Most social media campaigns require an effective website or landing page. (A landing page is any page that your audience is directed to, usually by clicking on a link.) It doesn”™t do much good to drive a lot of traffic to a website only to have it bounce because of poor design or implementation. No matter how effective the social media strategy, the end result is a failed ”“ or unsuccessful ”“ campaign.
Websites and landing pages are often the first impression you make on your audience. If they don”™t like what they see or they can”™t quickly understand what you”™re promoting, they will quickly leave (bounce) and never return. This is why the median time spent on a website”™s home page is under five seconds. We have frequently found instances where highly attractive websites have high bounce rates, the main culprit being that viewers cannot discern the offering or what action ”“ if any ”“ they are supposed to take.
One problem that many landing pages and some websites have is that they do not match the advertisement or stimulus that directed the audience to them. For example, suppose I click on an advertisement on how to quickly build my email list and land on a landing page on how to effectively use Twitter. In this case, my expectations were not met and I would “bounce,” probably within a few seconds. There was no consistency between the advertisement and the landing page. Unfortunately, it is also fairly common to see an advertisement or some link direct people to a general home page that also does not meet their immediate expectations. This is often compounded by a home page that doesn”™t easily and quickly tell the viewer about what they do.
So here are some tips for great landing pages:
1. Be specific
Your landing page must match your advertisement or content. If it uses the same words or keywords, even better. The content on your landing page must be highly targeted and relevant. Remember, you can have any number of landing pages. If you have multiple ads or feeds, you can even have multiple landing pages ”“ as long as they are contextually consistent.
You may even want different landing pages depending on the traffic source. For example, traffic from Twitter will often react differently than traffic from LinkedIn.
2. Have a clear goal
What is the purpose of your landing page? Make sure it is obvious to your viewer and includes a clear call to action (CTA). Since any confusion can cost you business, make it as easy as possible for your viewers to understand what action they need to take and to then facilitate them to take that action.
3. Test, test, test and use analytics
Analytics will quickly tell you what is working and what isn”™t. Always test to determine what your audience responds to and how it can be improved. Testing and analytics are extremely important in the creation of great landing pages. Regardless of how many landing pages you have created, you still need to test; the results may surprise you.
4. Simplify your sign-up form
Assuming your landing page has a sign-up form, the number of fields in the form will greatly affect the number of people who sign up. The more fields you have, the fewer the number of people who will sign up. The additional information you (as a company) desire must be balanced against the desire for more sign-ups. In practice, my company generally opts for as few fields as possible in an initial sign-up form. You can always utilize methods to obtain additional information once you have people who have already completed the initial sign-up process. One way of accomplishing this is by incorporating a landing page into a larger campaign with each subsequent touch point or step designed to obtain additional information.
5. Make sure it is optimized for mobile
Mobile is rapidly increasing in popularity. Make sure your landing pages format properly on a mobile platform ”“ even if this requires the creation of additional pages.
The effectiveness of websites and landing pages can greatly affect the perception and effectiveness of your online business. Properly constructed and targeted, they can help grow your business regardless of its size or industry.
Bruce Newman is the president of wwWebevents.com, a division of The Productivity Institute L.L.C., and the creator of The Complete Webinar Training Course, an online course that helps companies create and promote highly successful webinars. He can be reached at bnewman@prodinst.com.
