How to Create an Effective Destination Page
Tips for Creating a Landing Page that Works with Your Website's Goal
Nov 15, 2008
Maybe you have a company website, a blog, or an online portfolio. Whatever your website is about, odds are you've spent hours, days, or thousands of dollars to get it up and running.
Congratulations! Be it via organic traffic (free traffic) or PPC (pay-per-click) traffic, visitors are starting to arrive at your site! But are you capitalizing on this traffic?
Sure, you may have covered most of the bases; you've got an "about" page, a "contact" page, and an appealing layout. But are you directing your visitors toward your goal, or are you encouraging them to get distracted by offering too many choices and too many messages?
Goals and Calls-to-Action
Whether you're aware of it or not, almost every website owner has a goal for their website.
Have you thought about the fundamental goal of your website? When a potential reader, buyer, or client arrives at your site, what do you want them to do? Where do you want them to click? What is the end-goal of your site?
Some sample goals might be as follows:
- The goal of a company website owner might be to encourage visitors to buy a product;
- The goal of a blog owner might be to encourage readers to opt in to the blog's RSS feed;
- The goal of an online portfolio owner might be to encourage visitors to get in touch about potential projects.
Whatever your goal, your website's copy and design should be set up to facilitate this goal (or "call-to-action").
Take this moment to consider what your site's primary goal is. (Yes, every site can have a goal--even yours!)
Landing Pages
Now that you've figured out what the goal of your site is, it's time to make sure that your site is making it easy for visitors to reach your goal. And how do you do that? It all starts with your landing page.
A landing page is simply the page your readers encounter when they visit your site for the first time. For many, this landing page is simply the index page of your website or blog. Larger sites (especially those with PPC visitors), often use a variety of different landing pages to tailor their message to different visitors (and if they don't, they should!).
Here are some tips for ensuring your landing page works in tandem with your goal:
- Clarity is key: Use short, easy-to-understand sentences and phrases. Visitors will not reach your goal if they don't first understand what your site is in the first place. Some people may be arriving at your site for the very first time with absolutely no idea what your site does/is. Make it easy for visitors to think, "Ah. That's what they do." Or, similarly, "Ah. That's what this blog is about."
- Don't be afraid to be frank: If your goal is to have visitors sign up to your RSS feed, why not explicitly mention it? On your landing page, try drawing attention to your goal in a prominent place.
- Don't confuse your visitors: If you've identified a primary goal, make sure your copy sticks to it. Too many choices and options can confuse visitors. Check out this fascinating piece on landing page confusion.
Hopefully you've found these tips useful. Need more information? Please don't hesitate to get in touch.
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