Five Keys to Landing Page Optimization

Tiffany Weimar - January 3, 2011

Landing pages are critical to internet marketing campaigns.   Successful marketers know that optimizing landing pages is equally important as the offer itself.   Finding the balance between the amount of content, creative design, and form length are the key.

Design, content, and strategy all play a large role in the success of form fulfillment.   Keep in mind these five key optimization tips to improve your next marketing campaign.

1. Design for your audience.
   Over the past several months, I have paid special attention to the landing page differences between b2b and b2c companies.   Flash and oversized images are just a few items typical of b2c pages.   While this may entice some consumer categories to act on a promotion, the often times overwhelming design would not have the same impact on a business prospect.   In fact, I’m sure you can agree that when it comes to b2b marketing, it’s always best to keep it simple.   Business people want to know the value added [and they want to know and see it quickly]!
2. Offer multiple call-to-actions.
   It is important to offer multiple call-to-actions to provide viewers the opportunity to “act” from different areas of a promotion.   Certain audiences will click on the link that appears first (even before reading the content entirely).   Others will read through the entire offer and then click on the call-to-action.   Having a link at the top, bottom, and even possibly in the middle of the promotion generates multiple chances to convert a lead. For b2b landing pages, most businesses will outline the promotion and place a form alongside the offer.   This method can be successful as well.   Please note, however, the strategy behind form formulation (as illustrated in the fourth optimizing tip).
3. Experiment with registration forms.
   When creating landing pages, you must be cognizant of what you are asking of your audience.   If you are just trying to get someone to sign up for a newsletter, a contact name, company name, and email address is sufficient.   If your promotion is more granular and specific to a service provided by your company, ask a question (or two, tops) that is relevant to the offer to help qualify your lead.   DO NOT ask anything more than what is absolutely needed.   Lengthy forms become cumbersome and may discourage the viewer from completing the form.
4. Create and test several landing pages.
   Marketers test everything, right?   Why not run a test using two different landing pages for your next campaign? Experiment with different subject headers, form fields, and the length of your content.   Although I suggest you keep copy short, you may find that some viewers will not commit to filling out a form without additional information.   Running this test will shed some light on your target audiences’ behavior.
5. Don’t forget to say “Thank You”…and more!
   What happens after your audience fills out a form on your landing page?   Creating a “Thank You” page to appear should be step one.   Keep in mind that this is a great opportunity to up-sell or direct the viewer to another page of your website.   You have their attention and interest.   Make an effort to further their engagement.