How do you create a good landing page for a web site?

Landing pages have become very popular over the past few years. It is important that anyone considering building landing pages for their website take into account some basic facts:

1. A good Landing Page should have one sole purpose. Getting the click through or sign up.
2. Landing Pages will bring far more traffic to your site if they are SEO friendly.
3. Landing Pages with too much content can be a turn off for the surfer.
4. Landing Pages with too little content can be equally a turn off for the internet surfer.
5. Landing Pages need to be clear, inviting, concise. You know, you want to focus on what will entice the surfer to click through or sign up on the landing page itself.
6. Landing Pages need to be easily navigated. In other words, if you want sign-ups, put the sign-up form on the landing page as a focal point. Don't loose a sign-up with just offering a link to your sign-up page.
7. Landing Pages can be hosted as a single page on your site, or can be hosted on a separate domain.
8. Landing pages should be designed as very fast loading pages. It's important to get your offer seen quickly. Slow loading pages lessen surfer interest and they will surf away from your page.

Each landing page you build should have, in my view, 3 good keywords, 3 good menu links, and 3 good text links that utilize your keywords. The 3 x 3 x 3 strategy has worked well for me. That usually takes care of the keyword density and gives your page an SEO firendly feel. I have had two of these pages that held #1 rankings on Google for over a year and are still in the top 10 sites.

While there are many who suggest that keywords have no relevance, I believe they do, at least when it comes to landing pages.

For information about ad and banner placement, if you really feel you should have them on your landing page, read on.

 Yes, landing pages can have too much content. When a content stratgey is used content should be kept to a bare minimum. Too much content and you will distract your viewer from your real mission.....to get them to sign up, or click through.

The biggest mistake I see in the aspect are landing pages that are full of Google Adsense content and banners. It is fine to have a small 480 X 60, or small 125x125 Adsene banner or button on your site, but do not goal all out. Adsense may place links to your competitor's site on your landing page. You do not want people leaving your site to visit someone else's instead. That's money our of your pocket! Yet, I have seen this happen many times. The revenue from Adsene will not come close to the revenue your could produce from your own offer.

Additionally a big no, no it to add a Google Adsense for Search, search box to your landing page. That's almost a guarantee your visitor will surf off your site to compare your offer with others on the internet. Again, money our of your pocket and likely money in your competitors.

The second biggest mistake I see is adding several banners to a landing page. Ultimately the banners are for another site or offer by the webmaster of the landing page. While there is a greater chance for revenue by your viewer clicking through only to your other sites, it is just not good practice. After all, you built the landing page for a "specific" purpose, stick to that purpose. Cross- promotion does not work very well when using landing pages.

Third, do NOT add all the bells and whistels to your landing page. This is defintely NOT the place for popunder, popup, float-in ads, flash, or wild javascript that is a deterrent to your visitor. These can be an immediate turn off. You could be seriously giving away money, and a turn off while put a distaste in your viewer's mouth and they will leave your site.

After having read the above statements in the previous section you may get the idea that a landing page should be bare of anything except the specific intent of the page. That is true to a certain degree. As with all good things there are exceptions.

Content is where you focus on getting a click through if the viewer is interested, or wants more information. That's where the 3 carefully keyworded menu links and 3 carefully keyworded text links come in. Since I consider "menu links" the most productive and descriptive part of any webpage I always try to place the 3 menu links, verticle menu style, in the upper left quadrant of the landing page. It gives the page a comfortable look and they are in easy view for the surfer. Since most folks read left to right and top to bottom you want them to notice the text links and you want them to be descriptive. i.e. instead of "About Us" use something like "About ABC Company" or "About Making Money Online" that reflect your offer. Have your keywords utilized in these links if at all possible and link them to the pertinent location on your site so it seems like to the viewer that they are just taken to an expanded version of the Landing Page.

*TIP; this strategy works well. You may end up building secondary landing pages, if you will for each link, but it increases the change you will get the sign up of click through. i.e. a landing page with the "About Us" information in full view, etc.

As for the 3 text links, they too, need to be carefully keyworded with the 3 keywords you have chosen. You can place these anywhere on the page that looks attractive and out of the way of the main focus on the page. I typically place them three wide, center, and slightly under the offer on the page. The main point here is that the utilize your keywords. I also tend to leave some space between the offer and the links here so as not to detract from the main focus, the offer.

Ok, for those of you who just insist that your landing page have Adsene and banner content here is my suggestion. As I mentioned above, one small ad and one banner are sometimes acceptable, however should be avoided. If you must, use one banner that is either a 480 X 60 banner or Adsene block and no more. The goal here is to get the surfer to sign up or accept your offer. You can fill your site with Adsene and Banners, that's really the place for them.

The main mistake I have seen here if people building landing pages and then the banner space is filled with a banner exchange code. If all the banners in rotation or linked to your sites, and preferably the site related to the landing page that is ok, but if not, you will likely be displaying banners that grab your viewer's interest at time and they will click away from your landing page.

The landing pages you build are really developed to attract the interest of the viewer. You need to not concentrate so much on what is attractive to you, as you do what will be enticing to your viewer. I've built several really great pages in my eyes only to have feedback from surfers and friends that lets me know my focus was wrong, I built them for my eye and not for those of the web surfer.

Build 2, or 3, or, several landing pages and demo them with friends, family, neighbors, advisors, etc. You will be glad you did and the feedback you get is invaluable. Use the best pages based on their input. Also, it i important to remember that an excessive amount of landing pages with similar content could be seen as an attempt to use "ghost" or "doorway" pages that in excessive amounts can hurt your SEO and in some cases get your site banned from the search engines. The two or three pages would not be a problem, but the "several" might be.

*TIP: Build as many styles and layouts of Landing Pages as you want but don't upload them all to your hositng server. Personally, I keep them on my computer or on the backup CD I have for all my sites. It is really easy to use and FTP client to change and organize the pages. Sometimes, changing the landing pages on an ocassional basis is not all bad anyway.

So, here to Happy Building and Success! - Dave