Landing Pages: What Are They & Why Do We Need Them?
A “landing page” is one of those buzzwords you hear a lot about, but do you know what it actually means? Well, let's break it down.
A landing page in its simplest terms is a web page that, as the name suggests, “you land on” from an external place on the internet. This could be linked from an ad, a post on social media, or a blog, etc. A good landing page will be specifically designed with an action or purpose.
For example, you're reading a blog on furniture and you click on a link for a sale for a couch brand. By doing so, it could then direct you to a landing page for that specific ad and sale page. In digital marketing, landing pages are purpose-built to stand alone, but can also be connected to a greater website as a part of a greater web of related topics. Essentially, they should capture the attention of visitors and present a longer form of content or information.
That's not to say that landing pages can only be used for one specific call to action, although it's an incredibly useful tool to do so. Nowadays, landing pages are ubiquitous across digital marketing, and here are 3 reasons why.
Collect Prospect Demographics
The concept of the landing page is that your audience must provide you with information to get access to an offer. In some landing page strategies, users can fill out a form. Though the details you request will differ, most of them will include contact details and demographics. Of course, contact details hand out to you the info you require to start contacting leads.
But the demographic data is just as crucial. It extends you the data you require to understand your new leads and segment them more efficiently to better target their requirements, interests, and pain points. It also benefits your sales team to have more useful conversations. And after all, this will boost sales.
While we are talking about demographics, what we actually mean is landing pages are exceptional tools for qualifying leads before they even promote sales.
The details secured from a landing page can ascertain if a lead goes to sales at all. Based on their answers you might choose to enlist them in automated nurture or pass them straight to sales.
Increase Local Visibility
As everyone knows, to rank higher with local searches you must have local content that reflects your location. Having location-specific content will help you to rank in specific local searches. It can be an extension of what your website already promotes, but you can better target your audience using a specialty landing page. Creating landing pages reflecting this is a fantastic way to get that ranking moving. This is the same for greater regions. Either way, gaining more visibility means more potential for capturing sales.
Expand Your Content
Landing pages helps to improve your content by guiding people to the specific content they want. As you design a particular landing page, you can limit or drive the actions you want your visitors to take. Also, as a part of a greater content strategy, more pages mean there is more data for Google to search through, and more opportunities for your website to be found. They can also give you an even further indication of what visitors to your site are genuinely looking for and engaging with, and who doesn't want that?
Targeted Lead Capture
Landing pages can be linked to all kinds of campaigns with different calls to action, as we have seen already. Your specific landing page can be designed with the end goal for your customers in mind. Do you want them to sign up to your newsletter? Or would you like them to pull the trigger on that sale? Specifically targeted landing pages mean more opportunities to generate potential leads marketed to the right demographic. And, not to mention it's another opportunity to collect useful information on those who visit your site for more meaningful leads.
Use Social Proof
Hardship loves business. It is also the same with landing pages. People are more expected to convert if they recognise other people like them have already noticed the value in your offer.
Incorporate testimonials, videos, pictures, names of people who have acquired your content and loved it. This is going to enhance your conversion rates greatly and make your page look more attractive.
If someone sees other people who look like them, sound like them, have related titles as them, they are going to be able to share their contact details to figure out what they might be missing out on.
If you are doubtful, run a test. Analyse the metrics of your landing page with testimonials and without. You'll immediately see these are some simple ways to develop lift form landing pages and it takes no time to add them.
So, in summary, landing pages not only direct your audience to specific content. They can help you to increase that all important local visibility, expand and guide your content, and last but certainly not least, generate leads and sound the call to action.
