Is there a difference between writing a landing page and any other web site page? Yes and no. But mainly, yes.
You still have to work within the fundamentals of good writing and copywriting. And you still have to recognize the differences between writing for paper and writing for a monitor.
However, there are some important differences to consider when it comes to writing a landing page.
>> You KNOW what you want your visitors to do
On many web pages we are writing text to help people find what THEY want, either on that page or a different one. This may involve writing careful descriptions, using images and providing descriptive links to help our visitor move forward to the right page.
In other words, a lot of the time the pages we are writing are not the final destination pages for many of our visitors. So we deliberately help them leave the page, pointing them in the right direction.
With a landing page, everything changes. With a landing page, you know what you want them to do and you DON'T want them leaving that page until they have decided to make that purchase, sign up, download a white paper - or whatever else it is you want them to do.
>> Now you're in the realm of direct marketing
A landing page is a direct marketing piece, pure and simple. You have attracted someone there through an ad, a link, a keyword...whatever. And now you have them on the page, you want to convert them.
When direct marketing with a landing page, remember these points.
- It's about the copy, the words. It's the text that will bring you success or failure.
- Design? The purpose of the design is to support and showcase the text. If you want results, your visitors must read the text. This influences your choices of colors, your use of images, the layout on the page.
- Navigation links? No thank you. On a regular web page, there are plenty of links on a page to make it easy for people to move around and find what they want. On a landing page, there is only ONE link you want people to click on, and that's the one that says YES. You don't WANT them to navigate. You want to give them just the one way forward.
- Multiple choices? Not if you can help it. If you have three or four things to sell or promote, create separate campaigns and separate landing pages. Too many choices on a single page dilutes attention and reduces response rates. Keep it focused.
>> Concluding thoughts
Many large and medium sized companies struggle with creating landing pages that are unashamedly built to maximize conversion rates. Perhaps they don't have the skills in-house to write and design that kind of page. Perhaps they feel uncomfortable about 'direct marketing' through their site pages.
Whatever the reason, it's the companies that have the will and the resources to build high-converting landing pages that will come out the winners.
Nick Usborne is a freelance copywriter, author and speaker. For more articles and resources on writing for the web, visit his site, http://www.excessvoice.com.
To find out more about landing page writing and design, read his review of MarketingSherpa's Landing Page Handbook - How to Raise Conversions.
Do you have any product that has not been moving... Read More
What does "helping your visitors" mean exactly?It means writing your... Read More
Many people are saying that the internet is dead. So... Read More
--Online Commerce--E-Commerce website is all about selling products and services... Read More
Congratulations! You created an impulse in a customer to buy... Read More
Back in 1998 (through 2000 or so), I worked for... Read More
What a great idea! Start accepting credit cards and watch... Read More
Nothing has helped international brokerage business more than the internet:... Read More
How four partners build and manage an exclusive art posters... Read More
What is the Internet?In order to provide a discussion on... Read More
Is shopping online becoming popular and safe enough for you... Read More
ClickBank.com can offer you multiple solutions for your e-commerce business.... Read More
Have you ever had someone who owed your business money... Read More
Most people who get into business know what's involved. They... Read More
Only a few manage to sell everything under the sun... Read More
Many surfers already know about Froogle, Google's shopping portal that... Read More
In the last column we discussed the process of credit... Read More
For a web site to get close to fulfilling its... Read More
If your business features products or services for sale, undoubtedly... Read More
The World As It Then WasThe dynamic economic growth of... Read More
SSL ("Secured Socket Layer") is a protocol used to... Read More
Far too many people get ripped off when setting up... Read More
Too often we charge ahead and treat the web as... Read More
E-commerce offers customers the chance to eliminate many stages in... Read More
How much holiday shopping did you do on-line this year?... Read More
Making profits with your existing website design or creating a... Read More
For whatever reason, when we get a new boost in... Read More
The first article of this series discussed page views per... Read More
Open Source applications can bring unique value to business owners.... Read More
Concept of ServiceThe current work deals with marketing offer of... Read More
In spite of the increasing attention on how the Internet... Read More
In theory you could create a retail web site with... Read More
1. You didn't follow up after the first sale. After... Read More
Are you a website owner or a web designer/developer? If... Read More
Anyone with an online business, whether for auctions, services, or... Read More
SSL ("Secured Socket Layer") is a protocol used to... Read More
The Millennium ExperienceA successful project is one that delivers on-spec... Read More
The Internet brought a great deal of benefits to our... Read More
Greetings!Friends and relitives ask us all the time " How... Read More
A year ago, I had big plans to re-vamp my... Read More
When it comes to e-commerce everything is a little bit... Read More
The concept of this is for you to offer a... Read More
An internet business is by far the best way to... Read More
Can you encounter the number of times where a Credit... Read More
Online shopping can be a little frightening to people who... Read More
What a loaded question! Let's narrow that down a bit... Read More
So you want to start a business? Good for you.... Read More
When it comes to e-commerce, the time-tested cliché is, "Content... Read More
Some people do not understand the Internet idea of online... Read More
Many surfers already know about Froogle, Google's shopping portal that... Read More
I spent a lifetime in retailing and I'm still at... Read More
Inherent (or Business) RiskInherent Risk is the risk that exists... Read More
Have you ever had someone who owed your business money... Read More
Did you know that 80% of all sales are made... Read More
--Online Commerce--E-Commerce website is all about selling products and services... Read More
Overview:What is web advertising?Internet Advertising is popularly known as web... Read More
Once your website has secured an order, you have to... Read More
If you are a small to medium size company and... Read More
Online shopping is convenient, but many companies whose web sites... Read More
Merchant Account BasicsA Merchant Account is a commercial bank account... Read More
The chief criteria for judging an ecommerce shopping cart are... Read More
Businesses, which are still sitting on sidelines and not doing... Read More
For whatever reason, when we get a new boost in... Read More
Knowing which credit card merchant account to get can be... Read More
Customers are tough cookies. They're extremely media aware and increasingly... Read More
Having a successful member only, paid membership site is one... Read More
E-commerce |