GlossaryGrowth & analytics
What is a landing page?
Also called: lander, campaign page, squeeze page
Definition
A landing page is a web page designed for visitors arriving from a specific source, such as an ad, launch, email or search, with a single goal like signing up, starting a trial or joining a waitlist.
Landing page, explained
Technically any page someone lands on is a landing page. In marketing, the term means a page built on purpose for a particular audience and action. It matches what the visitor was promised by the link they clicked, explains the offer quickly, and makes one next step obvious.
The pieces that do the most work: a headline that says what the product does and for whom, in the visitor's words; a supporting line on the main benefit; a clear call to action; a visual that shows the real product; proof such as customer quotes, logos you're allowed to use, or real results; answers to the main objections (price, setup time, security); and the same call to action repeated lower down.
Match matters more than polish. If a launch listing says "async standups in Slack", the landing page should say that too, not a vague brand line. If a comparison page sends visitors, the landing page should acknowledge they're comparing. Mismatched messages are the most common cause of visitors bouncing.
SEO landing pages and ad landing pages differ. Ad pages can be stripped down, even noindexed, because traffic is paid for. Pages meant to rank need substance: they must answer the query thoroughly enough to deserve the ranking, which usually means more content, internal links and clear structure. Don't expect a thin, ad-style page to rank.
Test one thing at a time, and only once you have enough traffic to learn anything. With a few hundred visitors a month, talking to five target users about your page teaches more than any split test.
Why it matters for founders
Every launch, listing, ad and article sends people to a page. If that page doesn't make the next step obvious, the effort spent getting visitors there is mostly wasted.
Example
A founder sends launch traffic to a generic homepage and gets a 2% sign-up rate. A dedicated page that repeats the launch tagline, shows a 60-second demo and has one sign-up button converts at 6%.
Common mistakes
- Sending every campaign to the homepage.
- Headlines that don't match the link visitors clicked.
- Expecting thin ad-style pages to rank in search.
Related terms
- Call to action (CTA)A call to action (CTA) is the prompt, usually a button or link, that tells a visitor what to do next, such as "Start free trial", "Launch your product" or "Join the waitlist".
- Above the foldAbove the fold is the part of a web page people see before they scroll. The term comes from newspapers, where the top half of the front page, above the fold, got the most attention.
- Conversion funnelA conversion funnel is the sequence of steps a person takes from first discovering your product to becoming a paying customer, such as visit, sign-up, activation and purchase, with the percentage who move from each step to the next.
- Value propositionA value proposition is a short, clear statement of the specific benefit a product delivers, to whom, and why it's better than the alternatives. It's the promise your marketing makes and your product has to keep.
- Social proofSocial proof is evidence that other people use, like and trust a product, such as reviews, testimonials, case studies, usage numbers, customer logos or press mentions, shown to reduce a new visitor's uncertainty.