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Ask any marketer and they’ll tell you: the first crucial step in establishing a professional online presence is having a great website. But if you really want to generate leads, referrals and sales – a killer landing page (a.k.a. ‘LP’) is the answer. Luckily, the Wix landing page builder is here to help with completely customizable free landing page templates.
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What is a landing page?
A landing page is a standalone web page created specifically for marketing or advertising campaigns. It’s where a visitor "ands after they click on a link in an email, social media post or an ad. Unlike other web pages, with many goals, a landing page is designed with a single focus or call to action (CTA). This could be signing up for a newsletter, downloading a resource or making a purchase. This is because the goal of a landing page is to increase conversion rates by eliminating distractions, guiding visitors toward the intended action.
What are landing pages good for?
In online marketing, landing pages are used to drive visitors towards conversion by getting them to click through to a specific action. That action could be anything from encouraging users to make a purchase on your online store, to subscribing to your mailing list, or countless other actions. Whatever it is, there should be just one, clearly-defined CTA (call-to-action).
As opposed to a full-blown professional website, a landing page is a single web page with a highly specific target: getting visitors to click through to your end goal. When done well, a good LP can hugely up your chances of success when it comes to your conversion marketing and when starting a business.
Landing pages came about in 2003, developed by the IT department at Microsoft in response to disappointing sales of their Office software at the time. Since then they have developed into a key part of many businesses digital marketing strategies.
Generally, there are two main types of landing pages used - reference and transactional. Reference pages are designed to provide targeted information about a specific product or service, without any of the other distractions found on website pages. A transactional page aims to move visitors to take action, from a CTA, usually by submitting their email address through a form.
Learn more: Website vs landing page
What does this actually mean?
In terms of content, the landing page has one simple message to convey. It promotes the desired action and sticks to explaining the benefits of performing this action.
The design of the page needs to focus on supporting this objective and nothing else. This also means that the website design should be clean and simple, so as to ensure a smooth browsing experience and not to compete for the viewers’ attention. It should also be synced with your brand identity, from the favicon and icons used, to the colors and messaging.
The ultimate goal of a landing page is to make site visitors click. Both the design and the text of the page need to reflect that, so make sure that all buttons are labeled with clear microcopy and that they stand out against the page’s background.
The anatomy of a landing page, as its name may suggest, is made up of one single page. You can divide it into separate sections, but you should stick to just one page that preferably isn’t too long.
Headers, subheaders, buttons and images need to represent the page’s message in a powerful and effective way, while ensuring that all elements remain cohesive. Check out this selection of best landing page examples for inspiration.
Unless you’re planning on designing your landing page from scratch, make sure you’re using a professional landing page template. This will help ensure that your LP doesn’t only look good, but also has a strong visual hierarchy that instantly leads your visitors exactly where you want them most.
You can start with this simple yet effective free template, which you can customize to suit your brand’s needs. You can also use a one page website builder to build your landing page from scratch.
How do landing pages actually work?
In order for a landing page to fulfill its purpose, you first need to drive traffic to it. This can be done in a few different ways:
Use the power of email marketing to send the landing page to your subscribers via email.
Post a link to your LP on social networks like Instagram or Twitter as part of your social media marketing (with or without paying for an ad campaign). You can also use a link in bio tool such as Hopp by Wix in order to generate more engagement towards your LP.
Add a link to the LP within a blog post. If you don’t already have one, this can be a good opportunity to start a blog.
Optimize your landing page for search engines, by implementing advanced SEO features that can help boost your chances of getting found by organic (non-paid) search.
Create a PPC ad campaign on search engines for advertising purposes and link to the landing page.
These are all good methods to drive traffic to your landing page but then you need to think about where to send visitors once they’ve clicked on your page. As mentioned earlier, the ultimate goal of a landing page is to get viewers to click but where is that click taking them?
Will they be redirected to a shopping cart? An online form? An inner page within your company’s main website? To your actual website's homepage? Think carefully about the next step and create an easy path for viewers to get there with a single click.
Landing page example for inspiration
Here’s an example of a powerful landing page that we created. For more inspiration, check out these landing page examples, as well as Wix’s Landing Pages board on Pinterest.
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What to keep in mind when creating a landing page
Ready to improve your online presence with a powerful landing page? Browse through these best landing page templates, designed specifically to help you generate clicks. Choose the theme or design that best relates to your field and add in your own images, text and links. If you wish to create a landing page from scratch, be sure to check out some the best landing page builders to help you get started.
Here are the main points to keep in mind when creating a landing page:
Define your goal. Pinpoint what you want your LP to achieve and stay consistent throughout every detail of your site.
Create visual hierarchy. Decide which elements are the most important and make them stand out.
Generate action with a CTA. Make it clear to your LP visitors what they should do. These call-to-action examples will give you a solid starting point.
Craft a captivating design. Engage your site visitors with an eye-catching design that will make them want to click and discover more. You should also opt for a strategic layout. As Emannuel Schwab, Creative Acquisition Manager at Wix, explains, “Most visitors don't scroll all the way to the bottom of a landing page. To make this marketing tool more effective and create the best user experience, place your design and content above the fold."
Write killer copy. Keep your text succinct and informative, with enticing headers that will give your visitors a reason to read on. Don't be afraid to include testimonials here from already satisfied users or customers.
Choose the right images. Set the tone and charm your visitors with impactful visuals. They can also help illustrate what it is that you’re all about.
Highlight the value. Let people know how clicking on the CTA, or other landing page metric, will benefit them. What will they get out of it? Craft and consider the impact of your value proposition.
Go for the hard sell. Don’t be afraid to be direct. Remember, you’ve created an LP for a reason, so go for it. Be bold with your unique selling proposition.
How to create a landing page in 9 steps
Here’s a step-by-step checklist for how to create your landing page:
Set the goals for your landing page, which will involve extensive research on what it's suppose to achieve and how - lead gen, email collection and so on
Choose which landing page builder you plan to use and then select a landing page template based on the layout you need for your page
Give your landing page a name
Add your unique content including well-written copy, call-to-actions (CTA's). Think abut your headlines and also consider including social proof, to prove the points you're trying to make
Include striking images and other types of media to engage users
Choose a relevant domain name
Make sure all your links, forms and CTAs are working
Complete your meta description and SEO title
Review and publish your landing page
Alternatively, you can test drive some of the best AI landing page builders for fresh designs and conversion-optimized copy.
Expert tip: One of the greatest advantages of landing pages is that they are relatively easy to make. This means that you can create more than one landing page and test the performance of multiple designs, using A/B tests. This technique will take your online marketing to a much more professional level. It can teach you a lot about your target audience and help you focus your messaging in the future.
How to make a landing page with AI
Access Wix's AI website builder
Choose a landing page
Chat with AI, share your business type and goals
The AI website builder will create your landing page for you including the copy, images. and widgets
Landing page resources
Take a look at this article for more landing page best practices.
Strengthen your online presence with our extensive ebook on how to create a landing page.
Landing page optimization
Once you've created your landing page and start using, it at some point you'll need to analyze how well it is working — and how it can be optimized to work better.
There are three main ways to optimize landing pages with analytics and data. They are —associative content targeting, predictive content targeting and consumer directed targeting. All three methods involve ways of delivering dynamic landing page content to users based on certain criteria.
For example, associative targeting content uses generic parameters, such as a user's location, to deliver specific content designed for them based on their location. Predictive content targeting or active targeting as its sometimes also known as, delivers dynamic landing page content based on a user's past actions on a site, and aims to predict their future behavior or potential to convert based on this.
How to create a landing page FAQ
Do I need a website to create a landing page?
Not necessarily, no. You can consider making a one page website as an alternative. Consider your current and future site needs, for example, if you anticipate needing more landing pages in the future it might be worth creating a site to start anyway.