What is a landing page anyway?

I am often asked what a landing page is and how it differs from a website.  The simple answer is that a landing page is the page YOU visit when you click on a search result.  Maybe the easiest way to explain it is that a landing page is the opposite of a home page –where you have lots of choices for what you want to do next.

2 types of landing pages:

1. Internal website page: If you are in Google looking for a particular item and you click on a result in the searches – that click takes you to the “landing page.” And more often than not, we land on internal pages of websites rather than the home page.   Those internal pages are considered landing pages.
2. Targeted landing page: These pages are specifically designed to catch traffic from a particular campaign and will usually have a very specific offer.  They may even look quite different from the rest of the website.

Good Landing Pages Will Have:

1. Very specific offer for a very specific product.
2. Limited or even no choices for navigating around
3. Clear calls to action specific to the offer
4. Limited text / writing
5. Graphics and messages the company wants to test for performance

Good Websites Will Generally Have:

1. Good navigation making it easy to find what you need
2. Lots of opportunities to learn more with internal linking
3. Multiple messages for different audiences
4. Lots of good text for users
5. Standard company branding.

If you are still not sure what a landing page would look like you can review some of our recent work.  This should help you quickly understand the differences between websites and landing pages.

Recent examples of landing pages:

www.threeriversair.com

www.lunalullabyproducts.com

www.yourlouisianahomebuilder.com

Landing pages – great for paid search

Perhaps the best use of landing pages are for paid search advertising.  That way you can control the type of traffic that comes to your page and test the messages for their impact.

For more information on landing page design and what it can do for your business please contact us today.

The recent tough times in the real estate market have many agencies and realtors looking to the web for more business.  However most of the realtors I’ve spoken to are stuck with a somewhat dated perception of what works on the web and are looking for help.

But my question is – have you identified with a good potential customer for you might be looking for?

What do real estate searchers really want?

The big picture is that you should be trying to get in the mindset of the end user, and this is still true in the real estate industry.  Ask yourself:

1. Why are my users going online?
2. What are they looking for?
3. What does the user want?

Every agent and realtor may have a different answer to this question depending on the types of clients they do well with.  But the big picture tip is to make sure that whatever type of client you are hoping to attract – you have something on your home page (in an easy to spot place) that speaks to the wants and needs to those potential clients.

Unfortunately, in the case of realtors, most agents have their photos and bio on their site hoping to broadcast it to the world.  The problem is that, in my humble opinion, most people don’t go online looking for a broker.  They go online to find a house or find a way to sell their house.

So if the client is looking for a house they should see information about how to find a house on the home page.

Take the first steps

The first thing to consider doing to your site is taking off the hero shot and focusing on helping people find a house.  Make sure your home page talks about “Find your dream home – search through thousands of listings,” or something similar based on your target client.

This one change can help reduce the bounce rate and drive people into the site further and get them to fill out a contact us form.

Offer legitimate expertise

Do you have any expertise in your local market?  Hopefully the answer is yes.  So the other big tip is to share that with people.  Write an article, start a blog, post to Twitter or Facebook and give people a reason to follow along.

And don’t just vomit up today’s rates on us.  Tell the stories of client’s you’ve helped and things you may have done.  Share how you use your knowledge to help people sell their homes or find a home – since at the end of the day this is what they are looking for.