“If I have a website, do I need a landing page?”
“If I have a landing page, do I need a website?”
Let’s take a look at the differences between websites and landing pages to find out.
Website
As you’re likely aware, a website is a collection of pages about your company, products and services.
At a minimum, a website should include Home, About and Contact pages. Upon viewing your site, visitors should clearly understand who you are, what you do and how to get hold of you for purchase inquiries.
It can also incorporate pages such as:
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- Blog
- Career opportunities
- Current promotions/announcements
- eCommerce storefront
- Events calendar
- FAQs
- Guarantee/refund policy
- History/philosophy
- Lead magnet (see definition below)
- Mission, vision, values
- Newsletter with sign up option
- Privacy policy
- Product/service information (features/benefits/technical specifications/manuals, etc.)
- Product reviews/customer testimonials
- Sitemap
- Terms and conditions
Larger websites should incorporate a search function directly on the Home page to help visitors quickly find what they’re looking for. The Home page should also include links to the more popular pages, as well as those pages you want visitors to view as part of their customer journey.
Why You Might Need A Website
There are a number of reasons why you would want to have a company website.
First, when customers and potential customers are searching for either you or a product or service that you offer, you want them to be able to find you. If you don’t show up in their search results, they’ll likely choose to visit one of your competitors instead and you’ve lost a potential sale.
Second, a company website adds to your credibility and authority. If you were to connect with a prospect either personally or through a social media account, they will likely want to visit your website to learn more about you as part of their decision-making process. If you don’t have a website, it may set off a red flag. Your prospect may wonder why you don’t have an online presence and question whether you’re legit or not.
Third, having a website enables you to control how you position your company narrative and brand image. In contrast, while engagement on your social posts is desirable, you have limited control over how public comments on your social media pages shape your brand image there. So, the ability to send customers and prospects to a website that showcases you in the best possible light and positions you exactly as you wish to be positioned is a valuable asset.
Fourth, if you’re a local brick-and-mortar business, you’ll want an online presence so people can find you. The vast majority of people use Google for their mobile searches, and Google gives preference to businesses in close proximity to searchers when they’re on a mobile device. (You should also get your business listed on Google Maps – here’s how.)
Finally, your competition most probably has a website, which gives them an advantage over you when it comes to attracting and converting your ideal customers. Websites run 24/7 and so your competition will be visible to customers and potential customers whenever they decide to research their buying options. You don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to be their preferred option.
Landing Page
A landing page is usually a standalone web page created for a specific promotional campaign, although it could be a page inside your regular website. Visitors arrive there after clicking the call to action (CTA) link in an email or ad.
Unlike websites, a landing page is designed to have a single purpose, usually one or the other of:
- Lead generation – contact information is collected in exchange for something of value.
- Conversion – some form of purchase commitment is requested.
Lead generation landing pages, also known as squeeze pages, lead-capture or opt-in pages, persuade visitors to provide their contact info (name, email and/or phone number, and sometimes additional information for B2B such as business name, job title and industry) in exchange for a free trial, newsletter subscription or lead magnet (some sort of downloadable content, such as an e-book or white paper). Their contact info will either be assigned to a sales rep to contact the person immediately or added to a drip-email campaign that nurtures the contact over time and slowly warms them up to a buying decision.
Conversion landing pages are designed to stimulate a more immediate purchase. There are a number of formats available, with the more common being:
- Long-form landing page – Think infomercial. The offer is outlined in great detail and product benefits are explained over and over again to reassure visitors they are making the right purchase decision. Customer testimonials are sprinkled throughout the page and the copy is designed to convince visitors the offer is the perfect (and only) solution to their problem.
- Video sales letter (VSL) – A sales video is positioned at the top of the page, often under a catchy headline that promises visitors they can get what they want without having to do something they don’t want. The video is relatively short and punchy, and designed to generate excitement about the offer so visitors are persuaded to register for a masterclass (a longer video that provides useful knowledge before asking for the sale), book an appointment to learn more or purchase a high-priced product such as a course or subscription.
- Click-through landing page – shorter than a long-form landing page, but with sufficient info to warm up visitors so they are more likely to make a purchase. Visitors are then redirected to a purchase page. (In some cases, visitors are promised a free trial but then payment info is requested before the trial will begin.)
- Coming soon landing page – Creates excitement and requests an email address so that visitors can be notified when the product or service becomes available.
- Product page – unlike other landing pages, a product page is part of a company website and typically includes detailed product information, special pricing and the opportunity to either purchase through the website or contact a sales rep for more info.
Why you might need a landing page
Landing pages are ideal for when you want your audience to do one specific thing. Landing pages typically are not linked to other pages so there is no opportunity for visitors to navigate away from the page unless they make a conscious decision to close the browser tab.
Websites, on the other hand, include a menu bar with multiple links that could easily sidetrack someone from your offer. If they were to click away from the offer page to start exploring other pages within your website, the momentum of your sales pitch will be broken, and consequently the chances of making a sale will be reduced.
So best practice is to use a landing page when you want someone to focus solely on your offer. This will increase your odds of making the sale, thus improving conversion rates for your marketing campaigns.
A quick note on why companies create lead-generation campaigns to collect email addresses instead of channeling all their marketing budget into conversion campaigns that generate more immediate revenue. Not everyone you reach through your advertising will be ready to buy at that particular moment. Email campaigns are an extremely effective and low-cost method for keeping leads “warm” until they are ready to become customers. This is particularly relevant for higher-priced products and services, which typically have a longer conversion period.
Equally as important is the concept of “rented land”. Your followers and the relationships you’ve created with them on your social media platforms exist at the whim of those platforms. Should any platform decide to change the way it does business, access to your followers could be impacted.
On the other hand, any email addresses you’ve collected are your property and access to them can’t be limited or denied by any third party. That’s one important reason why savvy marketers include both lead generation and conversion campaigns in their marketing strategies.
Bottom Line
Both websites and landing pages are important marketing tools that serve different purposes.
You should always have a website, even if it’s only a few basic pages.
Whether the call-to-action (CTA) in your advertising campaign should be directing your audience to your website or a landing page will be dependent on what you’re trying to accomplish.
If you’re running online ads for a single product or service (as opposed to advertising your business and/or products in general), odds are landing pages will be more effective than your website in converting leads to paying customers. (They also work well with marketing funnels, but we’ll save that topic for a future blog.)
If you have any questions about how to leverage landing pages to your best advantage, feel free to DM me at @dyble.lisa.