Definitive Guide to Landing Pages - Best Blogs Asia
My indepth guide focuses on optimisation for conversions and designing the best page.
I won’t bore you with long details as to what a landing page is (it’s a tailored page where traffic is sent to prompt a certain action or result) or what tools to use (Google Webmaster is useful) but will explain what makes a successful landing page and why it works.
Using Current Resources
First, I’d recommend taking a look at Google’s excellent Web Optimisation review which includes some sections on landing pages and what they should contain as well as this Split testing article.
Landing Page Example
We’ll get straight into the action and look at a successful example of a landing page in action. Note: The design, the lack of ads, the testimonials, use of pictures and the visibility of the order/buy it now/sign up boxes.
Other examples are:
Designing for Adwords
Landing pages and Adwords campaigns work really well together and I could write a whole new article on this subject, but for now I’ll write a short guide on what your landing page should contain if you’re using Adwords.
Google has a habit of raising bidding prices if it doesn’t like the page you’ve created. Perhaps it’s a new website, contains a lot of links, doesn’t contain original content or that the landing page isn’t in the context of the current site. Google has written up guidelines on Landing Page Qualities and I recommend heading over there before placing bids.
In the mean time make sure your page has links to the site’s privacy policy (include your address/phone number), terms and conditions, contact us, about us and sitemap.
Gotten Google Slapped?
“Google Slapping” usually happens when your site doesn’t meet the correct requirements and huge extra charges are levied on your bidding keywords. So what’s the alternative? I personally don’t use Adwords and learnt from many years ago not to put all my eggs in one basket. I go for cheap clicks with no restrictions by using Networks like Adtoll and Adbrite, then redirect users to my landing pages.
Using Landing Pages for Subscriptions
Gaining more subscribers to my sites has become an important thing for me and it only recently “clicked” that I should be trying to build up a continual subscriber base to my blogs rather than hoping users who enter my site would click on my adverts and move on from my blog.
Directing the user to a custom landing page and getting them to signup and subscribe to your site makes greater sense. Building up a fan base, capturing email addresses and allowing users to come back to the site is very useful.
If you take a look at my own site’s example page, you’ll see what I’m referring to. I’ve kept the landing page in the style of the site, removed the adverts (with the help of php includes), showcased the site’s most popular posts and also gave an incentive to the potential subscriber by offering them an exclusive unpublished eBook.
Other Page Tips
There’s other important tips not just about what the site should contain and how it should look, but more importantly what the text says on the page. The content should be easy to read, focused on the product and “pitch” and there’s a need to explain how the reader would benefit by signing up. A landing page should communicate the value of what you’re offering.
Keep your Landing Page Current
It’s all too easy to build a page, use ppc and forget about it. The user visiting the page may of visited previously so what can be done? Try this free snippet of code below which uses Javascript to implement the latest day, month and year. This gives the impression the page is upto date:
Monitor your pages
Finally, sometimes landing pages stop functioning and if you’ve got 100’s of campaigns, there’s no way of knowing. One solution is that for a small fee, your host can monitor your pages and page/call you if they’re not functioning. Another way is to sign up for the many free monitoring solutions available on the web.
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