By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Manager
What is a landing page? The term is thrown out a lot, but do all marketers know the meaning and purpose behind it?
A landing page is a standalone webpage — separate from an organization’s main site. A landing page has a focused objective that leads the visitor to the intended “conversion goal.” Or in other words — it’s a page that makes it very clear and easy for the visitor to do what the owner of the page wants accomplished.
As consumers (B2C and B2B alike) are increasingly researching and purchasing products/services online, landing pages have become essential to marketers.
Here are our 8 best practices when developing a landing page:
1. Know your goals
How do you know it’s working if you don’t know what it’s set out to accomplish?
Unlike B2C companies, B2B businesses usually have longer sales cycles. With that in mind, lead generation is a very common objective for B2B landing pages rather than just an increase in sales — which is a usual objective for B2C landing pages.
Make sure to establish the goal before creating the landing page so the design/content is effective.
2. Make it streamlined
Don’t scare away prospects once they land on the site. Landing pages are supposed to be simple and easy for the user. There should be one purpose to the site with minimum calls-to-action. The design should also be clean, and the content should be digestible and straightforward.
3. Have clear calls-to-action
Make the purpose of the landing page clear to the visitor. Visitors should be able to know what you want them to do right off the bat. The calls-to-action should take a prominent place on the page and should be above the fold.
4. Provide rich content
Provide relevant and informative content. It shows off your expertise in the industry, and it builds credibility and trust between you and the prospect.
And of course, don’t give away all the information for free! If the objective is lead generation, ensure prospects put in their name and contact information to download valuable content (in forms of white papers, infographics, etc.).
5. Use Video Content
Show, don’t tell!
This rule applies across the board — B2C and B2B alike. And you can see it in the statistics below:
- 80% increase in conversion when video is included on landing page
- 90% of users say that seeing a video about a product is helpful in the decision process
- 46% of users take some sort of action after viewing a video ad
- 1/3 of all online activity is spent watching video
If a picture is worth a thousand words, think of all the words you can get in with video.
6. Have multiple landing pages for multiple campaigns and products
In 2015, according to Impact, of the B2B companies that had landing pages, 62% only had six or fewer.
Your company should have at least one landing page per service/product you offer.
Of course, the goal would be having multiple landing pages per service/product and target audience to ensure you are effectively walking each target through the sales funnel.
7. Use the correct targeting
Make sure you are promoting your landing page on the right platforms to draw the prospects you want — and who could want you!
Landing pages should be geared to specific target audiences with messaging and content catered to them.
8. Show credibility
Show credibility by using client testimonials! According to Econsultancy, 61% of customers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. Another good practice is to show well-known businesses that use your service/product to demonstrate expertise.
