By Special K –  ETMG Writer/Editor

A landing page is a customized web page that is displayed when a visitor clicks on an advertisement or a link. The main purpose of a landing page is to provide a targeted sales pitch for the visitor. Depending on how the link has been configured, the landing page might be your home page, or it could be another page on your web site. If you are using your web site to do any kind of sales or marketing, then you would probably benefit from using landing pages. Here are a few more things you might want to know as you consider your options.

The effectiveness of a landing page is measured by conversion rate. Simply put, the conversion rate is the ratio of visitors who, after making a casual visit to your web site, are compelled to do something specific (e.g. purchase a product) once they have arrived at your site. What counts as a successful conversion depends largely on what kinds of actions you want your landing page to elicit. For instance, I may click on a banner advertisement about an upcoming Neil Diamond concert. If I end up purchasing tickets to the concert, then, in the eyes of the product marketers who designed the landing page, I have converted. Landing pages are also used to drive other kinds of desired actions. For instance, they might be designed to get visitors to subscribe to a newsletter, to download software, or to register to receive email updates.

Businesses that use customized landing pages, when done well, experience much higher conversion rates than businesses that simply use a home page. This analogy may help explain why. The person who visits your home page is a bit like a person who drives by your building and may take notice of your business name and the services offered, but most of the time, this person isn’t going to be compelled to do anything specific at your business. The person who ends up visiting your landing page, however, is more like a person who has been deposited into your reception area where someone knows his/her name and is already in the process of providing  relevant information, products, and/or services that s/he has expressed interest in.

A landing page provides a targeted and personalized experience to your potential customers. If you are using your web presence to compel visitors to do something specific, then a landing page will help you achieve your goals.