Land of the Landing Page

The Web Analytics Association (2008) defines a landing page as “a page view intended to identify the beginning of the user experience resulting from a defined marketing effort.” It is the destination on which a visitor “lands” after clicking on an organic/paid search result, ad, link in an email campaign, etc. Landing page views are counted and reported through a tool such as Google Analytics.

The landing page metric is classified as a visit characterization. Visit characterization metrics enable marketers to study the behavior of visitors and determine ways to improve their online experience (Web Analytics Association, 2008).

The Skinny on Micro Conversions. Views and subsequent actions performed via the landing page (say, downloading a coupon) are often micro conversions that marketers have specified. Businesses track micro conversions to try to understand where customers are on the road to conversion. According to Google (2013), a micro conversion is “an important action but does not immediately contribute to your bottom line. It’s usually an indicator that a user is moving toward a macro conversion.” Landing page views contribute toward website goals, a business’s KPIs, and overall business objectives.

Example. Here is an email sent by CVS. Each call to action points to a designated landing page.

(Image Credit: CVS)

And below is one of the landing pages. It echoes CVS’s traditional website but foregrounds the deal. As you can see, the landing page presents additional calls to action (customer profile set-up, more specials). Marketers are clearly interested in knowing whether the email triggered landing page views – and other features on the landing page help generate more sales and promote customer loyalty, too. A clue that landing page metrics are being utilized to deliver insights is the tracking code: https://www.cvs.com/weeklyad/browse/browse-home.jsp?WT.mc_id=EM_ECE_102316_CAPS&stop_mobi=yes&eval=Q6J8OpfyNalte4dGmApCFJ0mB8YwkyikEVm81kMI_U2mfaeC2pyC9wDrE82WWvX_#Detail/41414

(Credit: CVS)

If a landing page is under-performing, CVS marketers might choose to tweak and test alternatives to improve results. Optimization tactics might include removing extraneous calls to action and simplifying the design. Of course with its legendary record of success, CVS’s efforts are a case study in marketing effectiveness. That said, a discussion of other landing-page design considerations (with examples), courtesy of Kissmetrics, could be helpful to readers (Chapman, 2011).

The Landing Page Has…Landed. Consider that marketing initiatives drive people to landing pages deep inside a business’s website, many for the first time. Therefore, first-time visitors’ favorable impressions are vital. Some experts, including web analytics guru Avinash Kaushik, contend that “home pages are dead” and entry pages (by loose extension, landing pages) act as home pages (Kaushik, 2010). As such, it is all the more important to align landing page content with the expectations set by marketing messages. Visitors who see value may stick around for more, or at least be receptive to the next marketing message.

They came. They clicked. Then what? As noted in the CVS example, monitoring landing page views and other activity helps marketers evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts, and take steps to improve a page’s performance. For example, if an unexpectedly large number of people click on a paid ad, arrive on the landing page and leave immediately, this could indicate the content does not deliver on the ad’s proposition. To improve landing-page views, variations of ad messages could be tested. By contrast, a well-performing ad and landing page could offer lessons to under-performers.

A large proportion of bounces could also indicate that the problem is not an ad-landing page mismatch, but with the perceived value or design of landing-page content presented to the visitor. Again, marketers might choose to enhance the content of landing pages, and test to see whether that improves things. Exploring templates at Unbounce and other providers can be a good way to become acquainted with landing-page elements.

(Credit: Unbounce.com)

Landing pages typically focus the customer on a message and an action. Measuring landing page views enables marketers to quickly take the pulse of multiple campaigns.

References

Chapman, C. (January 2011). Beginner’s guide to landing pages. Kissmetrics Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.kissmetrics.com/beginners-guide-to-landing-pages/

Google Analytics. (2013, October 7). Digital Analytics Fundamentals: Lesson 2.3 [video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/xLJt5A-NeQI

Kaushik, A. (2010). Web analytics 2.0: The art of online accountability & science of customer centricity. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley.

Web Analytics Association. (2008, September 22). Web analytics definitions. Retrieved from: http://www.digitalanalyticsassociation.org/Files/PDF_standards/WebAnalyticsDefinitions.pdf