The difference between a website and a landing page
If you’re trying to work out what kind of online marketing to do for your business, you’ll probably have come across the terms “website” and “landing page”. However, in our experience, many people don’t understand the difference between the two. Even fewer people understand how both of these marketing tools can be used to maximise the power of your online marketing.
As experts in website design and creators of thousands of websites and tens of thousands of landing pages, we wanted to clearly explain what these are and most importantly how you can use them to sell more online.
What is a website?
So let’s start with looking at websites, as most people have seen and interacted with many, many websites as consumers. You’ll know that they act as an online shopfront and brochure for a business and that they are the way that you find out about a company and buy their products.
A website needs to perform a lot of different functions. Now, these will vary depending on your business type. But, broadly speaking, websites are there to –
- Inform potential customers about your business
- Showcase your products or services
- Give people an easy way to get in touch with you
- Show people where you are located
- Act as a shop
- Position you as an expert in your field
- Provide existing customers with information about the product and how to use it
- Share interesting content with your visitors
- And much, much more
This wide range of needs means your website will have multiple pages, lots of information, and different calls to action (what you want people to do). This makes them highly useful, flexible, and user-friendly tools for a lot of different types of people. A website needs to appeal equally to someone who has never heard of you before, to a loyal customer, and everything in between. It needs to offer information for customers at all stages of their buying journey.
A website is a vital tool for your business. A well-designed website, which has been created with clear objectives and strong calls to action will generate enquiries and sales. In our humble opinion, every business needs a quality website, with strong website design. Your website should be cleverly conceived and constructed to be the most powerful marketing and sales tool possible. You can find out more about how quality web design can get you more customers on our blog or contact us to discuss.
What is a landing page?
Like a website, a landing page is a web page for your business. It will appear in search engines, can be linked to online advertising, and will promote your business when customers and potential customers are browsing the internet.
Unlike a website, which must serve a whole range of needs and appeal to all kinds of people, a landing page is all about focus.
A landing page is created with only one goal in mind. It is a standalone web page, which does not give the visitor the option to browse your website. It has information on one key product, service, or guide, plus a form to fill in, or an option to buy. They are designed for a particular person, with a particular need and often linked to a campaign that you are paying to promote.
How can a landing page increase your conversion rate?
This focus is extremely useful for effective online marketing as you can zone in on exactly what your ideal customer, for that specific product or service, will need.
You can write with a very particular person in mind. Use language which you know will appeal to them and offer all the reasons they need to take action. The web design can be tweaked to really appeal to your target customer. On the same page will be everything they need to lead them through what you want them to do, whether that is to buy or give you their contact details.
They do not have the option to browse around your site’s many pages, get distracted and forget why they were there. They should have clicked through to the page for a specific reason and be supplied with exactly what they need to make a purchase or do what you want them to do. This is highly powerful and a great way to significantly increase your conversion rate.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that everyone who visits your landing page will become a customer or a lead. The person might not be ready to purchase, or clicked through by accident, or the price might be too high. But when you use a well-constructed, well-written landing page, you can be confident that the right customer will be led through the steps they need to convert. This means, you spend your advertising budget wisely and maximise the chance that every click becomes a customer.
Why would you use both?
In an ideal world, businesses should use both a website and landing pages to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of their online marketing.
The website should be the main call to action on your advertising to give a complete picture of your company and everything people need to find out more and get in touch. The multiple pages will be linked through from your social media channels and used by your team to inform customers and convert leads by being useful and informative. It should have multiple ways for people to interact with you – sending an email, following you on social media, downloading a guide etc, to try and catch as many different people as possible.
In tandem with this general online marketing tool, you should have a series of landing pages which sell a particular product or service. They should each be focused on a particular goal or objective and be used when you are investing in online marketing to maximise every single dollar spent.
By using these two tools together as part of your online marketing strategy, you should see the best possible results.
If you’d like to discuss website design and landing page creation and how they could best work for your business please contact us. Our experienced web designers work with a clear strategy, ensuring that every web page we create delivers on your objectives and supports you to reach your goals. We are experts in creating high-performing online marketing strategies which combine websites, landing pages, social media, email marketing, and more to boost leads and sales for our clients and we’d love to help you too.