While there’s no question that having a robust and informative website is a fundamental part of brand building and engagement, effectively optimized landing pages can offer unique targeting and conversion opportunities for advertisers. Alex Kotlyar, vice president of product at Digital Media Solutions (DMS), notes that while websites may offer everything a consumer needs to know about a brand, a landing page allows for specific messaging that can increase leads and conversions.
“Brand websites have many actions and goals for the user to take. There are plenty of opportunities for the user to be distracted [while clicking around on a website]. From a brand standpoint, a user exploring a website may not be bad since it increases the time spent on the site, but when brands are trying to get the user to take a specific action, this lack of focus can negatively impact measurable success,” said Kotlyar. A well-optimized landing page can provide a better opportunity to guide interested consumers to take very specific actions.
9 Landing Page Optimizations That Can Boost Advertising Campaign Performance
The majority of multichannel advertising campaigns direct consumers to landing pages to communicate the final messages of persuasion and encourage visitors to take specific actions. Here are nine landing page optimizations that can help advertisers lead their audiences to convert.
1. Each landing page should have only one goal.
A landing page isn’t a place to ask multiple questions or get a visitor to take multiple actions. If a campaign has two goals, for example, selling an ebook and signing up for an author webinar, the campaign requires two separate landing pages. Landing pages dedicated to specific objectives allow brands to focus more tightly, increase quality conversions and keep campaign analytics separate.
2. Landing pages should reflect the mindsets of their target audiences.
A landing page should consider and reflect, in the type of images and language used on the page, the audience it is designed for. A landing page that doesn’t resonate with its intended audience will not be successful.
3. Make sure every landing page visitor knows exactly why they are on the landing page and what action they should be taking.
A landing page is not a website, but instead a page on which consumers “land” before being encouraged to take action. Visitors to a landing page should be made to understand quickly how and why they landed there and what action they should be taking. Therefore, the landing page should be designed to encourage that specific action, whether it’s filling out a form, completing a purchase or any other objective. Landing pages should not provide links to additional pages or content that could lead to distraction and lower conversion rates.
4. Landing pages should immediately build trust with visitors.
It’s very likely that a potential customer is arriving at a landing page knowing very little about the brand, so the first thing the landing page must do is build trust. Trust can be built by displaying evidence of social proof, including testimonials or user reviews. “Adding publications the product was featured on can also help by allowing brands to leverage the brand equity of those publications,” said Kotlyar. Building trust before asking a visitor to take action can increase conversion rates.
5. Every element on a landing page should have a purpose.
Every element and aspect of a landing page should drive visitors toward completing the call to action that supports the landing page’s objective. Anything that does not support the conversion is likely a distraction and should be removed.
6. Clear and concise calls to action are a requirement of effective landing pages.
There should be no doubt for a visitor when they have arrived at a landing page. The call to action (CTA) should be straightforward and evident from the heading to the lead form or purchase opportunity. A CTA should be relatively short and informative, like “Get a Quote Fast,” or create an affirmative connection with a user, like “Yes, I want 50% off.” A clear CTA helps drive conversions.
7. Landing pages should be mobile optimized.
It’s important for the mobile experience of a landing page to be just as satisfying as the desktop version. Responsive pages, those that are made to fit the device they are being used on, are a great start, but crafting a mobile-specific experience is worth the extra time. Adding click-to-call actions and reordering the elements to be more user-friendly on mobile can boost conversion rates.
8. Landing pages should be continuously tested and optimized.
Leveraging multivariate testing or A/B testing, advertisers should continuously test landing pages to identify the best combination of elements to engage consumers and get them to take action. “When doing multivariate tests, brands should make sure they don't over do it by changing too many variables at once and allow enough traffic before making any change,” notes Kotlyar. A/B testing can be a better option when resources are limited. Upon completion of each test, the winning landing page becomes the new control for the next round of testing, with testing ongoing because there is always room to improve.
9. Let technology and analytics guide changes and updates to landing pages.
Data from sources like Google Optimize and Google Analytics can also guide landing page optimizations and help determine testing parameters. Hotjar, an analytics tool that helps point out how users interact with websites and landing pages, can assist with identifying pain points and friction in a consumer journey. Data-based analytics can offer brands information on where to make changes to landing pages, reducing lead form or shopping cart abandonment.
Understanding The Benefits Of Effectively Optimized Landing Pages
“With landing pages, brands have the ability to define the type of users who will be viewing their pages. For example, if a brand is running multiple campaigns targeting women 18-35 and another targeting men 35-55, having landing pages allows brands to craft unique experiences for each of those audiences and/or each type of traffic channel the campaign is running on, including social, email or search,” explains Kotlyar.
Each landing page should be tested separately from each other landing page. Over time, that results in creating the experiences that best match the specific audience and offer of the landing page. Each optimization may only increase the conversion rate by a small percentage, but the percentages add up over time. And any incremental improvement has the potential to reduce media spend, boost conversion rates and increase advertising ROI.
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