Many online marketers are flushing their PPC money right down the drain because they have no clue how to effectively design a landing page.
A landing page is not a full-blown website. A website has lots of interconnected pages, navigation, and external links that distract the search user.
On the contrary, a landing page is a simple, elegant design specially formulated to answer the searcher’s needs.
Example: if a person searches for a Sony HDR-FX1E High Definition 3CCD Camcorder, your landing page had damn well better specifically address the issue of Sony HDR-FX1E High Def camcorders.
The stakes are raised even higher if the visitor has taken the trouble to type out a complicated search request such as the one above.
Great Landing Page Design
- Perfectly answers the search user’s needs.
- One page, not several.
- Little navigation to internal or external pages.
- A single, clear message.
- Quietly includes Google Fluff – required pages such as About Us or Privacy.
- Prominently includes a call to action (“Sign Up…”, “Buy This,” “Click Here,” etc.)
- Appeal directly to the visitor on an individual basis.
- Text is graphically diverse – different sized fonts, headers, bullets, numbering, etc.
Poor Landing Page Design
- Distracting navigation to take visitor away from landing page.
- Obstructions to get in the way of the pitch – long testimonials, complicated graphics, etc.
- Distracting graphic elements such as many different colors.
- One central element that sucks attention away from rest of landing page. For example, a YouTube video larger and more prominent than any other part of the landing page.
- More than one theme. Landing pages are meant to be brief; can handle only one main theme and perhaps two sub-themes.
- Too “thin” on content to satisfy the PPCs.
- Elements such as large images that cause the page to load slowly.
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