Landing pages are quite new when we compare them with websites but the difference between them is significant. Understand the difference between benefits of one or another is crucial for getting the leads converting them to customers. Viktor from Webcreate.Me highlights the main differences and useful hints how to get the maximum out of them.
What kind of marketing tool is a landing page?
First of all, let’s explain the difference between all the types of pages on your site. Don’t misunderstand home page with content page and landing page.
The main goal of home page is to create the first impression. It is the first touch that potential customer (the lead) has with your page so make sure you place there everything what makes him think that this is the right choice which will help me.
Content page provides deeper information and usually is optimized for important keywords.
When the emotional engagement is created you have to navigate the lead to convert. Here comes the final part, landing page. The major goal to keep in mind when creating a landing page is conversion. You already showed everything to potential customer and now it’s time to make an action and turn his hesitation to decision.
Landing pages don’t look like a usual WordPress website even though they may be at the same domain. Very often landing pages have no website background. The intention is to keep the visitors driven at landing page focus on certain marketing goal – e-mail subscription, event sign up, product promotion.
While home page or content page may have navigation or sidebar, landing pages are minimalistic tool with no irrelevant elements, compelling and efficient copy and resonating CTA. The key value of landing pages is eliminate other distractions and keep the 100% focus on one action step. Therefore the conversion rate expectations are way higher. Good conversion rate reaches average 2 to 5 %.
Do you have different ideas about the layout of landing page? It’s very easy to simultaneously run A/B tests. Basically, by putting out there two different version you ask your customers what they like more. When you have results of winning layout it’s quick to incorporate the insights into the landing page.
Why website when we have Landing pages?
After explaining how engaging and simple are landing pages you may wonder why you should invest your time to build a website for your business. The main objective of website mostly lies in branding.
Your website is the connecting point building brand awareness and trust between your product/service and customers. They can identify you, engage with your story and then spend money, hence the website gives you an opportunity to reach people through different marketing tools and creates new opportunities.
Therefore, business owners put a lot of effort to smarten up the user experience and professionality of design as it gives on good or bad feeling about the website. This impression it can cause extremely harmful result on your brand.
To make your website look professional think about your values and implement them into design so every aspect reflect them (not only aesthetic part but also typography, navigation …).
Gemma Holloway is explaining this feeling on example of Apple: “Imagine going to the Apple site – A brand focused on simplicity and beautiful aesthetics – and finding a site with confusing navigation and ugly typography. It wouldn’t exactly give you the best impression of their brand would it!?”
The main difference between website and landing page is trustworthy. If you’re at starting line of your business and your marketing goal is to build an e-mail list people tend to trust more landing page backgrounded by website telling a story. Most likely you wouldn’t give your personal information to a single landing page without further details about the company.
How can landing page help a website?
Many websites are missing out on opportunities to convert traffic into more engaged audience. When you already have a certain traffic coming to your website and you want visitors to focus on one single action it is the right time to set up a landing page.
The truth is that every website has areas through where the traffic leaks and leaves. The solution is specialized landing page keeping the focus of this traffic on a single action step.
What can be the next step you offer to “leaking” traffic?
- Start here page create the best first impression, introduce yourself and navigate visitors to the appropriate pages.
- E-mail opt in tell the people how they will benefit from putting their e-mail contact on your list.
Thank you page has quite obvious purpose but have you ever done any next step? These visitors have just created a relation with you, don’t waste the opportunity and after thank you message continue building it.