Before I started this degree program for Internet marketing, I did not think much of landing pages. Honestly, any time I hit a landing page I figured it was some sales pitch and left the page thinking that simple, stripped down pages could not possibly work and were just a waste of money. Boy was I wrong. In my current job I help manage an inbound sales call floor and the lead generation company that we use to generate inbound calls uses landing pages to drive calls to us and it is one of the most effective marketing methods that we use. Mastering landing pages seems to be a good skill to have and one I am trying to learn.
In doing some studying for school as well as for my own marketing projects I have learned a few things about landing pages and have had some success with them already. In reading for this weeks studying I learned a few more things.
In the article “Optimizing Your PPC Campaign Landing Pages” by Julie Batten she states “Strip out any unnecessary site navigation, menus, or links. Users intuitively want to click on them, so they will only distract from the goal you want them to complete.” Normally marketers use the old “Look Over Here” tactic to distract people while they buy something, but with landing pages focusing the site visitor gets better results.
In the article “101 Landing Page Optimization Tip” by Oli Gardner we learn landing pages basics. One of the points that I found to be lacking in most landing pages that I have seen is that of social sharing. Landing pages are all about getting the word out and what better way than social media? This is a basic idea that I am going to put to use for sure. Social media is a great way to spread the word fast and cheap.
One of the other tidbits that I picked up from the article was that of adding extra value to the consumer by having a “Thank You” page after they respond to your Call To Action. One of the things that I have learned over the years in business is to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack. A great way to do that is to do what the others don’t and “Thank You” seems to have gone out of style for company’s to say even though consumers still like to hear it. Again I loved this basic skill and will be using it in my landing pages.
Both of these articles are a good read and are a great place to start with when building your own landing page.
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1713661/optimizing-your-ppc-campaign-landing-pages
http://www.clickz.com/author/profile/1138/julie-batten
http://unbounce.com/101-landing-page-optimization-tips/#what-not-to-do
http://unbounce.com/author/oli-gardner/