Well-crafted landing pages are critical to the success of an Internet marketing campaign. First, just what is a landing page? A landing page is a special page set up to achieve some kind of action, such as making a sale or getting the visitor to fill in a form, that a visitor arrives at when clicking a certain link. For example, if you run pay-per-click campaigns, you should have a landing page set up specifically for any ad or group of ads designed to promote a certain product or service. Here’s a specific example:

Let’s say you sell rabbits. Now, actual live rabbits are probably not a good product for ecommerce products, but this is just a hypothetical example. So you run pay-per-click ads that say:

Easter Bunnies are here!
Order now for Easter.
Supplies are limited.

When someone clicks on the ad, you want to take the person to a page set up specifically for this product and this ad. So…your landing page in this instance should emphasize that you have a limited supply of Easter bunnies, and if the visitor orders now, he can receive his Easter bunny in time for the holiday. If the link took the visitor to a general purpose web site, where you sold rabbits in addition to chickens, plants, and various other items, you would be less likely to close the sale. A person clicking on a link advertising a specific product has held up his hand and announced that he is interested in that product. So you need to everything you can to sell him that specific product. If the visitor arrives at your site and does not immediately see where to click to purchase the item, or is confused by copy and graphics relating to other products, then you may lose that sale.

Don’t be afraid to use lots of copy on your landing pages. Don’t forget – the visitor to the page specifically clicked on a link to find out more information. Give it to him! Tell him everything he needs to know, including the most important thing, how to order! Or how to fill out the form, or whatever it is you want him to do. Give her specific instructions on what to do, and place these instructions near the top of your copy, in the middle, and at the end. And write about the benefits of your products or services. Tell about the features, too, but you must relate how those features can help your visitors. Translate the product or service features into benefits that tell the prospective customer exactly what the product or service will do for her.

To summarize:

• Be specific
• Use lively, energetic language
• List benefits before features
• Give examples and/or testimonials
• Tell the visitor exactly what to do
• Don’t be afraid to write lots of copy

If you will follow these guidelines, your online marketing efforts will be much more successful! We’ll talk more about landing pages in later articles. Work Media is here to help, so let us know if you need help setting up a landing page or managing an Internet marketing campaign.