Table of contents
Website or Landing Page When do I need them?
What is a website?
What is a landing page?
What is a microsite?
Website or Landing Page: When to Use Your Website
Tell your story
Explain your products or services
Helping your visitors
Engaging with customers
Improve SEO
Website or Landing Page: When to Use a Landing Page
PPC advertising
Lead Magnets
Capture your audience's attention
Evidence
Attract different customers to your landing page
When to use a microsite
Creating noise
A great campaign
Time sensitive material
Transform your business with DIGIOFI
Do you need a landing page or a website? How do you know?
When it comes to a landing page versus a website, your website is the armenia whatsapp number data 5 million first impression your brand makes online, while your landing page is just one part of that first impression; like a handshake, a greeting, or a smile. You need both to make your first online impression really shine.
In some situations, a website can be more effective than a landing page and vice versa. In this post, we'll discuss some of the most common situations for deciding between a landing page or a website and add details about another popular online construct, the microsite.
Not sure if you need a full website or a landing page? The right choice can make a huge difference in the success of your digital presence. At DIGIOFI , we are experts in web design and development, and we help you define and create the perfect solution for your business goals in Ecuador. Take advantage of our experience to establish a professional and effective online presence.
What is a website?
A website is a set of interconnected pages with details about your business. Business websites typically explain about your company, what it does, and what products or services are available. It may also house specialized pages such as your company blog, login page, forum, or a particular feature. The primary purpose of a website is to describe and explain your organization or business, or to give users access to a service.
A web page:
Describe your business, products and/or services.
Use multiple pages connected via navigation menus.
It may provide a feature or service, such as online ordering, customer service, or access to data and/or digital products.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is designed to describe an offer – perhaps a coupon, e-book, or free trial – and encourage visitors to take some action. Although it is connected to the website, it highlights essential elements that focus on conversion, and typically does not have navigation buttons or other links to other pages within the same site. The main purpose of a landing page is to drive sales or capture leads.
A landing page:
Describes an individual offering, product or service
It usually does not have a navigation menu.
Use a form where visitors can claim the offer and become leads.
What is a microsite?
If you can't decide between a landing page or a website, a microsite can be a happy medium. This unique construct shares similarities with both a landing page and a website. A microsite explains a business, product, or service on a single page, but the page is much longer than a landing page. Internal links typically take the visitor to different sections of the page, such as About Us, Our Mission, Contact Us, or other sections. A microsite is ideal for apps, products or services about to launch, freelancers, books, or large-scale promotional campaigns.
A microsite:
It is usually a long scrolling page
Use internal links to help visitors navigate between sections of the page.
It's ideal for creating buzz or describing a product or service in detail.
Website or Landing Page: When to Use Your Website
Tell your story
With an About Us, Mission, Values, Locations, Contact Us, and other pages, you can explain, in your own words, what your business is and what you're all about. Consider all the common questions a customer might have about your business. This is the place to answer them.
Your website allows you to organize information in a way that makes sense. On a single landing page, all of your information would be piled high and users would likely not scroll to the information at the bottom. The key is to organize your web content in a customer-centric way. Remember, what makes sense to you may not make sense to your target market. Some user testing can help you decide which pages should go where.
Explain your products or services
Users searching for general terms like “gardening,” “dentist,” or “blue dresses” probably need more information before they buy. They may not be sure what they need or what’s available. With your website, you can show what you offer in detail and encourage customers to dig deeper.
Keep in mind that the purpose of a website is to inform, not necessarily to sell; that is the job of the landing page. It is better to make your website useful and informative.
Here are some scenarios where you would need a website and what this part of your website would look like.
Ecommerce : Much like the aisles in a store, the different pages of your online store organize your products by brand or type. You can also describe each product category and answer questions or highlight key features.
Service delivery – With dedicated service pages, users can find what they’re looking for more easily. This also makes your message clearer and ensures that each service gets the attention it deserves.
Different locations – When each location has a page on your website, visitors can learn more about the nearby location without performing a separate search. You’ll need to use location-specific keywords on the right pages to improve your Google rankings. We’ll discuss this in more detail later in the post.
Helping your visitors
If you offer a way to order online, schedule an appointment, or download research, you will need more than one page. This online service section is connected to the public portion of your website, however, it would be “gated,” meaning it requires login information to access. This functionality can be accessed by potential customers, clients, or staff.
Below are some examples of helper features you could provide on your website.
Store – If you sell products, you’ll need multiple pages to securely collect customer information and take them through the purchasing process.
Scheduling – You can use a calendar, appointment log, or form to complete this, but all of these will require several pages.
Research : While some research articles may be accessible through landing pages (more on this later), a research library provided to select users will require a separate private area of your website.
Forums – In order for users to leave comments or start discussions on a topic or post, you’ll need a website.
Custom Functionality – With the right development, your website can provide all kinds of functionality specific to your products, services, business model, staff, or clients.
Engaging with customers
Your website allows you to showcase your company's culture, mission, values, and style. Your brand voice and website design should work together to achieve a look and feel that ideal customers will connect with.
While this can be achieved with a single page, it is more difficult to create a clear message. With a website, you can communicate different messages, such as your mission or values, on dedicated pages, while maintaining a consistent style throughout the site.
Mission : Your company's goal. Example: solve a problem, help people live better, or provide a great experience.
Values : The ideals or ethics that drive your company. Examples: honesty, perseverance, dedication, hard work, or integrity.
Culture : What it's like to work at your company. Example: casual or professional, fast-paced or relaxed, family-oriented or hierarchical.
Style : The atmosphere or attitude of your company. Examples: modern and fun, erudite and informative, prestigious and serious.
Improve SEO
Search engine optimization, which helps users find your business with the right search queries, is an essential part of most business websites. It's not effective to target multiple keywords on one page, so it's ideal to have multiple pages to target the most valuable keywords in your industry. Each page should have a dedicated keyword, so users can find it more easily in a search. This is an important benefit of a website when it comes to deciding between a website or a landing page.
Location Keywords – For physical locations, use location-specific keywords to improve local SEO.
Service or product keywords : Do research to find out what queries potential customers are using to find products or services like yours, and build pages around them.
Question and Answer Keywords – Your website is a great place to educate customers about your product or service, and answering common questions is a great way to do that. These long-tail keywords typically use “who, what, when, where, why, or how,” and are a great place to start for new websites that are having trouble competing with broader keywords.
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Website or Landing Page: When to Use a Landing Page
PPC advertising
Google judges the quality of pay-per-click (PPC) ads in part by their relevance to the linked page, and a specific landing page built around the ad will be more relevant than a general Products or Services page. This means appearing higher in search results and giving visitors what they're looking for.
You can use PPC advertising and a dedicated landing page for any of the following offers:
New Product – Target relevant keywords in your PPC ad and create a landing page featuring your new product. This allows you to drive sales by highlighting this product exclusively.
Discount – Customers searching for a particular price will likely respond to cost-related keywords and a landing page with a discount.
Event – While it’s also wise to feature an event on your website for your existing customers or fans, a landing page will reach users who are exclusively searching for the event and may not be looking for your business.
New Location – This should also be attached to your site, but adding a landing page with a PPC campaign will give the new location more visibility right from the start.
Lead Magnets
Your lead magnet can be any type of useful reward included when filling out a form.
A user fills out the form on the landing page, providing at least their name and email to become a lead, in order to view the offer on the attached thank you page.
This is why a landing page can also be called an opt-in page or a lead capture page.
Design your landing page specifically for the lead magnet, with all the focus on content, form, and keywords. Send the landing page link to your existing potential customers as a lead nurturing strategy, or use it on social media, targeted organic keywords, or PPC advertising to generate new leads.
With a landing page, you don't need to update your entire site with every new content offer. Below are some content offers or lead magnets you can use:
Webinar – Answer customer questions with a panel of experts or your own staff in a live or pre-recorded video.
Ebook : Share your industry experience in an informative eBook.
Free trial – With a free sample or limited service offering, you can attract high-quality, interested leads.
Guide : Get new leads through a complicated, step-by-step process.
Checklist – Provides all the steps or items required to complete a task.
Capture your audience's attention
Without navigation buttons, links, blogs, or other distractions, a landing page holds and directs a visitor's attention better than the entire website. When a user reaches a landing page, they can simply complete the offer or return to the search results.
Evidence
Since a landing page is just one page with a focus, it's much easier to test than any part of your website.
Some companies test two or three different versions of their landing page, others test 40 or 50. With the right tools, you can test your page continuously, making it as user-friendly and engaging as possible.
Any type of landing page can, and should, be tested. This is especially true if the promotion of the main page is long-term or if it is not performing as expected. Here are some aspects of your page that you can test:
Copywriting : Copy on landing pages is usually short, but what is there should be carefully selected. Adding a little more information, removing wordy text, or making texts action-oriented can change the impact of the page.
Personalization : Pages that personalize content with existing information about potential customers typically have much higher conversion rates.
Voice : Depending on your audience, making your page more casual or professional, light-hearted or serious, detailed or general, can make a big difference.
Media : Adding or changing an image or video can change conversion rates. For example, images with people's faces tend to inspire more trust than those without. Landing pages with videos tend to perform better than those without.
Keywords – Choosing the right keywords can impact how many people see your page and whether or not your landing page is relevant. Test different keyword combinations in ads or on-page SEO, evaluate traffic and conversions.
Attract different customers to your landing page
You don't have one greeting for everyone you meet, and you shouldn't have one page for all of your customers. While your website generally remains the same, you can create custom landing pages to appeal to certain market segments. Keep in mind that the content, offer, page style, and advertising you choose will determine the page's impact on the new market.
Location – Landing pages dedicated to a specific location will make it easier for customers in that area to find you.
Demographics – Age, interests, education, and other factors can influence what products or services customers search for and what types of landing pages they respond to.
Price – Some customers look for quality, regardless of the expense, while others buy based on price alone. The right landing page can help them target your ads to the right products, services, or content.
