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6 Types of Landing Pages and When to Use Them

There are so many reasons to use landing pages on your website. A good landing page could be used to drive more conversions, gather information about visitors to your website, test the effectiveness of your digital marketing campaigns, grow your email list and improve your organic rankings.

Understanding why it’s important to create landing pages is one thing, but learning about the many types of landing pages to choose from — and when to use them — is quite another.

The fact of the matter is that there are many, many different types of landing pages to choose from. Each type has its place and can be an effective choice depending on the circumstance, and understanding which landing page type to use for the circumstance is an important step toward getting the most out of it.

The 6 most common landing page types and when to use them

#1. Paid advertising landing page

When you pay for search ads and other pay-per-click ads, naturally, you want to get the most out of them. I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many small businesses with bottomless marketing budgets, and it makes total sense that you would want to get the most out of your money.

Rarely does it make sense for someone to land on your homepage after clicking a paid ad. That’s because your homepage should be dedicated to your business as a whole, with general information about who you are and what you do, and your ads should be dedicated to a single promotion or service.

For example, let’s say that you have a roofing company, and you’re using paid ads to spread the word about your roofing maintenance special. Sending your visitors to your homepage probably won’t be super effective, but if you can send them to a page dedicated to taking advantage of your roofing maintenance special, you’ll likely get more conversions.

#2. Social landing page

In the same way that sending people who have clicked a paid ad to your homepage isn’t the best option; it’s also a mistake to send people to your homepage from your social media accounts. You’ll be much better off if you can send visitors to a dedicated social landing page.

When it comes to deciding where to send the traffic you get from your social media profiles, the general rule is — the more customized the page, the more effective it will be. Luckily, landing pages are all about customization.

While setting up a social landing page, make sure to recognize where your visitors have come from, and make the page feel personal to them.

#3. Opt-into email list landing page

Email marketing is a great way to get information across to many different people at once. It keeps your business at the top of your readers’ minds and allows you to spread the word about everything, from new products and services you’re launching to upcoming sales and promotions. However, in order to reap the benefits of email marketing, you must first gather email addresses!

One of the most effective ways to use a landing page on your site is as an email list opt-in page. Most of the time, you’ll need to offer visitors something in return for their email address, like a free download of an ebook or an informational guide.

#4. Click-through landing page

Every savvy marketer knows that you can’t simply ask people to purchase a product or commit to using a service right off the bat. Before you make the sale, you first have to give them a reason. Otherwise, you probably won’t have much luck.

With a click-through landing page, you can make the case for why someone might want to purchase a certain product or commit to a specific service. The purpose of this kind of landing page is to provide detailed information about the offer at hand.

Click-through landing pages are exactly what they sound like. They’re not meant to make a sale; they’re meant to inform your visitors. And, once your visitors are ready to take the next step, they’ll click through to the appropriate page on your website — hence the name.

#5. Start here landing page

There’s a lot going on on your homepage. It has basic information about your business, as well as the basics of what you do and what you have to offer. When someone lands on your website, it can sometimes be difficult for them to figure out where to start, and that’s where a “start here” landing page comes in handy.

With a start here-type landing page, you can create a customized experience for all of the first-time visitors to your site. This will help you make the right first impression, and it will direct your visitors to exactly where they need to go to find the information they need to get started.

#6. Thank you landing page

When someone has purchased a product or signed up for your email list, your next step is to say thank you, which is the whole purpose of having a thank you landing page on your site. However, if your thank you page only consists of a quick thanks, it’s a waste of valuable real estate.

When someone lands on a thank you page that says nothing more than “thank you,” the logical next step they will take is leaving the site. After all, what else is there to do? Luckily, there are lots of ways that you can keep them engaged; you just have to know what to include in your thank you page.

In addition to saying thanks, use your thank you page to give suggestions to your visitors on what to include next. For example, if they’ve signed up for your newsletter or emails, direct them to your blog where they can get some of the information they’re looking for before they start getting emails.

Building landing pages is an important aspect of building an effective DIY website for your business. Start building your website today with the Websites 360® website builder!

Originally published on 2/19/20