Landing pages are web pages designed with a single-minded purpose. They’re the obsessives of the internet, only interested in one thing, whether that be getting a visitor to provide their contact details, sign up for your webinar, or download a white paper. While your homepage is like a shop window, your landing pages could be seen more like the guy standing out front dressed as a large promotional pineapple trying to guide customers through the door (okay, that might not be the greatest metaphor ever).
There are commonly two types of landing pages; the first is a click through landing page, created with the intention of getting users to click through to another web page, i.e., a booking page or a signup page.
The second type of landing page is designed for lead generation. These landing pages have the sole aim of collecting data from web users and the most common forms require a user to give their details in exchange for something of value to them. An ebook or digital marketing toolkit for small businesses, for example.
Best practices & quick tips for creating lead generation landing pages
Landing pages need to have a clear emphasis on usability, and click through landing pages should give explicit instruction to users on the site on where to click. Landing pages aren’t shy and should contain bold calls to action (CTAs), clearly illustrated value propositions (why should I click this button, what’s in it for me?) and should avoid distracting the user from doing anything but the task at hand.
Below is an excellent example of a click-through landing page done correctly, The Curve student accommodation in London have emphasised their call to action (the big red button, in case you missed it) so that users know where to go next.
When providing content, a free trial or some other value exchange in return for your prospect’s data, it’s important to ensure that the process is as quick and easy as possible, minimising the risk of users losing interest or becoming distracted while entering their details.
Below is a superb example of a lead generation landing page by Optimizely, which is effortless for users to navigate and engage with. Six snippets of customer information are all they ask for. That’s all. Keep it simple, and you’ll receive untold glory – start asking for too much info and you risk switching users off.
Things to watch out for:
Asking for too many details can be off-putting for users, keep the data collection limited to what you need, otherwise, you’ll be turning people away from you and your services.
The data protection act states that when collecting data, you will need to store the information appropriately and not pass any data on to third parties unless explicitly agreed. All communications should be opt-in i.e. the customer states they want to hear from you.
Lead acquisition is just the first step of the journey. It’s what you do next with all that lovely customer data that’s important. Using a marketing automation system that provides a landing page creation tool, linked to a CRM and automated email marketing platform takes all the hard work out of nurturing and converting those leads.
Avoid asking the same question more than once. If you already know a customer’s name and email address, why keep asking for them every time they want to download a new whitepaper? Take advantage of progressive profiling using marketing automation to ensure you only ask a question once, ensuring you supplement, not replicate, customer data.
SHAMELESS PLUG. Did you know that Kulea.ma includes landing page, email, CRM and analytics reporting, all under one roof, from as little as £99 a month? Did you? Sorry. We’ll shut up then
Our 5 tips for success:
- – Communicating a high-value proposition is essential when persuading customers to give you their details. In communicating the value of a white-paper, for example, emphasise the business benefits the reader will receive from reading the paper before asking them to enter any sought after details.
- – Attention ratio is important when building landing pages, you don’t want to have so many options that a user gets lost, or too few so the customer can’t get all the information they need. Finding the sweet spot will correlate with results.
- – Keep call to action’s and landing page information related. If your users click through and conclude that the offer comes with a hidden catch, your users will bounce off the web page, and all your efforts will be wasted.
- – Remember, your landing page has one objective which is getting users through to a particular area of your website. Guiding to complete conversions are the name of the game here. Think of a landing page as the guy outside spinning sign boasting a sales promotion; they’re not pretty but very effective.
- – Don’t be afraid to be different, this tip links with our last, make your landing pages stand out (for the right reasons) and customers will be inclined to fill out forms or click through to other web pages.
Useful links:
https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/the-data-protection-act – All you need to know about data protection.
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ – If your landing page is slow your bounce rates will soar, it’s crucial that you check this.
Definitions and explanations:
CTA – Call to Action
A call to action is an area of a website which communicates “click here” commonly pages wanting details or payment have big bright and visible call to actions.
CRM – Customer relationship management
CRM is a set of practices established to manage and analyse customer interactions.
High-value proposition – A statement which is used by businesses to communicate to customers the reasons why to buy a product or service.
Attention ratio – Attention ratio describes the user’s goals to be completed vs call to actions on your landing page, an optimised landing page will have a ratio of 1:1
