0 Landing page layout plays

For a landing page to be truly effective, it needs to bring several layout aspects into harmony.

Where your home page is designed for a more general purpose (brand, corporate values, has links and navigation etc.), landing pages have the luxury of only having one single purpose: one single conversion goal.

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Why landing pages?

Landing pages allow you to tunnel your users through a predefined path, where all distractions and detours have been closed off. Every link and element on your landing page, that doesn’t represent your conversion goal is a distraction and will end up diluting your message and in turn reduce your conversion rate. Instead, guiding users through predefined and closed-off process or experience provides opportunities to persuade along the way.

Setting up a landing page

There are several ways to approach setting up a landing page.

Coding a custom landing page. If you have the know-how and resources, you can code up your own landing page. If you choose to go down this path, beware that there are plenty of alternative options that will probably help you build landing pages faster, better, and cheaper.
Use the sign-up form of your email service provider. Many email providers, such as MailChimp and Campaign Monitor, allow for enough customization of their sign-up forms, that you can use it as an actual landing page. The benefit of this approach is that you don’t have to worry about integrating between APIs and making sure your data is segmented right – your email service provider will take care of that for you.
Use landing page software. Several online services like Unbounce, Clickfunnels, and Leadpages provide software, that allows you to create stunning and effective landing page build on pre-defined templates that have proven to work: you just have to fill in the gaps. Furthermore, these services provide extensive tracking and retargeting options out-of-the-box. Biggest bonus: no coding is required. You activate a landing page, by linking to their URL from your site, ad, or newsletter. Drawback, they cost money.