Landing page
Why it matters
A homepage speaks to everyone and so clearly to almost nobody. A landing page narrows the choice, and that focus is why it converts better: nothing on the page competes with the action being asked for. Paid traffic makes this plain. Every click costs money, and sending it to a general homepage means paying for visitors who then have to work out where to go.
How to apply it
- Set one goal before building anything, and let every element serve it.
- Remove the main site navigation, so the only way forward is the action.
- Match the headline to whatever brought the visitor, whether an advert, an email or a search term. This is called message match.
- Keep the form as short as possible while still collecting what is needed to follow up.
- Add proof near the form, such as a customer logo or a short testimonial.
- Build one page per offer or campaign instead of reusing one generic page.
- Test one change at a time and keep the winner.
What it is
A landing page is where a visitor arrives after clicking something specific: an advert, an email link or a search result. It talks to one kind of person about one offer and asks for one action, such as downloading a guide, booking a demo or buying. A homepage has the opposite job. It has to serve every visitor at every stage, so it carries a full menu, many links and several messages.
Common mistakes
- Sending several different offers to one page, which dilutes the message.
- Burying the call to action below a long introduction.
- Treating the page as finished at launch. The first version is a starting point for testing.
