Landing Pages : The 411
Landing Pages : The 411
You may have heard or read about people using landing pages in their online business. When I first heard of landing pages they were presented as the “new thing”, the “next big marketing tool”, and the “secret marketing tool” of successful companies selling online”. What I didn’t realize is that landing pages like the “Force” in Star Wars are all around us, they bind marketing together, and are the vehicle of commerce for a great percentage of all web based transactions.
What is a landing page? I discovered that a landing page is essentially an upgrade from the traditional print ad used in magazines, newspapers, and billboards. Like its physical predecessors, landing pages are created to sell a specific item or idea using one page. They are usually very focused on one item or category of items. For the same reason missiles do not have steering wheels inside them, a landing page does not have much in the way of navigation other than links to sign up for information, or buy the product.
Similar to full service commerce websites landing pages have many different styles and functions associated with them. They fall into two types of pages, the short and long format. Independent of the form, landing pages are used to inform the user, collect data, or make a sale. I learned a lot from the site Landing Page Examples about the long and short page formats.
How do you use a landing page? In order to use a landing page you need to decide what you want to sell (an item or idea) and set goals pertaining to expected sales, information gathered, etc. If you need help there are many resources available to help you get focused and your product online. One company that makes this happen is Ad2Action. They provide landing page templates, campaign tracking, email contact services and more.
What if I already have a website? Why would I need a landing page? It doesn’t seem to make sense
until you look at landing pages closely. Using landing pages allows you the option of creating specific pages to focus on sales, special discounts, closeouts, or new product launches without disturbing the structure or content of your website as a whole. These type of pages are also easy to take down without having to adjust your websites navigation or internal links.
There is a lot more to landing pages than talked about so far. The only way to continue growing your business is to expand your knowledge and put it into action!
