A landing page is a page where a visitor arrives, or lands, from an advert, a search result, an email or a social media link. A good landing page focuses on one thing and guides the visitor towards one action.
How does a landing page differ from a home page?
A home page serves every visitor and presents the whole company. A landing page serves one target group in one situation. It continues directly from the promise made by the advert or search result. That is why campaign traffic should not be directed to the home page, where the visitor has to hunt for what they came for.
The anatomy of a good landing page
- A heading that matches the promise. The visitor needs to see straight away that they have come to the right place. The heading states the benefit, not a feature.
- A concise description of the benefit. What the visitor gets, and why from you in particular. A few paragraphs or a list is enough.
- One clear call to action (CTA). Buy, book a time, request a quote or leave your contact details. One goal per page. Every extra link and menu item leaks visitors away.
- Social proof. Customer reviews, references or figures build trust just before the decision.
- A form as short as possible. Every extra field loses people who would have filled it in.
The most common mistakes
- The page has several goals and a full navigation, so the visitor wanders off.
- The heading does not match the advert, so the visitor leaves immediately.
- The page loads slowly. Even a delay of a couple of seconds drops conversion noticeably, so fast hosting and light images are part of conversion optimisation.
- The call to action is hidden at the bottom of the page. Bring the CTA into view right away in the first screen.
How do you build a landing page?
Technically, a landing page is an ordinary page on your site. In WordPress you can build it with the page editor or a plugin, and direct advertising traffic straight to its address. The most important things are a fast base and measurability. Install analytics and track how many visitors complete the desired action.
If you want a landing page or a whole site built by a professional, take a look at our website service. For those doing it themselves, WordPress web hosting gives you a fast base on which pages load in a flash.