Landing Page For Website?

silvertree

I have to do my website landing page so the web guy can finish my site, I just now realized I don't know what an effective landing page looks like.
Can anyone help me out with this. I'm looking to be up and running on March 8th.

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Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

SalesMGR1011

I would love to see also, theres tons of articles on it out there to weed through.
http://www.businessknowhow.com/inter...nding-page.htm

carlsore

What will you be using this landing page for...?

Is it for PPC...?

I don't understand why your website cannot be finished without one...?

These pages are a specialty of mine... One of my web businesses is actually a service that designs and builds landing pages for network marketers, mortgage/loan agents, insurance agents etc..

I have built thousands of these pages for the purpose of lead generation.

A simple landing page format...

1. Header at the top... Strong Headline w/related graphics and a few bullet points.
2. Page copy down the left hand side 4-5 paragraphs tops.
3. Contact Form/Action HIGH UP on the right hand side.

Keep everything above the fold, so no scrolling up or down to read the page.

Carl

silvertree

No, I already rank good on organic search. I need conversions. My present site was an experiment and I now realize that I need to make people want to ask for a meeting. I looked at the Footbridge sites, and yours Carlsore and I'm not sure what a good contractor landing page looks like. So if you end up on my site, what would make you want to go further. So I need to see an example of what is considered a good landing page. I know this, it's all about the customer.
Get their attention
Let them know what you can do for them
Make them want to call

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

carlsore

A landing page is not what you want/need.... If your website ranks well in Google you need some layout and content changes.

If you build a new landing page your SEO starts at square one...

For starters.

1. The home page has a very nice layout but with all the different colors of text, sizes and fonts throughout your site it becomes cluttered and doesn't look nice. I would suspect your site has a higher bounce rate and this would contribute.

Tahoma size 2 or Arial size 3 are probably better font choices for you... ONLY BOLD important headlines or important points, not entire sentences/paragraphs.

2. Content should usually always be organized on your LEFT with your sidebar content on the RIGHT. MarketingSherpa puts out some stellar reports on increasing conversions, they are expensive to buy, I've bought them already and am giving you some of the better advice.

3. WIIFM - This is the same radio station every website visitor is listening to... What's In It For Me? Give them more info in the form of helpful remodeling articles, link to these from your sidebar.

4. About Us... Put your picture on the right hand side of your homepage, up high, introduce yourself first... like a virtual handshake. Have just a few sentences about yourself and experience with a link to "Read More" Draw these people deeper into your site.

5. Testimonials... Sprinkle these into the sidebar content of your site... A few sentences of a testimonial then a link to read more... drawing them into the site again.

So in short... You don't need a landing page, you've already got a website that's ranked and that's more then 1/2 the battle right there. You need to now concentrate on making small, organized improvements on your existing site.

If you have a Google Analytics account or some other stats program it would prove quite helpful in deciding where and what to edit/change.

Landing Pages should be kept for direct response marketing and PPC. Your website and it's individual service pages will be best for SEO and ultimately conversions when we can meet our visitors immediate needs.

Carl

RidgeWalker

Silvertree, stick to the plan!

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Atlanta Roofing Repair
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SLSTech

Paul, all I can really say is to go through some of the sites here, whose would you actually click into? Ask a few friends, family, customers on whose sites they like out of a narrowed down list & why. Your never really going to sell off of page 1, but you sure can turn customers away.

Nothing against Carl (who gave you some really great advice above), Footbridge, or other web designers, is not to blindly follow there advice as it may not work in your area. They along with plenty of others here will, love their own designs & see nothing wrong with them - they work right? Make sure the style of your site fits with your clientèle & your own image that you wish to portray.

(No picking on my site to much - I will be hiring it out hopefully within the next 6 months & I am trying to decide between Carl, Andy & ???)

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carlsore

No worries... I think he's got a really nice website. There are just some things about it that make it look a little less professional then it could be. And that's not so much the design it's what's inside it and how it's all organized.

One of the GREAT things about websites is that you can track what's going on. Collecting and understanding how to interpret this data makes a big difference in website performance over time.

Generally if a website layout works you don't try to reinvent the wheel.

In the end, it's all about providing value and building trust with your visitors. First impressions matter and some visitors may never get to the "value" you're offering if they don't get past your homepage and dive deeper into your site and learn about YOU and YOUR services.

Your website is fine... If it generates leads for you then I'd leave it be and just concentrate on some SEO wether you do that on your own or hire somebody.

Carl

silvertree

Ridgewalker, I am sticking to the plan, the site will have the same look, which I do like.
It will not be done in tables as it is now. I asked the guy who originally built it to make it so it would be easy to change some content, he never did that.
My call to action never worked, so that will be changed, it will be organized and I agree that a little less content about me and more of what I do for the customer is needed. In 6 months I only got 2 leads out of 4000 visits.
I could not get ahold of one and the other was a wish list with less than 25% of the money it would cost. Rankings are OK, but I am getting all my visits from long tail keywords mostly.
I need to add, I have had help from Ridgewalker and Ivinni plus Seth and Carl. All appreciated. The changes won't be big ones to the eye, they are mostly in content and getting a reasonable call to action.

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota

carlsore

No... You want a page where someone can meet you. As I said prior, a virtual handshake. Not everybody is comfortable with it but would you go to a tradeshow with a bag over your head?

People will deal with someone they know, like and trust. Having a page where they can meet you isn't going to kill anything and in all honesty probably less then 15% of your visitors will go there, but the 15% that do, went there because they wanted to know more.

Yes. Very good point... So how can you convey what you can do for them...?

Here's one way. Break it down into a few articles

"How Can We Make Your Kitchen The Envy Of All Your Friends...?" write a generic article about making their kitchen better, I am sure with your local knowledge you could easily write 500 words about some of the common and popular remodeling trends in your area. Obviously everybody is going to have their own unique ideas but we're just being helpful and visitors like this.

Sprinkle in some specific testimonials for kitchen remodeling in your sidebar and add a dash of some Before and After photos to create an immediate visual impact on what you're capable of. Follow up the article with your contact information and a form specific to getting a free quote/consultation for remodeling their kitchen.

You can do this simple formula for every service you offer, over several weeks/months of slowly writing and adding your content you would end up with an amazing wealth of information for your visitors. The individual pages for every service you offer with immediate and prominent calls to action for that specific service will improve conversions considerably. SEO your pages individually and you're off to the races.

Carl

mickeyco

Landing page:

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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

silvertree

I get it, thanks!
Mickeyco, I think we should have a wizeass contest, I need the exercise

__________________
Vote for Pedro
Kitchen, bath, St Paul remodeling
Minneapolis Remodel Blog
203K Loan Consultant Minnesota