Good question. It’s one we get asked all the time. It all boils down to focus and the conversions – leads, sales or whatever action you want visitors to take – that results.

As the main page on a website, the focus of a homepage is to give an introduction into a company’s values and their product/service. The layout and content is specifically designed to pique the interest of visitors and encourage them to explore the other pages on the site.

In contrast, the whole focus of a landing page is conversion. It’s a standalone page (that’s usually built on a company’s website domain) that’s designed to trigger a specific action of the user. It gets rid of distraction and keeps the user focused on one thing, whether that’s signing up for a newsletter, booking an appointment or buying a product.

• Increased conversions
• It works, while you don’t
• A landing page supports your business goals
• Data generation and valuable insights by means of user tracking
• Develops brand awareness
• Did we mention increased conversions?

Yes. You have a product to sell and a landing page is one of the most effective ways to persuade visitors to act on an offer. We’ll use a magnetic headline, trust indicators, social proof and other kickass elements to compel visitors to take action and hit that CTA button.

But this approach isn’t suitable for all businesses. eCommerce landing pages are very effective if you sell one product. Once you start expanding your business and product range, landing pages no longer make sense as a standalone web project.

A homepage is typically a summary of your business and a directory for your products or services. You could say it’s like a digital foyer / welcome page for your business. Home Pages are great, but they rarely drive conversions. A landing page, in comparison, is a single focused page that is designed with one goal in mind. That goal is conversions. A landing page:

• Does not link out to other pages
• Does not try to sell multiple products or services
• Does not try to reach multiple audiences same time

If you want to SELL rather than welcome people to your website, a landing page is the solution every time.

Always a landing page. It’s simple. Here’s an example why;

Let’s say a customer clicks on your ad after searching Google for ‘gas fitting services in South Melbourne’. They didn’t search for your company; they’re just looking for a gas fitter and decided to click on your ad. Instead of taking the user to a landing page that’s kitted out with all the info they need to know about your gas fitting services, they end up on your homepage – a page that is littered with information and category listings that are linked to all the services you offer. They’re now looking at a page that talks about emergency plumbing and plumbing maintenance.

That user now has to figure out how to find out about your gas fitting services. That takes time. It takes effort. And it will most likely result in a bounce.