Inbound Marketing Basics: Do this! A Quick Guide to Landing Pages

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a webpage where your visitors “land” or are directed after clicking a call-to-action (e.g. a banner ad, promotion, free download) on your website, blog, social networks, etc. Per HubSpot’s definition, a landing page allows you to capture visitor information through a lead form.

What makes a good landing page?

Companies experience a 55% increase in conversion when keeping relevant, focused, important information on a single webpage. Landing pages allow visitors to download eBooks or whitepapers, or sign up for webinars, trials, demos, or events. Each offer should be relevant to the intended audience. “Contact Us” forms are commonly used but often ineffective as landing pages. Why? These pages are not targeted to specific visitors and therefore present a less compelling offer than those that are more specific.

90% of information transferred to the brain is visual. Landing pages should be appealing to the eye and make it easy for your visitors to follow the path you have laid out for them. How?

• Keep content short (get to the point quickly)
• Use contrasting colors
• Keep images relevant
• Include your company logo
• Avoid visual clutter (leave some white space)
• Use directional cues (e.g. arrows)
• Never underestimate formatting
• Add social proof (quotes, testimonials)
• Leave out the site navigation (you want visitors to focus on the offer at hand)
• Keep the form and main info above the fold, with additional details below (think inverted pyramid newswriting style)

Examples:

How do landing pages fit into my marketing strategy?

Landing Page Essentials Checklist

• Clear header
• Clear purpose
• Direct content and relevant images
• An action form
• Link to Privacy Policy

The ultimate goal of a landing page is for visitors to fill out the form and become contacts. In order for this to happen, they need to have a clear understanding of what they’re signing up for and feel comfortable and confident in doing so. A landing page that is transparent, direct and presents a logical course of action establishes a sense of value for the visitor. A link to your company’s Privacy Policy reassures visitors that their information will be kept in confidence.

A Few More Facts for Thought…

• The power of landing pages: Companies with 30 or more landing pages generate 7x more leads than those with fewer than 10.
• Content preferences: Call-to-actions promoting eBooks get almost twice the click through rate as emails promoting webinars.
• What to aim for: The average landing page conversion rate 5-15%, according to HubSpot.

A slideshow of landing page best practices A longer how-to guide for landing page optimization, including social sharing links and A/B testing A look-book with multiple examples of well-designed, high-converting landing pages