 Landing pages have a positioning problem. Most marketers would agree the purpose of a landing page isn’t merely to provide a place for prospects to 'land'. A landing page is the tipping point, the proverbial top of the fence, the exact spot on the pavement where the rubber hits the road. It’s the point at which a visitor asks herself, "Am I interested in this offer?"
The landing page is in fact, the conversion page. What we typically refer to as the landing page is actually where prospects decide to act or bail on your offer. So why is the conversion page often the least considered element of an online marketing campaign?
Perhaps it’s because it requires the skills of a professional designer and support from IT adding more steps to the marketer’s work flow. Or maybe because we’ve had it drilled into us that landing pages need to be so crystal clear and straightforward that we’ve lost sight of just how much focus is required to achieve 'simple'. Or, maybe we’re just calling it by the wrong name.
Many of the best practices related to creating effective landing pages seem logical enough. But these best practices take on a different light when applied to 'conversion' pages. Here's what you need to know:
Focus on a single, clear offer
Your main goal is to convert so resist the temptation to provide too much content, navigation, or links to other pages on your Web site. Each element must support the call to action or it doesn’t belong there. Think of your conversion page as a critical step in the funnel; any extraneous links are holes where the prospect can slip right out.
Customize your conversion pages
If you invest in multiple search marketing and email campaigns concurrently as part of your integrated online marketing strategy, you also need multiple conversion pages relevant to the different keywords and offers. Don’t rely on a single, generic conversion page any more than you would rely on a single one-size-fits-all marketing campaign.
Create a scent for continuity
'Disoriented' is not how you want your conversion page visitors to feel. Repeat the keywords from your search ad in the headline and content. Carry over the look and feel of the email campaign content to the conversion page.
Include the form right on the page
If you require visitors to click-through more than one page to get to the Web form, you risk losing them. Include a conversion form right on the landing page, but collect only the minimal information you need.
Speaking of landing pages…
Check out the updated Lyris HQ landing page generator released today! (View a quick demo video). Now it's even easier to create landing pages for all your email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and any other offline or online marketing campaigns you can think of. Simply drag & drop templates, forms, graphics and content stored in the Lyris HQ asset library to create customized, professional landing pages. No HTML or graphic design skills required, and Web analytics tracking codes are added to pages automatically. It’s all part of the Lyris HQ online marketing solution!
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About the Author
Yvonne Yuen is a senior product manager at Lyris. She is responsible for defining and delivering customer requirements which improve their online marketing ROI.
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