We have seen many business owners spent a lot of time thinking about their homepage such as what to put on the banner or hero section, what information they should put in order to be found easy for their visitor, should they put testimonials on it?...you name a few.
You might hear that your website is like your virtual business card, your storefront, and it's the first impression you want to present to the online or digital space.
And then, you also hear about landing pages. You wonder what is it? What does it do? How are they different? Do you need both? Is a landing page better than a homepage? Hundreds of questions are running through your mind and you have no answer to any of them.
In this article, we will walk you through some basic elements so you can understand the differences between a homepage and a landing page. By the end of this article, you will know:
The difference between these two pages
Why it's so confused to many people
When and where you can use each of them properly
Is a landing page the same as a homepage?
Definitely NO!
Most of the time, they are totally different pages with different functions. They might look the same to you as they share a lot of the same content and in some cases, they can be one in the same. However, they are DIFFERENT! The biggest difference is in what each page can do.
Let's dive in!
WHAT IS A HOMEPAGE?
A homepage is usually the first page that people will see when they land on your website after they typed your website on the web browser or searched your name or your company. It should tell your visitor immediately about who you are and what you do. It also plays as a center hub for the rest of your website that allow your potential clients to surf around and learn more about your business.
Here are some key elements about your homepage:
Connected with your root domain ( like our website: www.hopefulbuilder.com, or www.yourdomain.com)
Give your visitor an overview of what you or your business does
Showcase and link some other important parts of your website such as services, products, join the membership program....
Let your visitors know how to connect or get in touch with you in person or follow your social media...
WHAT IS A LANDING PAGE?
A landing page is more like a promotion tool where it usually focuses on getting visitor to do something such as sign up for email list, subscribe to a service, purchase a product or download a freebie, cheatsheet, ebook or even do a quizz.
Landing pages usually don't have other pages on the menu such as home/about/contact/blog...) so that people don't click away and just stay focus on this page.
Landing page is usually being designed for:
Get traffic from one or other specific sources such as from email campaign, that is why it has the name "landing" on its name.
Visitors intent to take one well-defined call to action
Stay focus on single topic or offer throughout the page
Downplay navigation menu
Act as a separate or a part of your website
Is it necessary to have a landing page?
When you first started, you may want to just focus on building your website with a strong homepage. At later stage, when you start to expand or putting more effort to your email marketing or ads, you can start to have a landing page where you can lead your potential clients to specific call to action to generate leads and sell your services or products. The landing page at this point will allow you to add more persuasive elements to it in order to support your call to action on this page. It also helps you to collect your potential customer important data such as where the most traffic come from, how effective your ad campaign works....
As you can see, landing page has many advantages so when you are trying to build your email list with leads or promote your products/services, we recommend using a landing page.
Is it ok to have a landing page without a website?
Well, you don't necessary need a website to have a landing page as it can be a stand-alone page. However, we recommend to have a solid website where you can provide your customers or potential leads other important information about your business and build your brand credibility. And since a homepage and landing page are serving different purposes, we recommend to have both instead of landing page only.
Now you have a complete picture of each page and its roles as well as how they work, let's deep dive in little bit more of when you can use your homepage and when you can use your landing page.
WHEN TO USE
When you get your business online for the first time: Homepage
This is where you need a website with a homepage in it. It can be a one-page website which allows you expanse or add more pages at later stage or multiple page.
When you’re listing basic business information: Homepage
When you have some general information like business address, phone number, office hour, staff info,...you don't need a landing page but a homepage. And this basic business information is something that your customers will actively search on Google so make sure to have it on your website
When you’re filling in the “website” field on social media profiles (or anywhere else)
In this case, you definitely need a homepage. But once in while if you have a special promotion, campaign or something that you really want to drive traffic on or capturing leads, you can use landing page link as well.
When you are running Facebook Ads
Keep in mind that Facebook users don't usually click on your ads to simply learn more about who you are, what you do or your business address. They clicked because you are offering something that compelled to them: a product that they are looking for, a webinar that they want to learn more about, a sign up for a freebie, sample, cheatsheet...
In this case, you need a landing page that is persuasive enough for them to get them to buy or sign up. This page will focus on the offer that you are offering, show the offer main benefits at the top with a standout Call-to-Action button to attract your customer to click. Further down to the page, there will be some features to support the above benefits. Next element, you want to add testimonials from your previous customers or clients. You can also add a little bit about who you are and what you do.
However, please keep in mind that this is all about your offering and capturing your leads or sales. And when you use some Email Marketing Provider such as Mailchimp, Mailerlite, Active Campaign, Constant Contact... to build your landing page, you can easily track how many people are opting in or making a purchase on your landing page. These guys will give you an overall analytic of how your landing page is doing.
When you launch something new
When you have something new to launch such as membership program, new courses, new product lines, new webinar, new event, new book, new project.. you will need a landing page. Why? Because a landing page will allow you to focus on one specific thing and achieving a specific goal. A great landing page is where your potential customers can be excited over something new and want to take immediate action that will provide you immediate results.
Alright! So when should you use a landing page vs. a homepage?
When you can naildown exactly the call-to-action you want your potential clients to take: create a landing page.
Have more questions about when to use a landing page or a homepage or any other questions about website? Ask us in the comment or contact us at: info@hopefulbuilder.com
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