You've created the perfect freebie, now you need a landing page to promote it. But deciding on the best way to create that landing page can be confusing. Keep reading for some ideas for creating great landing pages and sales pages.
What are landing pages?
Any website page that a user lands on is a landing page, but when we talk about landing pages we usually mean pages like opt in pages or sales pages. The pages that a user lands on to purchase a product or download an opt in.
Landing pages should have only one purpose - to get the user to take action. That means they shouldn’t have other distractions on the page like social icons and menu bars. In this blog post I discuss the anatomy of a landing page in more detail.
Why do you need landing pages
Landing pages are used to convince your ideal client to take action. Since they only provide one option, unlike a form on a website they tend to get more sign ups. That is because a landing page presents one solution to one problem. There are no other choices or distractions.
What Tech Do You Need?
To start and grow your wellness business
Top ways to create them
Hopefully you are convinced of the power of landing pages. Let’s look at some ways to create them. I’m highlighting some of the most popular ways and sharing the pros and cons of each.
A dedicated landing page builder
Dedicated landing page builders are platforms like LeadPages, ClickFunnels and Instapages. These are platforms that have been designed specifically for creating landing pages and funnels. Landing page builders offer templates that have been optimized for conversions, but are not the most cost effective option.
LeadPages
LeadPages provides features like drag and drop page builders, templates for complete pages and sections, and count down timers. I’ve used LeadPages with a few clients and so far I have found that it lacks some editing features that would be nice when you use the built in templates. But it easy to complete pages quickly using the templates they provide. LeadPages starts at $27 per month.
InstaPages
ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is a complete funnel builder. You can build anything from simple landing pages to long form sales pages and up sell pages. They even have an option for hosting membership sites and courses. This part of the platform has a reputation for being somewhat limited and not entirely user friendly.
ClickFunnels starts at $97 per month.
Email marketing platform page builder
You can get double duty from your email marketing platform by using the landing page builder included with it. While these may not be quite as nice as the dedicated page builders listed above they are more than adequate, especially for simple freebie pages. This option does make it easy to add people directly to an email list, but is less easy when you want to add people to a paid product.
MailerLite
MailerLite gets top marks for its landing pages. They offer several templates which make them simple to design. They also have some conversion tracking built in. If you have a paid account you can have a custom domain for your landing page.
You can create landing pages on all plans including free plans. But you will have to pay extra for more than 5 landing pages.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit offers landing pages on all their email plans. These are well suited for opt in landing pages, but you may find them limited once you try to create long form sales pages.
MailChimp
MailChimp has improved their landing pages from what they had a few years ago, but they are still fairly limited and are harder to use than the other platforms.
WordPress website page
If you have a WordPress website, then you can create landing pages right on your site, especially if you are using a drag and drop page builder like DIvi, Elementor or Thrive Themes. You can also use the WordPress built in page builder or any templates included with your WordPress Theme. This is the most challenging from a tech standpoint, but these pages offer several advantages to other ways of creating landing pages. All the options listed provide templates you can use to make stunning landing pages.
Keep in mind that your landing page should be free from distractions, so no menus or social media icons. Each builder and theme will have different ways of turning these off on each page.
Elementor
Elementor is a page builder that you can use with any WordPress theme. You can use it to create a variety of pages. It offers landing page templates in the paid product. Elementor also offers a free version so you can see if you like it.
Thrive Themes
Thrive includes a page builder in it’s suite of website tools. Landing pages created with Thrive Architect are stunning and it is easy to use. Thrive has gone back to providing Thrive Architect as a standalone product, but you'll want the bundle with Thrive Themes if you want to use the Thrive Theme builder for the rest of your website. It's $99 per year for Thrive Architect or $199 bundled with Thrive Theme builder. Or you can go for the entire Thrive Suite for $299 per year.
Divi
The Divi theme from Elegant Themes is one of the most popular available. With this theme you can build a beautiful website, landing pages and long form sales pages. I don't find Divi to be as intuitive as Thrive when creating landing pages, but I think they have more options in some areas. The Divi theme starts at $89 per year.
Course builder
Many course platforms offer some type of landing pages. If you are already using a course platform check these out. They may not have all the bells and whistles of landing page builders, but they offer
Where to use landing pages
So you’ve created a stunning landing page, now what? Here are some places you can link your landing page:
- Add to your instagram bio link
- On your Facebook page
- In your Facebook group
- Add a link or button in your blog posts
- Mention it when you appear on podcasts or guest post (if allowed)
- Add the link when you do live videos on Facebook
Summary
When creating landing pages don't overcomplicate things. When just starting out, I suggest going with what you have, which is likely your email provider. After you have created a few landing pages you'll get an idea of what you like and what you need so you can take a look at different options.
If you'd like some help with creating landing pages and sales pages, you can schedule a free call and I can let you know how I can help you.
