A landing page is any page on a website where traffic is sent specifically to prompt a certain action or result. The goal of the copy and design of a landing page is to get the prospect to complete your desired action.
Here are some ways to drive traffic to a landing page:
* a PayPerClick (PPC) campaign on a major search engine like Google, Facebook, Yahoo! or Bing
* a banner ad on a relevant website, group/association newsletter or something similar
* a link in an email newsletter
* a link posted on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media site
Remember, the goal is to get the visitor to complete your desired action. And the way to accomplish this goal is to have a landing page that matches the visitor’s expectations, tells the visitor what to do and how to do it, then thanks the visitor for stopping by.
Good Example:
Pet insurance site is running PPC campaigns on Google, Facebook and Yahoo! The goal is to get visitor email addresses in return for supplying a price quote.
The ads use researched keywords, and show up in response to a search query. The searcher clicks on an ad that says "Pet insurance can save you money and help your pet stay healthy".
The click-through should be to a page on the website that talks about pet insurance and how it can help you keep your pet healthy. It should use the same keywords as the ad, though not necessarily the same text. It should meet the visitors expectations. Also on the site is a clear Call to Action that asks the visitor for their email information and a bit of information about their pet to receive a quote. Once the visitor completes the task, a ‘thank you for visiting’ statement appears with assurances that a quote will be in their inbox shortly.
Bad Example:
Same scenario as above, except the visitor clicks on the ad and is taken to the home page of the site. The home page talks about various pet illnesses, grooming tips and a few flea collar options. The visitor will click off the site because that page did not meet their expectations. They would have had to explore the website to find the information they wanted, and most visitors will not do this. They’ll click off the site, go back to the Google search results page and select another site to visit.
And then there’s Google Analytics
In the background there are ways to measure traffic to the site and to the landing page, measure conversion rates which in turn help you decide if the campaign is effective, and if it’s not then Plan B goes into effect – which is to change the ad text, or maybe change the landing page a bit.
Remember, the landing page can be an existing page on the website OR it can be a new page that’s been designed specifically for a campaign. These are done all the time for market research.
- Test the waters before a product launch
- Test the effectiveness of an ad idea
- Get email addresses before the product is actually available
Have the following in place before you begin and you’ll see positive results:
- have a strategic plan (the reason you’re using a landing page)
- have an objective (what’s the goal?)
- decide the tactic (PPC campaign, banner ad, links via social media sites, etc.)
- measure the results
Questions?
Ready to start a campaign?
We’re available to create a campaign for you – just email us at info@searchbyburke.com or call us at 812-951-3177.