A lot of folks ask me what a landing page is.  And it’s a very good question.  As usual, there is a lot of conflicting, ambiguous verbiage around the definition.  There’s “squeeze page”, “home page”, “web page”, and “landing page”  all of which can mean the same thing–depending.

Strictly speaking a landing page is any page of your website that your visitor finds first.  Because Google and other search engines usually index your entire site, that first page could be any page within your site.

However, we tend to think of our site as a journey.  One that leads our visitors to the information they’re after.  So we tend to think of a landing page as the first page of our site–the one that the “Home” menu selection takes our visitor to.  For example, the page that is displayed when you visit the front page of my site, www.StrategicGains.com.  This page tends to be the first impression and the presentation for the top of your funnel business model.  It’s the most important page on your site.  It’s primary function is to encourage visitors to opt-in for your free offer.

A landing page of this nature is much like a squeeze page, except that, being part of your overall site, has navigation on it so visitors can, if they choose, navigate away from your front landing page.  A squeeze page would most-likely not have any navigation, with the only action visitors can take is to fill in your opt-in form.

To maximize the effectiveness of your landing page, follow these three essential tips:

1)  Focus on benefits.  You can list features or services, but be sure to answer the question, “so that…” when you do.  For example, Widgets are bright orange and glow in the dark (feature part)… so that you can walk safely at night (benefit part).

2)  Get your opt-in “above the fold” as close to the top of the page as possible.

3)  Everything on that front page should be benefits of getting your free opt-in offer.

Make that page ALL about your offer so visitors will be encouraged to sign up!