As a continuation to my previous
post where I discussed the importance of looking at page views from a
Qualitative perspective, I felt important to discuss the significance of
landing pages. “What is a landing page?” you may ask, well according to the Web
Analytics Association, a landing page is, “a page view intended to identify the
beginning of the user experience resulting from a defined marketing effort.”
(Web Analytics Association, 2008).
Essentially, a landing page is a page that a user lands on when entering
your site. This can be driven by marketing efforts such as direct links from
print, email, or social media links, or it can be a result of search engines
picking up key words on a page and direct linking within your site rather than
to your homepage. In the past, your homepage was THE landing page of your site,
but with the evolution of search engine algorithms and online marketing, a
landing page can now be located anywhere on your site.
Often times, website
developers will create a page, send out links to it, and then have no idea what
to do with the actual content on a page. You have to look at more than just
page views to see success of a landing page, you must also measure bounce rate
or conversions. This determination is based on what type of landing page you
have created…
Unbounce is a software company that focuses on
giving marketers an easy way to perform A/B testing on landing pages. They
state that there are two types of landing pages, click-through landing pages
and lead-capture landing pages. (Unbounce, n.d.).
Click through landing
pages are designed to persuade a visitor to click through to another page
(funneling traffic). These are probably the most common type of landing page.
They will typically display some type of call-to-action button as the primary
design feature on the page.
Lead-capture pages are
used just like they sound, to capture user data. This would include your
typical newsletter sign-up page or a request for more information. The sole
purpose of the page is to collect user information for your marketing and sales
efforts.
So do you still need a reason to use landing pages? Consider
this, you should optimize your landing pages because your competition isn’t.
According to Pamela Vaughan at HubSpot, “44% of clicks for B2B companies are
directed to the business' homepage, not a special landing page.” (Vaughan,
2012). So what is the impact? Think of
it this way, Cogswell Cogs and Spacely’s Sprockets sell the same product. Who
will get the conversion if Cogswell Cogs sends out links to their homepage,
while Spacely’s shares links sending users directly to a landing page catered around
their Sprocket? Internet consumers are lazy with short attention spans. Don’t
make then search your site to make a purchase.
Yes it is more work
managing landing pages all over your site as opposed to just a homepage, but the
advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Giving marketers the ability to specialize
content onto these pages specific to marketing goals increases your chances of
converting visitors into buyers, and that is the whole point of web marketing
isn't it?
References
Unbounce. (n.d.).
What is a Landing Page?. Retrieved November 3, 2014. from http://unbounce.com/landing-page-articles/what-is-a-landing-page/.
Vaughan, P. (2012,
April 27). Why Landing Pages Are an Indispensable Part of Marketing . Retrieved
November 3, 2014. from http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32566/Why-Landing-Pages-Are-an-Indispensable-Part-of-Marketing.aspx.
Web Analytics Association. (2008, September 22).
Web Analytics Definitions. Wakefield MA.
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