The Landing Page - Smart and Compelling
Anyone who has launched an SEO or PPC campaign would agree that, although the home page is a "sacred" part of their websites, it’s not the page where they should direct their prospects for further calls-to-action. A recent study shows that the potential buyer has an attention span of 8 seconds* to make up his/her mind whether to engage: it is therefore essential that they land on a page that is more salesy, more gutsy, that prompts them to act: “sign up”, “download this ebook”, “call us”, “buy this”. This is the so-called "landing page".
Different landing pages for different SEO/PPC campaigns
It’s, therefore, part and parcel of any SEO or PPC campaign to create multiple versions of a sales or marketing message, to be replicated on the assigned landing pages. Personalisation and customised calls-to-action on each landing page are key. However, the page branding should not be neglected. A cold, OTT sales pitch on the landing page is not likely to coax the prospect to perform the anticipated action. Tone of voice and the look and feel of the entire website should be replicated, maybe in a more subtle/subdued way, so that the main focus of the user is actually on the new message conveyed.
Strong Call-To-Action (CTA)
Here lies the paradox: the real purpose of a landing page is not to create brand awareness per se. Branding is part of the grand scheme of things, of course, as highlighted above, but this time the business wants you to act "now". The page needs to incorporate a strong, compelling and clear call-to-action. It’s good practice that this new page leads to another one. The link between one page and the next should be smooth, logical and quick. Any technical hiccup will put off the user. The next connected page will then offer the goodies e.g. free e-book or trigger the call e.g. Skype. There are so many possibilities: businesses sometimes fail to take into account that this is a stepped process when designing the web page.
The landing page has this unbeatable combination of being an entity, short and precise as well as being part of the larger website. As a short page, it can help the user concentrate and not be distracted by other content he/she would normally find on the website. Its message has the potential of being laser-like in terms of focus. It is a clear message. This is meant to happen so that it can speed up consumer action.
GDPR and User Data
In terms of possible uses of all the data gathered at this connection point, with user permission, GDPR oblige, the list is quite big. As a business, you can use this new data to compile an email subscriber list. You will learn more about your sales prospects and their needs, desires, and pain points, if a message field is also included, depending on the context of the call-to-action. This exercise will refine your knowledge of the target demographics so that you can customise your product/service to meet demand in the near future.
We can also test the waters about the readiness of the potential buyer to make a purchase. If the user shows deep engagement for example, then this is a positive sign that he/she will purchase soon although no further information can be obtained re the time scale. If the person downloads multiple offers from a PPC campaign, then this looks promising for your business.
A/B testing
Testing a landing page is easier than testing the home page as we will have a better idea why the user is on that page and the source of traffic. The guesswork is reduced. We can better track movement, with off-the-shelf tracking software. The page can be optimised, after reviewing different page versions and user behaviour, to heighten the chance of a conversion. You can critically assess the appeal of a marketing offer and you can test the right colour, form fields, copy, headline, etc.
The formula of testing and adapting for better conversion applies.
* According to a study by Microsoft, the average human being now has an attention span of eight seconds. This is a sharp decrease from the average attention span of 12 seconds in the year 2000.
