How to Use Landing Pages to Capture Leads
Want to capture quality leads and increase the conversion rates of your digital marketing or advertising campaign? Creating an effective landing page is one of the best ways to do that while maximizing your budget. Let’s go over what exactly a landing page is, when to use one, and how a landing page differs from a regular web page! We’ll also share the benefits of different types of landing pages and help guide you to implementing the right digital marketing strategy for your company’s branding needs.
Here’s how to use landing pages to capture leads!
What Is a Landing Page?
Also called a destination page, a landing page is a standalone web page (separate from your main website) designed for one subject with a singular objective. Visitors land on a landing page after clicking on a digital paid ad, search result, or link.
Since a landing page is created for a specific purpose – to convert visitors into leads or sales – the copy on the page contains strong calls to action meant to entice visitors to perform a specific action, such as fill out a contact form, sign up for an email newsletter or event, or purchase a product. And while a typical web page features many content, design, and navigation elements, a landing page is focused solely on conversion and is, therefore, much more simplified. The only links the page contains are directly related to the campaign’s objective so as not to distract visitors with other options.
In summary: Whatever the action you want to achieve from your campaign, a landing page’s goal is to persuade a visitor to do it.
When Should a Landing Page Be Used?
Most advertising campaigns drive traffic by targeting keywords or promoting a special offer. Sending visitors to your homepage – or even an on-topic interior page of your website – can be ineffective here. When visitors click on an ad, they expect the page they land on to match the ad’s copy. Most visitors will exit within just a few seconds if the landing page has conflicting messages.
In addition, your website’s navigation menu and other off-topic link areas can also create wandering funnel paths that steer visitors away from the intended conversion area, reducing your campaign’s overall ROI.For all the reasons above, you should use a landing page for every one of your inbound marketing campaigns. It will help guide your visitors exactly where you want them to go.
Use a landing page to:
- Collect information from people who see your PPC ad.
- Drive people to your event or sale.
- Enroll people in your email newsletter.
- Promote your new product launch, webinar, or online store.
- Give away a free downloadable e-book, coupon, trial offer, how-to guide, or guest pass to an event.
2 Different Types of Landing Pages
There are two basic types of landing pages: click-through pages and lead generation pages.
1. Click-Through Landing Page
Often used by e-commerce companies, a click-through landing page is the simplest type of landing page. Clear, concise copy on the page describes only the necessary details about the campaign, while the design typically includes a single button as the call to action. This limits the visitor to only being able to read the content and click through to whatever page the CTA button links to (often the company’s website or contact page).
2. Lead Generation Landing Page
Sometimes referred to as a “squeeze page,” a lead generation landing page is designed to ”squeeze” visitors into providing their contact email address. Usually, there will be some sort of incentive – like access to an eBook – for the visitor to fill out a contact form with their information. This type of landing page is often used to help a company build an email list of potential customers.
Not sure which type of landing page is best for your campaign? It depends on your objectives and business model. Decide what you want visitors to accomplish on your site that makes the most sense for your business, and make it easy to convert.
9 Tips for Creating Lead-Generating Landing Pages
Creating lead-generating landing pages is essential for any business looking to maximize its digital marketing potential. Lead generation landing pages do one thing: convert website visitors into leads by collecting contact information and targeting specific regions or demographics. Keep in mind these tips for creating a successful lead-generating landing page!
1. Optimize Your Landing Page Design
Effective landing page design can encourage conversions, increase sales, and help you reach your desired goals. The look and feel of your landing page should immediately grab your visitors’ attention while providing them with a clear understanding of what to expect from your offering. Be sure to use visuals that relate directly to the product or service while keeping text minimal but informative and providing ample white space.
2. Incorporate Strategic Calls to Action
A call to action is persuasive, powerful text that guides or motivates visitors towards a desired goal. Make sure the calls to action are clearly visible, and use actionable language that encourages conversion. Some effective examples of CTAs include:
- Scheduling a consultation or appointment
- Subscribing to an email newsletter
- Signing up for a free trial or promotional offer
- Buying a specific service or product
- Obtaining a free quote
- Completing a registration form
- Submitting feedback or online review
3. Include Testimonials & Reviews
Incorporating customer feedback can be an effective way of boosting conversions on your landing page. Including pictures, names, and quotes from real, existing customers will help build trust with potential customers and make your offering more credible in their eyes. In addition to testimonials and reviews, include logos of any specific brands, companies, or clients you do business with, which adds credibility and trust to your business.
4. Produce Quality & Relevant Content
Include relevant information about the product or service to provide value to visitors while they’re considering making a purchase or signing up for a subscription. Leveraging quality content helps build relationships with customers, encourages conversions, and demonstrates that your business is knowledgeable and trustworthy. You can also get creative with branded content on your landing pages, like linking to relevant blog articles, incorporating infographics, or highlighting case studies.
5. Keep It Simple
Every element of your landing page should serve your goal; otherwise, don’t include it. You want to keep the page streamlined in every way: minimal, concise copy, simple design and layout, and no unnecessary navigation elements. That being said, the design of your landing page should still echo the design of your website to keep branding consistent.
6. Match the Rest of Your Campaign
Remember: If they don’t see exactly what they’re expecting, many visitors will leave your page within a few seconds. Make sure your landing page matches the look and feel of the rest of your campaign while reinforcing your branding.
7. Only Ask Potential Leads for Vital Information
If you’re using your landing page to collect information, create a form that requires as little information as possible from a visitor. The more lines you put in a contact form, the less likely someone is to fill out the entire thing. So, if you just want visitors to sign up for your email newsletter, only ask for their email address. If you want them to buy something, make purchasing the product as easy as possible. Once you have someone’s email address, you can always ask them for additional information later.
8. Test Your CTAs
It’s important to remember that the general purpose of any landing page design is to compel the reader to engage with or contact your place of business. With that in mind, testing out various CTA prompts or contact forms will help you determine which specific terms or phrases work better for lead conversion.
A/B testing your forms is a great way to make sure that the changes you implement are actually worth it. With A/B testing, you can compare two versions of the same landing page and find out which one performs better with your target audience. This will help you identify which CTA prompts are driving more conversions and improving the overall performance of your contact form. Remember to also optimize your forms for mobile devices. Make sure they look good on both desktop and mobile views and consider creating specific forms designed specifically for mobile users if necessary.
9. Track & Adjust Performance Accordingly
Performance metrics are essential for understanding how effective your landing page is performing, as well as helping you make any necessary improvements moving forward. It can be initially difficult to determine what features will be most successful in driving conversions. That’s why it’s vital to have access to measure every detail and track it regularly until you reach a satisfactory conversion rate.
Here are some important performance metrics you should always be tracking with your landing pages:
- Site Visitors: This includes everything from overall visits to page views to unique visitors and more.
- Heat Maps: This is software that allows you to see where visitors click, which pages they spend the most time on, and what content gets the most attention on your landing page.
- Conversion Rates: These metrics measure how effective your landing pages are in achieving its objectives, such as consumer purchases, obtaining contact information, signing up for email newsletters, etc.
- Bounce Rates: This metric allows you to see if visitors are quickly leaving your landing page shortly after coming across it, giving you insight into what’s contributing to any potential poor user experience traits.
- Traffic Source: These metrics allow you to see exactly where your landing page traffic is coming from, whether it’s organic search results, PPC campaigns, social media posts, etc.
With the right metrics in place, you can make informed decisions about your landing page design and ensure that it delivers maximum value for your digital marketing investment.
Capture More Leads With Triton Commerce!
By following these tips, you can create successful lead-generating landing pages that convert website visitors into leads and help you reach your desired goals. However, always remember that continual testing and optimization determine a landing page’s success to ensure the best possible user experience. Your website tells the story of your brand as a whole and provides your customers with a wealth of information about your products and services. Potential customers can navigate your site, better understand who you are, and gather the information they seek to make a purchasing decision.
While your website is a powerful lead-generating tool, there are times when a more focused approach is needed to promote your business. If you need help with a custom landing page design, contact Triton Commerce! We create high-quality, compelling landing pages that get the right message in front of the right people at the right time.