What is a Landing Page (and Why Are They So Important for SEO)?
There are over 3.5 billion online searches performed every day! What is the best way to capture some of that action? A landing page! A landing page is different than a website. It is a standalone page that highlights a specific service, product, or idea. A landing page can be on its own or as separate pages within a website. Not only can landing pages be part of a website, but because of their power, every website should have them for enhanced SEO (allowing search engines to target them with minimal distractions).
Why Use a Landing Page?
A landing page is a standalone web page specifically created for one purpose, often a marketing or advertising campaign. It is where a visitor "lands" after clicking on a link in an email, an ad, or from search engine results. The primary goal of a landing page is to guide visitors toward taking a specific action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a resource. Landing pages are designed to be focused, with a clear call to action and minimal distractions to maximize conversions. Landing pages are often used to increase a campaign's effectiveness by providing a tailored and streamlined experience for visitors.
What is the Difference Between a Landing Page and a Website?
A website and a landing page serve distinct purposes in a digital marketing plan.
A website is a comprehensive online platform that typically houses multiple pages with varied content. It serves as a hub for a brand’s online presence, offering visitors a holistic view of the brand and showcasing various products, services, or information.
On the other hand, a landing page is a standalone web page created for a specific marketing campaign or goal. It is designed with a singular focus, such as promoting a particular product, capturing leads, or encouraging a specific action. Unlike a website, a landing page is laser-focused on driving conversions and guiding visitors toward a specific call to action.
Why Should a Website Also Have Landing Pages?
As discussed, a website gives an overall view of products or services. There may be separate pages for each service provided, but a landing page can hone in even further.
For example, a contractor may have a dropdown of services on his website listing interior and exterior services, or even better, a list of project areas including additions, decks, kitchens and baths, etc. Landing pages can break down the term “additions” even further to include in-law suites, extended family rooms, four-season rooms, handicapped accessibility, and more. When a potential customer is performing a Google Search for an in-law suite with handicapped accessibility, they will be directed to this landing page with all the details but still have the main navigation for the whole website visible. This allows the customer to dig deeper into this contractor by reading the About page, reading reviews, and looking at a gallery of before and after photos.
What Makes a Great Landing Page?
It is tempting to add as many keywords as possible to try and capture as many of your specialties and locations as possible, but that defeats the purpose. A good landing page targets one specific idea. It may be something like “Best Contractor for Special Needs” or “Best Deck Builder in Old Lyme”.
It’s best to keep the following tips in mind:
Keep the focus simple. Clearly state the problem your service or product can fix.
Reduce distractions. Landing pages are not the place to give your business history or show your entire portfolio. Your website handles that.
Make it convincing. These pages should be laser-focused on the reasons why your business is the best at this particular service or product.
Offer clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs). CTAs are buttons, forms, clickable phone numbers and emails, etc. You want to make it as easy as possible for someone to reach out to you, register for an event, download your material, or whatever you are offering.
Target the locations with your best customers. While it’s tempting to try to target the whole world, specifically named towns will bring the best results. You can use a town, county, state, or even country, but be aware that the wider your reach, the more competition you will have, diluting your results.
Landing pages do not need to be part of the visible navigation of a website. Having dozens of dropdown titles with every combination will overwhelm your readers. They can still be part of the website without having to be displayed so blatantly while still found by search engines.
Track your results using analytics and tweak them until they convert visitors into customers at a steady rate.
Summary
Every website should have landing pages to give it more SEO-enhancing power. Designed with a specific goal in mind, a landing page is often the first point of contact for a potential customer. It encourages action, whether that is to contact you, make an appointment, register for an event, download material, or something else. Landing pages provide valuable data insights through analytics, allowing website owners to track the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and make informed decisions to improve conversion rates.
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