Studies have shown that nearly begin the buying process by searching on the Internet. They use specific keywords to find companies that provide the products and services that they are looking for. Since they have a specific need in mind, they do not want to spend hours searching through large amounts of jargon and useless information. Instead they want valuable facts, information, results and most importantly, why they should pick you over your competitors. What makes you stand out? What is your USP? Your website represents you, your company and the products and services that you provide to your target market. Each page on your website has a different purpose with a set objective. Therefore all pages need to be optimised to work effectively and communicate your brand message to visitors.
A landing page is a page that prospects reach either through a direct link (maybe sent through email), search engine results, online advertising banners or PPC campaigns. Landing pages are not a website’s homepage but instead are separate pages that contain keywords matching the search phrases used by visitors. They should be designed to give visitors all the necessary information in one place so that it is easier for them to make an informed purchase decision. Visitors do not want to click through various website pages to find what they are looking for. They will simply move on and find one with a targeted landing page. There goes yet another missed opportunity! Therefore, targeted and optimised landing pages need to be a core part of your online marketing strategy to maximise lead generation.
Benefits of a Targeted Landing Page
- Content is specific to a particular service, product, event or offering to increase lead generation and help push prospects through the buying cycle.
- Creating a campaign-specific landing page gives marketers the chance to control, track, measure & report on the success of this particular campaign.
- A/B split tests can be conducted to understand which ad creative or calls to action where most successful.
- Google Analytics can track user interaction and conversion. Setting up ‘goals’ in GA allows marketers to track campaign results for specific landing pages that are not diluted by user behaviour on other pages outside of the campaign.
- Keyword focused landing pages can improve search rankings because Google takes these into account when establishing your ‘quality’ or ‘relevance’ score.
- Well designed landing pages create a hierarchical format to your site that is good for search engines and visitors. Your content is more organised and website navigation is made simpler because page content is more precise.
Creating Effective Landing Pages
- When launching a PPC campaign or other forms of online advertising you have a specific target audience in mind. Conduct keyword research using tools such as Google Adwords or Wordtracker to find out what words and phrases prospects are searching for. Include these in your landing page content so that you will rank higher in search results for the keywords associated with your product and/or service.
- Clicks from PPC campaigns should link through to the specific landing page not your homepage. The homepage is simply an introduction to your company and what you do, whilst the landing page includes all the valuable information related to specific products and services.
- Have a valuable offer (brochure, whitepaper, e-book) which pushes prospects to enter contact details such as e-mail addresses which will be added to your database.
- A strong call to action is crucial on a landing page. It can either be a ‘download now’, ‘Find out more’, ‘contact us’ or ‘sign-up’ button depending on your objective. These calls to action can turn a visitor into a lead.
- Keep it simple – long forms and too much text on the page can put people off and make them leave the page. Once they have signed up send them a thank you email with another offer such as a link to your blog or an e-book. This is a chance to deepen the relationship and also track the conversion.
- Give prospect a chance to share your page. Adding sharing option (such as share on Twitter, LinkedIn etc) is a great way to increase quality traffic and brand visibility.
- Most website visitors scan, not read, pages so give them the necessary information in a condensed and easy-to-scan manner. Don’t be afraid to bold keywords and use bullet points as they get the point across quickly and clearly.
- Use graphics wisely because they can be distracting. The right kind of graphic can work wonders whereas the wrong one can detract the visitor from your offer.
- When designing a landing page you sometimes guess what your prospects will want to see/read. Therefore conduct split tests with slight adjustments in copy, layout, headline, graphic and calls to action to find out which one your target audience responds to better.
Best Practice Example
I thought I would show you a quick example of what I have been talking about. I carried out a search on Google using the keywords ‘Sustainable home energy solutions’ and it took me to this website that can be seen below:
What I liked most about it were the helpful buttons on the right which pointed you toward landing pages relevant to different target audiences. There is information specific for homeowners, architects, engineers and builders amongst many others. I clicked on the homeowner tab and the landing page had a useful downloadable product guide, an application that would help me find my nearest installer as well as information on renewable energy, efficient heating and water conservation. As a prospect this would give me all the necessary information needed to make an informed purchase decision, thereby pushing me further down the lead generation funnel.
What I wanted to point out with this example is that landing pages do not need to be complicated. Simple is probably best as long as it has all the necessary details. Installing helpful online applications such as ‘find your nearest installer’ is an effective way of providing a valuable service to your prospects. Building specialised landing pages for targeted keywords will not only help to structure your site but also sends motivated visitors to the most relevant (for them) parts of your site.
For B2B companies in the construction industry it means focusing on converting clicks into leads, as much as marketers focus on getting those clicks in the first place. From the prospect’s perspective, clicking on a link is easy and doesn’t cost them anything, but converting into a lead means investing time and energy into filling out your form or signing up to your blog feed. Make it worthwhile for them to do so.
What works best for you when creating targeted landing pages? Do you ensure that links from PPC ads go to specific landing pages instead of your homepage? How many times have you searched for a product and landed on a website where you can’t seem to find any product-relevant information? Please let us know your thoughts via the comments section.
