Everybody Writes, 2nd Edition



78Writing Landing Pages

Less Is More

One rainy afternoon when my son Evan was three or four, I took him to one of those cavernous beachside arcades. I thought the flashing lights, buzzing action, and acres of games (Frogger, Galaxian, Donkey Kong, and so on) would thrill him. I thought we'd pass a happy few hours there.

Instead, he stood tentatively in the middle of the arcade, bewildered and overwhelmed. After halfheartedly tossing a few skee-balls up a ramp, he turned toward me and asked, “Is that enough, Mom? Can we go?”

Website landing pages often look and feel like an arcade floor. Rather than inviting visitors in and directing them toward a specific action, landing pages confound visitors—who, of course, then act like my son did and can we go…? (by way of the back button).

A landing page is where visitors often end up after being lured there by a specific, targeted campaign—an offer delivered via email, social media, or ads. The page often places that compelling offer behind a lead capture form, with the idea of converting visitors into leads who can then be followed up on.

There is an art (and science) to creating a targeted landing page.

A highly effective one contains enough information to inform a visitor without making them feel as if fireworks are going off in their face.

Your landing page should convey five simple things:

1. Where your visitors are (where they've landed after their travels from wherever)
2. What you're making available ...