Some marketers recommend landing pages as essentially a one-page offer with call to action and response form – and NO navigation options. In most cases, we are more inclined to think of every page on a website as a potentially valuable landing page. It needs to convince and convert people, but it also needs to give them some room to browse further.
Homepage – If people know something about your company and want to learn more, they are likely to first visit your homepage. New or not, homepage visitors likely seek an overview of your organization. But they also want quick, easy ways to drill down to specific interests. Response forms still make sense even on the homepage – since it is often a landing page.
Sub-pages – If someone searches and finds you through a link back to your site – from Google or another website, chances are they have a specific question or concern in mind. Consider who may click directly to each page from other sites or from a Google search – what are they likely looking for? And make sure the page works well as a landing page.
Blog Pages – If you’re publishing good, relevant content, your blog should be a great source of inbound visits. But that means every post is a landing page and you’d be surprised how few people have thought about what that page looks like to a visitor who has no idea who you are. Format your blog so your branding is clear, use the margin to promote products and services, and provide clear navigation back to your site. (Too many companies create a cute, separate identity for their blog and confuse rather than help guide users back to the real reason it’s there in the first place.)
Adwords – Rarely do you want to send a Google Ad to your homepage since it’s the general overview of your business. This is the classic role of a landing page – users have Googled something in particular – so make sure your target page answers their need with concise information, a clear call to action, a phone number, and a simple web form right on the page, no further clicking necessary. This is often where marketers will create stand-alone landing pages, forcing action on that page. However, more and more users today understand what you are doing, and just get annoyed by this approach.
If every page on your website is a landing page, then every page needs to have a clear headline, concise body copy, and an obvious call to action. Regardless of whether they just landed or not, you never know when a reader is ready to raise their hand and start a dialogue – so you need to make it easy for them to respond whenever they are ready. Start by perusing your Google Analytics to see where people are landing on your website and the paths they tend to take. This will get your mind churning about how to best convert them at every turn.
