursuing them through the mail.
Let me explain how this works.
What you will be aiming at here is how to expand your mailing list so that your potential lists of customers grow. Then over a period of time, you can mail your offers, newsletters and added services to simply keep them updated.
So how do you get them to give their information to you?
Simple. Place an opt-in form with the required fields. If you’re not too sure as to how to go about placing your forms read here on how to optimize your opt-in form for maximum conversions.
The following web page had a better chance of people opting in and here’s why:
In exchange of the information that is being asked of the visitors, Social Media Examiner has promised a free eBook which they visitors will receive once they have signed up.
This is a good way to get people to give their information.
Remember, that the number of fields required varies from business to business. If you are a private company offering security services then chances are that your visitor will be alright with giving you information such as their mailing address and phone number. It will also work if you are delivering grocery home.
However, if you are an online gaming site I am not sure the same can be said for you.
If you say that you’re doing everything right, yet you’re not being able to generate satisfactory leads then you should take a look at these 9 reasons as to why you page isn’t converting.
3 Infomercial Landing Pages
The infomercial landing page or the sales landing page are very different from the first two that we have just seen.
This kind is more text heavy as it goes on to explain a product or service in detail with a generous serving of images and videos sprinkled all over the page.
One of the best ways to optimize your sales landing page is by stressing on the problem that your visitors have. You have to highlight the issues that they are facing, but you must not leave it at that.
When you go on and on about a problem you tend to remind the visitor of his or her sufferings [whether it be the electrical wiring in your house or the out-of-date kitchen fittings] and this is where you have to quickly jump in with a solution.
Infomercial landing pages are a lot like the infomercials we see on TV. Remember the Ginsu Knife that is so sharp that it can cut through a tin can? As ridiculous as the adverts were, they made a point of their product and you have to do the same.
Also, remember how the infomercials would be really long? That’s because they kept reiterating their point, something you also have to do.
Finally, do not forget to throw in several call to action buttons throughout your page.
4 Microsites
Microsites or Minisites are a separate entity of an existing website with a separate URL.
This is not something you would always need since these are temporary sites that are launched in case of special promotions or campaigns and then taken off.
If suppose you were having an exhibition for your product or a special seasonal fair you could then launch a minisite from before the event and shut it down right afterward.
Remember you only need a microsite if you are focused and geared towards a single product type.
5 Homepage Landing Pages
Homepage landing pages are not exactly a type in themselves. It is simply maneuvering your tabs so that your visitors arrive on your homepage with a call to action button, rather than arrive at a separate a page with the forms and buttons.
Whether it be to click through landing pages or lead generation landing pages if your visitors are redirected from say either a social networking site or a search engine result to your homepage that is your homepage landing page.
Now that we’ve covered the different types of landing pages, here are a few things you should keep in mind when choosing your landing page.
Finalizing Your Landing Page
- When finalizing which type of landing page you’ll be opting to decide by the service that you are trying to sell and don’t go for the type that you would like to have.
Your landing page has to be custom-made for your business otherwise, it just might prove to be quite useless.
- While your landing page is undoubtedly for the visitors that come to your page, you will also want to treat the search engines as your audience since that is one of the places you want to register.
A word from the search engine Guru is that your landing page has to match your ad. If a visitor lands on your page only to find something quite different then Google’s going to throw you off their result list in no time.
If you want to know more on how to polish your landing page and get the best out of it read everything you need to know about landing page optimization right here.
- You may now have selected the perfect landing page for yourself but as a final precautionary measure, you are going to have to get your page A/B tested to know which of your combinations would do better once launched.
Conclusion
Landing pages tend to be the foundation of internet marketing and so it becomes essential that you nail your landing page.
And when I say nail it, I don’t simply mean that pick the right one for your business, rather optimize your landing page so that you register on the search engine radar and at the same time achieve what you want: optimum conversion rates.
So go ahead and try your hand at whipping up your landing page and let me know in the comments below how it worked out.
Related articles: ways to make landing pages, creating squeeze pages, landing page conversion
