The Landscape of a Landing Page

Lets start with defining what exactly is a Landing Page. By definition a landing page is any page on a website where traffic is sent specifically to prompt a certain action or result. Just think of a a parking lot after a huge concert. The parking lot is the landing page and the exit or destination is the drive for the cars. As the marketer the goal is to direct all the traffic  to go to point A exit instead of point B. Still confused? It can be a little confusing. Many people assume a landing page is the home page of any website but not really.

The rise of search engine marketing (SEM) and social media marketing (SMM) has allowed traffic to websites to grow leaps and bounds. Lots of website owners are leveraging paid search advertisements, Facebook, Twitter, search engine optimization (SEO) and more to get people to visit their websites. The key to handling the traffic that comes in from SEM or SMM is what is known as a landing page; the first page a visitor sees when they visit a website. 

A good landing page will target a particular audience, such as traffic from an email campaign promoting a particular ebook, or visitors who click on a pay-per-click ad promoting your webinar. Landing pages must be well designed, visually appealing, and easy to use if traffic is going to be converted into something valuable. There are several things that factor into the effectiveness of a landing page. 

Landscape of a Landing Page

HEADLINE: This is the first thing that visitors see. Since you only have a couple seconds to grab their attention, make it clear, concise, and interesting. The Unique Selling Proposition (USP).

THE HERO SHOT: (image/ video showing context of use)

OFFER: Whether it is a free download, consultation, trial, or other service, provide some value to the customer in exchange for them submitting contact information.

SOCIAL MEDIA: In today's time social media presence is essential everywhere.

CALL TO ACTION: A single conversation goal with or without a form.

So as a marketer if you use the five essentials listed above you are sure to lead that heavy traffic exactly to whatever point you want to lead them to.