Landing Pages: Bespoke Parts of The Whole
A landing page is the page users are directed to from any campaign designed to drive traffic to a specific URL. The traffic to a landing page could be from a banner or PPC ad, an email, a print ad, TV or radio spot or from direct marketing. Users are being sent there for a very specific reason:
- Enter a competition (lead)
- Buy a product (sale)
- Subscribe to a newsletter (sign-up)
As far as landing pages go, first impressions really do count. They need to capture the user immediately and make them want to complete the desired action. Users who land on these pages make the decision to complete the desired action based on two criteria:
- Whether the page looks complicated or time consuming
- Whether it is relevant to their needs
Effective design and benefit statements can help users to make the decision to complete the desired action.
Guidelines for successful landing pages
- Focus the page on a single call to action. These are purpose built, purpose driven pages and extraneous information should be avoided.
- The landing page does not need to carry the same navigation of the web site, and can look slightly different (though a large deviation in style is not advised). The aim is to keep users on a path to the goal.
- Landing pages can detract from SEO efforts, as there might be many similar landing pages created. Use the robots.txt file to keep search engine spiders out.
