SEM & Landing Pages
When it comes to tying together the components of this class in relation to search engine marketing, I think Scott (2015) describes this perfectly by saying we start with our buyer personas, then we develop content specifically for these personas, and ultimately deliver this in a way that they prefer (p 396). Once all is said and done, we’ve developed key terms and phrases that resonate with our buyers. Once these content pieces or information are available on the web, they’re available to be seen through search engines.
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| Credit: RecoveryClasses |
It’s possible to dive deeper into this and determine the best way to optimize these keywords, or in a broader sense, optimize one’s SEO. Scott (2015) explains this as the science behind ensuring one’s website appears or ranks higher on search engine results (p 396). Tying search engine marketing into the components of this class are simple, and when thinking of this, my mind goes back to one of the first chapters we read from Scott’s book. The new way of marketing is about staying away from interruption and throwing marketing messages at a buyer when they aren’t ready to see them. By developing personas and content relevant or helpful to your buyer, and putting them on the web, you’re setting yourself up to be seen (via search results) at a better moment when the buyer is more likely to buy.
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| Credit: HubSpot |
The company I currently work for has recently incorporated landing pages into our marketing funnel. I find these very effective as it’s a great way to measure which channels are bringing in the most traffic, and a more efficient way to set up a dedicated page where you’re able to tie in quick information, along with an opt-in form, to generate leads.
I’ve landed on a few decent ones myself, but usually, I don’t stay for long as it’s a best practice to keep landing pages as simple and concise as possible. Lindsay Kolowich from HubSpot, gives an example of a landing page from Cigital, where they recommend actually removing the navigation bar from the top of the page (para 11). They were able to do an A/B test and determine there is a higher conversion rate when you provide less opportunity for your potential lead to leave the page.
References:
Kolowich, L. (2016,
November 02). 12 Great Landing Page Examples You'll Want to Copy. Retrieved
from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/fantastic-landing-page-examples#sm.00000oabetro6dezeu0k8691iwd1m
Scott, David M. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing and PR
(5th ed.). Wiley.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your perspective on this week’s discussion. I enjoyed comparing landing pages after Lena’s prompt for these lessons. Scott (2015) outlines important guidelines to effective landing pages. One of them came to mind when you were talking about Cigital. I agree with removing the navigation bar to a landing page. It can steer traffic or actions away from the intention of the page. Scott (2015) suggests keeping the “landing page a self-contained unit” (p 403). Therefore, it should be a unique hub that won’t threaten the traffic to the page. A navigation bar can prohibit lead generation if they click away or attempt to discover other aspects of the company’s web presence.
Following that advice from David Scott will ensure positive analytics from SEO. Your business can show up first and pique interest of many visitors. However, if you lose those visitors on the landing page then it will negate any proper SEO that brought them there in the first place.
Laura
Scott, D. (2015). The New Rules of Marketing and PR. (5th ed). Wiley & Sons.
It's interesting because I had never thought that way about a navigation bar before writing this post. After researching, I agree it does make sense to keep this out. With the knowledge now that a landing page should be built by specifically thinking of conversion, there should be little to none that's leading the user to any other page.
DeleteExactly. I agree. Reading about landing pages gave me great insight to my own blog as well. Most of my blog visitors who aren't already following me will end up on a recipe from a Google search. So while I don't have any specific landing pages, it's important for me to keep my navigation bar. This way, when a new visitor reads a recipe they have the option to explore more of my blog and hopefully follow all of my posts.
DeleteSpeaking of landing pages, and I know there are tons of articles on this subject, but I can across one that discuses the two types of landing pages. Click through and lead generating. With click through, "the goal of persuading the visitor to click through to another page" and with lead generating, "used to capture user data, such as a name and email address. The sole purpose of the page is to collect information that will allow you to market to and connect with the prospect at a subsequent time." I think this really narrows down the reasoning for and defines the types of landing pages most commonly used.
DeleteReference
What is a landing page? unbounce. Retrieved from http://unbounce.com/landing-page-articles/what-is-a-landing-page/
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DeleteHi Julia,
DeleteAs a designer, from a design standpoint I always included a navigation bar on websites pages not thinking about the impact it has on a viewers engagement and experience. I came across some data on HubSpot that validated the success of removing navigation bars on landing pages. While this may not apply to all sites, such as Laura's blog or my portfolio site since we want viewers to explore the site as a whole and click around, it seems to be a good strategy for larger brands.
"-Yuppiechef saw a 100% increase in conversion rates (from 3% to 6%).
-Career Point College removed the top navigation and modified its form layout, which increased the conversion rate 336%.
-SparkPage's conversion rate jumped from 9.2% to 17.6% over the month they ran a test removing their top navigation" (Urban, 2014).
Reference:
Urban, D. (2014, January 9). Should You Remove Navigation From Your Landing Pages? Data Reveals the Answer. Retrieved March 04, 2017, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/landing-page-navigation-ht#sm.0178gp5z14rbe1c107i1w5t1qr9kh
Hi Kerstin,
DeleteThanks for sharing your research finds! It's so interesting how doing a small change can impact the conversion in a big way. I agree however, that this might not be right for all sites, especially as you said, if you want people to click around.
Thanks for sharing!
Lena
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting such a thoughtful discussion to my questions this week. I think that you're so correct in your explanation of how everything ties together from buyer personas to the way you create content and build on. Together this overall process really drives SEO to your site and keeps it consistent and cohesive. I also found the need for landing pages so interesting this week. We're currently working on a website revamp at work and it's just been great to get all this info. I never gave much thought to landing pages and that they could aid in measuring where the traffic is coming from. But, after all the research, I am really seeing the positive aspects. It's great to hear that your company uses them already for such a purpose.
Lena