Last week we looked at the differences between landing pages and informational pages. One is built with SEO and designed to be found in Google searches, one is not.
Remember, people are searching for your services, not your company name. Landing pages are optimized to found for certain keyword phrases, such as “catering northwood nh.” Below is the first page Google search result for one of our clients, Cooper Hill Pizzeria.
This is the snippet displayed by Google. It contains the Browser Title in blue, the Custom URL in green, and the Meta Description in gray. Now, you’d certainly find their website if you searched for them by name. But the purpose of SEO is to beat out the competition and be found in organic searches for products and services. You want new leads–new customers–finding you from a simple search.
Getting Leads from Landing Pages
The value of a landing page begins when people click on a search result. If the page is built properly, they’re met with strategic content that tells a story and guides the viewer to an action. Let’s look at the anatomy of a landing page.
1.) Grab their attention above the fold. It needs to be immediately clear who you are and what you do. Viewers should be met with large, high quality images or graphics that tell a quick story. They should see your logo, colors, company name, and some descriptive text without even scrolling or swiping.
Here are a few examples from our clients: Lavender & Lotus, Harry-O Electrical, Feet First.
2.) Problem solving content. The copy should focus on meeting a need, not describing the technical details of your service. Large headings, bullet listings, and simple and readable paragraph copy are essential. A landing page should have just enough written content that it has strong SEO value. The copy should be broken up into sections with images and graphics, informing the reader while keeping them visually engaged. Including a map or area of service is also key.
Here are some client websites that demonstrate problem solving content: Lakeshore Closet & Blind, Dearborn Cleaning.
3.) Reliability reinforced. To connect with the reader (and potential lead), it’s important to establish trust. Including a few on-page testimonials about how others have experienced success with your services is one of the best ways to do this. It shows your credibility and value. If you have reputable, well-known clients or partners, adding their logos to your landing page is also an option.
Here are some clients whose landing pages establish reliability: NH Cleaning Services, Washington Street Catering.
4.) Call-to-action and contact form. Once the viewer recognizes that the page is relevant to their needs, learns that your service or product solves the problem they have, and feels trust based on what they see, they must be guided to a simple action. This can be a “Buy Now” or “Get a Quote” button, a contact form, or a clickable phone number. But it needs to be clear and simple.
Websites as Lead Generating Tools
Lead generation is something that can and does happen organically through beautiful website design and SEO. Each website we create at Sprout contains these strategic elements. Check out our Success Stories Blog to read about some of our clients and to see their websites. We’re here to help your business grow, and the best place to start is with a lead generating website. Got questions? Give us a shout!
Contact Sprout for more information on digital marketing in 2017.