Converting Traffic: You Need Landing Pages

I work with a client who uses our company for social media marketing services only.  He recently asked me why our social media efforts were not getting him sales on his website.

I found that an interesting question, since we did not have anything to do with his website.  We were tasked with just getting traffic to his site from social media.

I explained that while we do get traffic to his website, what happens after people arrive there depends on whether or not the website is configured to convert that traffic into leads or sales.  

To do that requires designing web pages in a very specific way.

Converting Traffic to Leads and Sales

There are strategies to move traffic from social media channels.  But just delivering that traffic to any page on the site is not enough.  Consider traffic that lands on a home page.  It will most likely not convert to a lead or a sale because the intent of that page is to provide introductory information about the company, not to get people to buy. 

To get traffic to convert, then, you need to build landing pages that are designed for that purpose.

Landing Pages

Landing Pages stand a bit apart from your website.  While they may have the same branding look, they are different in their intent.  These pages are not just informational.  They are methodically planned out with the intention of converting the traffic that arrives into leads or sales.

A landing page clearly explains the benefits of a product or service and includes the “reasons to believe” why this solution is the best.  They also include easy-to-find buttons for visitors to the next steps in the buying process.

Typically these pages are not accessible to the public.  Someone must click a link from an email, social post or ad to arrive there.

When it comes to the types of conversion rates you might expect, it varies from industry to industry.  The most recent research we could find was from a 2014 article at SearchEngineJournal.com.  It states that the average conversion rate was 2.35% of the total amount of traffic.  But those businesses in the top quarter received 5.31% or better.  But it was the top 10% that experienced the best rates.  Those companies saw 11.45% or higher.

The Wrap

Building a landing page is not a difficult thing to do.  Most web developers can help you with it and there are plenty of do-it-yourself tools available, as well. 

But the goal is to have a web page that explains why your product or service is the best and why the person visiting that page should buy from you.  Once that page is in place, then you can expect to see web traffic converted into sales.

If you want to learn more about landing pages, call me at 513-237-5530.

---

Bob Turner is a Digital Marketing Consultant in Cincinnati, Ohio.