What Is A Landing Page?

A “Landing page” is one of the buzz phrases often thrown around in discussions of online marketing, SEO, and conversion rate optimization.

But what exactly is a landing page? In short, the landing page is a page that your visitor “lands” on by clicking a link or advertisement. These pages are connected to your main page, but are usually standalone.

They have a very specific objective and are designed to be very focused on that objective. Unlike the homepage of your website which acts as a hub, directing site visitors to the products or information they are looking for, the purpose of a landing page is to generate a lead, make a very specific sale, or act as a landing page for your Google ads.

The ultimate goal of a landing page is to direct your page visitors towards making a primary conversion, while usually making a secondary conversion (like signing up for a newsletter or downloading a guide or article).

Landing Pages for Lead Generation

One of the most common uses of landing pages is to generate leads.

For example, you might offer a downloadable guide or article on a landing page, in return for the site viewer’s email address or other contact information. Most consumers see this as a fair trade and will gladly provide you with contact information in return for access to a valuable article, infographic, ebook, etc. You now have an email address that you can add to your email list.

But your lead generation landing page does not even have to offer something as a reward for providing an email address. It can do nothing else but encourage individuals to sign up to your newsletter. 

Landing Pages for Click-Throughs

These landing pages are designed just to encourage the visitor to click through and visit another page. Essentially, they warm up the page viewer and even provide a short, informative description of the product, to encourage the individual to continue down the sales funnel and make a purchase. Instead of landing directly on the product page or shopping cart, there is a small buffer that provides necessary and wanted information about the product or service they might want to purchase.