Web Landing Pages

Web landing pages can work wonders

Websites and website marketing are just the beginning of an e-Marketing effort. Now it’s time to think about two types of web landing pages: microsites and lead capture landing pages.  First of all, it’s important to distinguish one from the other. It could be said that microsites and landing pages are related. However, they’re more like close cousins than they are like siblings.

Microsites

Microsites typically consist of a smaller number of web pages (compared to a full-blown website) and are used for a range of purposes:

• Large packaged goods companies often use microsites to independently market a new product. That’s because the introduction may not get the attention it deserves if it were only marketed on the company’s main all-encompassing website.
• Technical business-to-business (B2B) companies are known to use microsites to provide prospects with much more product information than can properly fit in a single landing page.
• Newspapers and other news outlets typically use microsites to cover a short-lived or popular event, like an upcoming political election or a championship series.

In many cases, microsites, like landing pages, are designed to convert visitors into leads that can be followed up.  An added advantage to building and launching a microsite is enhanced search engine optimization (SEO) opportunities. That’s because microsites are typically housed on a domain apart from a company’s main website, and can contain dozens of pages of topic-specific content, thus making them ideal candidates for high organic search rankings.

A simple way to think about microsites is this way: small site, big opportunities. Now let’s take a look at the kissing cousin of microsites, landing pages.

Landing pages

Very often landing pages are one-page affairs that focus on one specific offer, and specifically on getting the visitor to take advantage of that particular proposition.  Landing pages are sometimes referred to as lead capture vehicles because they’re used for the most part in direct marketing programs such as pay-per-click search engine marketing, direct mail, and print advertising to capture leads. Well-conceived landing pages are vital to the success of these types of campaigns, and the shrewdest of marketers use and test dozens, if not hundreds of different web landing pages in order to improve conversion rates.

Microsites and landing pages can work wonders when used correctly

Here’s how to know when to use one over the other–

Use microsites when the campaign is about creating engagement and an experience around a message. Best when the call-to-action is part of a program, not just a specific action.

Use landing pages for campaign-specific calls-to-action, where the goal is to convert quickly and when there’s a specific action path (examples of “actions” include, download this whitepaper, take this survey, start a free trial, buy this now, and so on).

Have a Great Day.

Audrey Ferrante
Ferrante & Associates, Inc.