Website
analytics has such a variety of terminology that for the beginner, it can be a
new language. For some of us who didn’t grow up with the Internet and had to
adapt to the technology, some of the phrases and words can be confusing. Let’s
take a look at pages and what they mean, their purpose and how to recognize if
your landing pages are working for the business.
There
are entry, landing and exit pages on a website and all play a unique role in
the analytics. According to the Digital Analytics Association, an entry page is
the first page that a visitor starts with to begin their journey. A unique ID
is opened and the tracking of the user experience begins with a list of URLs or
page titles that are visited in the session. A landing page can be
an entry page in some cases, but most times is used in online marketing
channels with a call to action. For example, in the ecommerce world, a user may
be on Facebook and see an advertisement for an item that may have been
previously observed on the website, but didn’t find its way to the shopping
bag. The advertisement is a reminder of the item again and because this rings a
bell the user clicks on the advertisement to take another look.
However,
this time, on the Nordstrom website, instead of the entry page being the home
page, the landing page is where the journey begins. More specifically it begins
on the item that was of previous interest. A landing page is very important,
because the metric can reveal how well a marketing program is working. It can
demonstrate if the user followed the call to action and how far in the projected
journey the user took in the path. Another example is with an association where
there is an annual conference. Where there is a social media or other
advertisement, if a user clicks on the link it will take them to the landing
page for the conference and not the home page of the website. The idea is to get the user to the information
they want as quickly as possible.
Another
example is when a user types a set of keywords or phrases into the search
engine box, such as: Mother’s Day Gifts. This will take the user to a listing
of websites that have these keywords. If we look at the Nordstrom response to
Mother’s Day Gifts, there is a specific URL dedicated to these keywords because
it is a huge driver of purchase decisions. The website wants to take the user
directly to the page where the information or call to action is available. This
will speed the buyer’s journey along quicker and more efficiently. Landing
pages target a specific audience group. According to HubSpot, the landing page
has a higher probability rate to convert the traffic it receives into a
prospect. The graph below demonstrates that back in 2012 Nordstrom, which began
as a shoe store, was losing market share to Zappos a highly regarded shoe
website. However, Nordstrom made a
decision to compete with Zappos on 50 percent of the same keywords and it is
now paying off. In 2012 Nordstrom ranked
with 23 percent of the same keywords, in 3 short years, Nordstrom climbed to 50
percent of the same keywords and now in 2016 ranks 67 percent of the same
keywords. What this means is that when a user types those specific keywords
into the search engine box with the word shoe included, both will receive the
same visibility on the search engine results page or SERP.
There are
certain elements that should be considered when creating landing pages, such
as: limit navigation, deliver value, enable sharing, keep it short and test and
then test again and again. If the visitor has clicked to get to
the landing page, give them what they want and minimize a needless journey
trying to find the information. The offer or call to action must be compelling
for the user to take the bait and provide valuable information. A few items to
keep top of mind are: a headline and or optional sub-headline, a brief description
of what is offered, at least one supporting image or video, supporting proof
elements such as testimonials, and a form to the landing page to capture
important information. And if a call to action cannot fit on the page have a one click button taking visitor to the
next step.
Furthermore,
there is a tremendous word of mouth opportunity if the information has a
sharing capability. Image that you discovered the best information or purchased
a really cute outfit and you want to share it with other like-minded audience
members. All you had to do is have a sharing button, link or social media icons.
Another element is to keep the landing page short and visually appealing by not
crowding with information overload. By
keeping the page short, concise and to the point, it will increase the
conversion from visitor to prospect. If the lead generation form is too long,
the user will get frustrated or irritated and leave, then poof, now they are
gone. Lastly, test, test and test again
is a golden rule. By examining the test
results, it is easy to focus on what was right and worked or what was missing
and didn’t work. The idea is to get it fixed quickly so the website can get
back to running efficiently and attracting visitors.
