How to maximize returns on your landing pages
Your digital marketing campaign is incomplete without properly formatted landing pages aimed at attracting a specific audience to your business. Only a web design agency in based in Bucks County can fully understand and appreciate what makes your business so pivotal to the community. Planet 8 Digital knows that more that goes into a landing page than you might think. In this guide, we outline the basics of landing page anatomy to ensure the largest return on your investment.
Headline and subheader are vital
While working in the Philadelphia region, we have observed that unless landing pages are quick and to the point, they are essentially useless. You only have 3-5 seconds to make a good first impression on your potential customer, so it helps to quickly assure them that they are at the right place.
For example, let’s say that you run the digital marketing for a new brewery in Philadelphia. You want to attract more customers to your brick-and-mortar location with an effective landing page. It is best to quickly grab your audience with a good headline and to identify your business with a tag like, “Planet 8 Brewery’s taps are open for business!”
Directly underneath your tagline should be a subheader, which could be something like “Our new Philadelphia brewery providing a relaxed atmosphere, shareable finger foods, and the best beer south of Market Street.” In a matter of seconds, all viewers know exactly what your brand is, what service or product you provide, where your general location is and encourages them to read the rest of the page.
Imagery that reflects your brand
Any decent web designer should know that more and more users are making decisions based on visual cues. Things such as color scheme, shapes, and placement are all aspects to consider when designing your landing page. Placement is arguably the most important factor to consider because you don’t want the image to be in a position where it takes the user’s attention away from the main points. Instead, it should enhance the value of your headline, subheader, and call-to-action (CTA).
Let’s continue that brewery example from before; in this case, a video or series of professional photos (no, your niece’s cellphone photo won’t help) capturing the atmosphere you establish for your clientele and the products you serve would be ideal. In this case, if your audience sees a video or photos of your establishment, they might feel enticed to go based on the look and feel on your landing page.
Social media icons
Properly utilized social media sharing icons should be easy to see and they must be functional. Don’t miss out on hundreds of likes or retweets because of an incorrect URL in your href is incorrect. If people care enough about your brand to share it on social media, do not miss the opportunity.
Depending on your business, you likely have several different social media accounts. A carpentry business, for example, may not heavily rely on Twitter or Instagram, but Home Advisor and Yelp are crucial. On the other hand, a local band looking to expand their fan base should use Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat and skip Yelp or Google+. The header of the Planet 8 Digital website has all our social media icons, making it easy for visitors to check them out with a single click.
Call to action
Give your audience a reason to move forward in the conversion process. A local newspaper or magazine might feature a form to sign up for their newsletter. Restaurants benefit from a button that links to special deals and coupons. A good call to action (CTA) needs to stand out. Avoid using dark colors like the blacks, whites, and grays. Make your CTA stand out with the use of bold primary colors.
The text inside your CTA should be prominent and aligned with the process. If the user is signing up for a newsletter campaign, have the link text say, “Subscribe to Newsletter” as opposed to just, “Submit” or “OK.” If your CTA meets these criteria, your local SEO will definitely improve.
Add value to your brand
Why should customers continue navigating through your site? If your landing page doesn’t answer this question, then it’s time to reevaluate some things. This is an often over-looked aspect, but it should not be ignored. In all honesty, it can be summed up in 3 or 4 short bullet points. Why should your customer do business with you instead of your competitors? Express to them that their satisfaction is your guarantee, or that you’ve been doing business in the community for 50 years, really anything that makes you stand out from the rest of the pack.
If applicable to your industry, even a few of your best testimonials would be a great addition. Potential customers seeing the words of satisfied clients can go a long way in an acquisition. No landing page is complete without a testimonial.
Landing pages are a critical factor in search engine optimization because they can astronomically expand your particular market if done correctly. Simply put, companies that create 10-15 dynamic landing pages see a 55% increase in leads. Keep in mind that if you are in the process of creating multiple landing pages, each one must contain unique content. Having identical content across multiple landing pages will result in a penalty from Google.
In essence, your landing pages should be concise, visually appealing, and simple to navigate. With only 3-5 seconds to make a good first impression, it is important to keep all of the above in mind when creating your landing pages.
