A landing page, in the simplest sense, is the page that gets traffic from all places other than the same pages on your site. This is why it is called a “landing page” because it is where your visitors land – whether they saw a link to your site on a search engine results page or some other place on the web. Most particularly, landing pages are associated with pay-per-click ads like Google Adwords. Ads like these are useful in driving traffic to a particular URL that is optimised to receive those visitors.

When it comes to your landing page, its optimisation is just as important as its visual appeal. Keep in mind that a potential customer was led to your site because they clicked on a link with keywords that matched what they were looking for. So, they are expecting that you can provide the answers to their needs when they land on your page. The goal of your landing page is to get a prospective client to take action – whether it is completing a form or making a purchase. And this is something that an optimised landing page can offer you.

That being said, here are reasons why your landing page should be properly optimised:

• Making a user take a specific action. You want your visitors to do more than just browse through your site. You want them to do something. Whether it is viewing a video or signing up for a weekly newsletter, you want visitors to leave your site having taken a particular action. This is where your landing page comes into the picture to help you out. It serves as a starting point where you can start a conversation, ask a question, invite discussion and welcome clicks on your site. In other words, your landing page is your chance to convince your customers that you are worth their time and effort.

• To narrow the focus and remove clutter from your pages. The last thing you want for any of your website visitors is for them to be distracted then end up not taking the action you want them to. This is why your landing page must be optimised to provide just the right information needed by your customers so they do what you expect them to do. You’re not only helping yourself, but you’re also helping them find what they’re looking for in the least amount of time.

• To properly segment your offers. It is important to note that not every one of your audience will appeal to one type of offer. There are some who would want printable coupons while others prefer to redeem promo codes online. With a tailored landing page, you can help guide your audience exactly where they want to go.

• To tailor to a specific audience. Every single one of your visitors should not be directed to a one-size-fits-all landing page. Each one of your audience is different – each with different needs. And this is the beauty of landing pages because you can tailor them to fit the needs of a particular audience.

• To test which of your pay-per-click ads performs best. With pay-per-click ads, you can target different keywords. And if you want to know which one is performing better than the other, you can use a separate landing page for each of your ads. By doing so, you can determine where your traffic comes from and make necessary changes in your marketing campaign from there.

A landing page offers you with the capability to get straight to the point with a particular segment in your audience. Keep in mind that your site should give exactly what your audience is looking for, so that they in turn will do what you want them to do.