Landing is one of the online tools used in internet marketing. Let’s figure out what it consists of and how it differs from a regular website
Content:
What’s happened
How is it different from a website?
Pros
Cons
Types
How to create a landing page
Successful examples
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a one-page website whose main goal is to encourage a visitor to perform a target action, such as buying a product, ordering a service, subscribing to a newsletter, or downloading a file. Landing is used in Internet marketing to attract traffic from advertising campaigns, increase conversion, and boost sales.
How is a landing page different from a website?
The main differences between a landing page and a traditional website:
- Narrow focus : A landing page is focused on promoting one specific product, service or offer, while a website may contain information about several products or services of a company.
- Structure : A landing page usually consists of one long page with several blocks that consistently reveal the benefits of the offer and call to action. A website has a more complex structure with several pages and sections.
- Purpose : The main task of the landing page is to convert the visitor into a buyer, while the website can perform various functions, such as informing, brand building, feedback, etc.
Pros of landing
Landing has several main advantages. These include:
- Increased sales : The landing page is optimized to convert visitors into buyers, which helps increase sales of the advertised product or service.
- Speed of creation : Developing a landing page usually takes less time than creating a full-fledged website, which allows you to launch an advertising campaign faster.
- Focus on the target audience : the landing page can be customized for a specific target audience, taking into account their needs and requests, which increases the effectiveness of advertising.
- Ease of testing and optimization : A landing page makes it easier to conduct marketing research and optimize page elements to increase conversion.
Disadvantages of landing
Landing has several main disadvantages. These include:
Inability to promote multiple products and services at the same time : The landing page is usually focused on one offer.
Limited SEO promotion capabilities : the one-page format and narrow focus of the landing page make it difficult to promote in search engines compared to a full-fledged website.
Mistrust of some audiences : Some users may be suspicious of one-page sites, considering them less reliable than regular resources.
Types of landing
There are several types of landing pages, each of which performs specific functions.
Selling
A selling landing page (or lead magnet) is a page whose main goal is to encourage a visitor to make a purchase or leave a request for a product or service. Such landing pages are actively used in e-commerce, the service sector, and the b2b sector. They contain a detailed description of the offer, its advantages, customer reviews, calls to action, and an order form.
An example of a selling landing page is a page advertising a new smartphone model, with a detailed description of the characteristics, photos and videos, customer reviews and a “Buy now” button.
Informational
An information landing page is designed to provide useful information on a specific topic or problem to the target audience. Its task is to attract the user’s attention. Such landing pages are often used to promote educational products, webinars, consultations, and services.
An example of an informational landing page is a page with a free guide to SEO optimization of a website, which offers to download the full version of the guide in exchange for the visitor’s email address.
Eventful
An event landing page is created to attract an audience to an event, such as a conference, seminar, webinar or master class. It contains information about the event, its program, speakers, date and location, as well as a registration form. The goal of such a landing page is to convince the visitor to register for the event.
An example of an event landing page is a page dedicated to an upcoming online conference on internet marketing, with a description of the topic, a list of speakers, and a “Register” button.
Creating a landing page
The process of creating an effective landing page includes several key steps.
Competitor Analysis
Before you start developing a landing page, it is important to analyze the developments of competitors in your niche. This will help you understand what solutions and approaches other companies use, identify their strengths and weaknesses. The analysis allows you to create a more effective and attractive one-page site for the target audience.
Defining the target audience
A clear understanding of the target audience is the basis of a successful landing page. It is necessary to determine who your ideal client is, what their needs, pain points and objections are. This information will help to create a landing page that will speak the audience’s language and offer solutions to their problems. To determine the target audience, you can use methods such as data analysis and web analytics, surveys and interviews with clients.
Selecting a key message and offer
The key message is the main idea you want to convey to your audience. It should clearly and understandably explain what problem your product or service solves and what benefit the client will receive. The offer is a specific offer you make to the landing page visitor, such as a discount, free shipping, or a gift for a purchase. The key message and offer should be relevant to the target audience and stand out from competitors’ offers.
Example: For a landing page selling an online English language course, the key message might be “Speak English confidently and without an accent in three months,” and the offer might be “Get free access to the first lesson of the course.”
Development of structure and design
At this stage, it is necessary to think through the landing page structure — the sequence of blocks and elements on the page that will reveal the key message and lead the visitor to the target action. Typically, the landing page includes such blocks as a title, subtitle, description of the problem and solution, product benefits, customer reviews, call to action and order form. The landing page design should be attractive, modern and consistent with the company’s corporate style. It is important to ensure the ease of viewing the landing page on various devices, including mobile phones and tablets.
For a smartphone landing page, the structure could be as follows:
- Headline and subheading with key benefits;
- a block describing the problem that the smartphone solves;
- a block describing the key characteristics and functions of the smartphone;
- gallery with photos and videos from your smartphone;
- block with customer reviews;
- a block with a call to action and a “Buy” button;
- order form with fields for entering contact information.
Testing and launch
Before launching the landing page, it is necessary to test it for errors, loading speed, correct display on various devices and browsers. After making the necessary corrections and optimization, the one-page site can be launched and an advertising campaign can begin to promote it.
Examples of successful landing pages
Denis Shokin, head of web development at SberMarketing, shares an example of a landing page — a site for promoting a payment sticker from Sber.
Screenshot of Sber’s landing page to promote a payment sticker (Photo: Sber)
The site is aimed at a young and creative target audience. This is evident both in the texts referring to favorite characters and in the visual solution of the page – the design is bright, emotional due to gradients, frequent color changes and non-standard animation, the expert explained.
Screenshot of Sber’s landing page to promote a payment sticker (Photo: Sber)
Denis Shokin noted: “All the important semantic accents are placed. The structure of the narrative is built on the user’s “pains” – screen after screen, a potential client question and the answer to it are indicated. One screen – one thought, nothing extra. The user’s attention is managed perfectly.”
Maria Guryeva, corporate director of digital technologies at the Twiga CG communications group, gives another example — a promo page for Xiaomi headphones . According to her, the landing page is designed in a stylish minimalist style — like the face of a modern technology company. The emphasis is on high-quality photographs that allow you to examine the product in the smallest detail. Scrolling is carried out both vertically and horizontally, which allows you to optimize the presentation of information on fewer screens.
Screenshot of Xiaomi headphones promo page (Photo: Xiaomi)
The first screen immediately gives the opportunity to get basic information about the product: what we sell, and there is also quick access to blocks with advantages and features, notes Guryeva. The “Buy” button is present on the first screen, and then appears only at the end of the landing page. At the same time, the cost of the product appears at the end of the page, when the user has already familiarized himself with the advantages and characteristics.
The landing page structure is built in such a way that at the beginning, general descriptions of the product are given for a wide audience, and only after that, technical specifications for those who understand it. Maria Guryeva emphasizes: “There are no clickable elements on the page, except for two “Buy” buttons. Thus, the user only has to scroll through the landing page and study the information about the product. In such a case, the user has only two actions: read and buy.”
