What is a landing page and how should it be structured? 

A landing page is an essential part of any marketing strategy. Through a well-created landing page, visitors to the site get the opportunity to learn more about your company or product. Thus, a landing page represents an important point of contact with potential customers.

What is a landing page?

Visitors reach a landing page via an entry in a search engine or via the forwarding of an (advertising) ad. The landing page should serve to generate a conversion. Conversion means that the user is animated to a certain action by the content of the landing page. This action does not occur by chance, but is clearly and unambiguously intended by the website operator. Consequently, the landing on the page took place for a very specific purpose.

What is the difference between a homepage and a landing page?

You may get the idea that a landing page is nothing more than an ordinary homepage. In fact, landing pages and homepages are very different from each other. The differences between homepages and landing pages are mainly due to the fact that both pages have completely different goals and thus are subject to different intentions.

In most cases, homepages serve a wide range of possible interactions. For example, visitors to a homepage can obtain information about a company or a product, search for contact data, or even make purchases.

A landing page, on the other hand, is aimed at a specific target, which has been previously defined by the website operator. Consequently, all elements of a landing page are aligned with this goal, which results in numerous differences compared to the homepage.

For example, home pages have numerous menu items so that the information the visitor is looking for can be found easily. On pages created specifically for landing, on the other hand, there are often hardly any menus, if any at all. After all, the goal of landing pages is not to navigate the visitor away from the page, but to get the visitor to take a specific action.

Landing pages are also completely oriented to the intended target in terms of content. In comparison, visitors who have different intentions land on a homepage, so that a homepage follows a significantly more informative intention, whereas a landing page is designed to be target-specific.

What are the types of landing page pages?

A landing page is part of professional marketing. Different types of landing pagescan be used. For example, some landing pages serve the purpose of selling a specific product, whereas other landing pages are created for the purpose of, for example, signing up for a newsletter, downloading an e-book or sending an inquiry to the respective company. The type of landing page is always based on a clearly defined goal beforehand.

The possible goals of a landing page

Visitors to a landing page became aware of the landing page through a web search, an advertisement, via social media, or some other marketing measure. Thus, the landing did not occur by chance. Landing on the page usually occurred by typing in the URL directly or by clicking on a banner or ad promotion. Landing on the page is also accessible via the organic results of a search engine. However, it is unusual to be able to reach the landing page via the navigation menu of a website.

Ideally, visitors who call up a landing page receive exactly the information or product they were looking for. A landing page thus pursues the goal of increasing interest in information or a product, and requires as little effort as possible to do so.

A landing page does not necessarily have to be used to sell a product or information. The landing page can also be used to provide visitors with contact details or a contact form.

The biggest advantage of landing pages is that visitors who belong to the target group in any case end up on the landing page. This is triggered because they arrive at the landing page via advertisements, ads or results from search engines. If the offer did not appeal to the users, they would not have clicked on the landing page link. This ensures that the right target group sees the offer on the landing page.

It can be deduced from this that users who reach the landing page have a need to which the offer on the landing page fits. The goal of the landing page in terms of marketing is now to satisfy the existing need of the customer, which enticed him to click on the landing page, with an attractive offer. A well created landing page has the satisfaction of the customer's need as its primary goal. Only if the customer feels attracted by the corresponding offer on the landing page, the goal of awakening or strengthening the intended impulse to act is achieved, so that the customer is led to the desired interaction.

The most common motivations that drive users to visit a landing page include:

• the purchase of products.
• registration for a community or service.
• the request for quotations of products.
• requesting quotations for services.
• the obtaining of information.

Knowing the needs of the customers who arrive at the landing page is essential for landing page operators, as they pursue the goal of satisfying user needs. Marketing only works if the needs of the customers are taken into account and addressed.

How should a professional landing page be structured?

A well-built landing page is specifically adapted and optimized for the target audience. It consists of various elements, all of which serve the purpose of awakening or reinforcing the user's need and satisfying it through an offer that the customer can take advantage of through interaction. In order for this to be successful on a landing page, landing pages should include the following elements:

• appealing headline
• interesting sub-headline
• Main image, which reinforces the need of the customer
• Benefits that show the customer what he gets from the offer
• Trust elements
• CTA button
• Conversion element (for example, a form)

It is essential that all existing elements on the landing page are integrated in a meaningful and purposeful way. Landing pages are clearly structured and follow a goal-oriented design. It makes sense for the landing page to pick up on elements that appear in the ad, since the user has finally shown a positive reaction by clicking on the ad.

In principle, the design and also the layout of the content of the landing page is not prescribed, because the design of the landing page always depends on its goal. Nevertheless, there are elements that should not be missing on a landing page. For example, landing pages should be created in corporate design so that they can be associated with the company. In this way, the user establishes a relationship with the company. A suitable headline and sub-headline are also essential on landing pages to increase the reader's interest. Furthermore, good landing pages should highlight the benefits that await the user when he takes up the offer. An input field for data retrieval is also useful in addition to cookies. Cookies are small text files that are stored and saved when a page is visited. With the help of cookies, users leave traces that can be evaluated for marketing analysis. Cookies thus provide an important source of information for drawing conclusions about the success of landing pages. The analysis reveals the difference between leads, i.e. potential customers, and actual customers, so that it becomes clear whether the landing page needs to be optimized or is fulfilling its purpose and successfully converting leads into customers.

An important component of a landing page is the call-to-action. A well-implemented call-to-action turns leads into customers of the company by calling on the landing page to take advantage of a specific offer. An eye-catching button can be helpful so that leads can react to the call-to-action without much effort and take advantage of the corresponding offer.

Furthermore, trust elements and testimonials in the form of seals or certificates can be useful elements to inspire trust among potential customers and ensure increased authenticity.

What characterizes a convincing landing page?

In order for a landing page to work successfully in terms of marketing, there are some aspects that can be taken into account when creating it in order to make the landing page look convincing. Basically, it must be taken into account in marketing that people accept offers with emotions and do not act purely rationally. Accordingly, it is helpful if emotions are addressed by leads to make an offer appear attractive. This succeeds, for example, if a problem is taken up by users and the advantages of the offerare subsequently emphasized. It also makes sense to build up a rapport. This gives the target group the feeling that they are being understood and that they are being presented with a clear, unambiguous solution to the problem at hand.

A limitation, for example by a limited number of appointments, can also lead to the user no longer hesitating but taking up the offer.

The visual appearance of a landing page must also be right. Knowledge of color psychology is very helpful here in designing the landing page in an appealing way. Likewise, the website must be responsive, i.e. optimized for all screen resolutions. A responsive web design agency can help you here.

Tips for creating a landing page

In order to successfully build a landing page, there are factors that should be considered in the design. For example, users do not read a page, they skim it. To increase readability and direct the reader's eye, it is recommended to work with formatting and boldness. Furthermore, it is important to know the target audience andtheir needs. Otherwise, there is a risk of presenting users with an offer that is not attractive to them. In addition, it is essential that the landing page is simple and clear. Thus, the page should be clearly laid out. Clarity of content is also imperative so that users are not confused or even distracted from the offer.

To create a landing page, it is necessary to consider many aspects and also implement them. This is not always easy, because the visual design and the entire content of the page should be perfectly coordinated and, in addition, all existing elements must be directed at a specific target. This can mean a lot of work and a lot of time. In order for you to focus on your business, we will assist you in creating a landing page. If you need help with the creation of an optimized landing page, the marketing experts from our advertising agency from Munich can help you.