Published: November 24, 2014Topics: Marketing Tips and Advice

Everything You Need To Know About Landing Pages And How They Can Generate More Leads

Most real estate agents have heard of the term “landing pages”, but what does this mean, really? Landing Page is a online marketing term that refers to a single web page that is setup to accomplish a specific goal. For example, if you want to use a web marketing platform to generate leads, a method that has proven to be very effective is utilizing a Landing Page. Why so? Well, here’s what studies have revealed:

  • 50% of website visitors do not go beyond the first page they enter.
  • 55% of website visitors spend fewer than 15 seconds on a website.

You might wonder, “why don’t I just direct all traffic to my main website, where visitors can navigate to whatever they’re interested in?”. In theory, that would make life a lot easier for you. But that’s just not the way web users surf the internet. When a visitor enters your web page, they quickly scan over your content and photos, to determine if the page is relevant to what they’re looking for. If they can’t make that determination within 15 seconds, they simply leave. From a web user’s point of view, it’s easier to click the “back” button in their web browser and go to the next website on the list, then to navigate through your website to find what they’re looking for.

What makes a “good” Landing Page?

  • Has a Call-to-Action: This is mandatory. The page must include a web form for visitors to complete or at least include a phone number.
  • Promotes a small-set of products or services: This is not a page where you want to list all products or services that you offer. Preferably, you should use your Landing Page to only promote one product or service. This may be difficult for some real estate agents to grasp. Unlike traditional marketing where you cast a net wide enough to catch as much interest as possible, web marketing has to spark a user’s interest in a brief moment. The good thing is that, most online marketing platforms allow you to target your campaign based on a user’s interest.
  • Specific to visitor’s intent: The content of a Landing Page should deliver upon the expectations of a user. For example, if a visitor search for “high-rise condos in downtown” to find your Landing Page, the first text and photo they see above the fold should reflect this.
  • Summarize your Brand’s Story: A brief summary of who you are as a brand, what you stand for, and what you’ve got to offer should be included on your Landing Page. An easy way to accomplish this is with testimonials or a great tagline.
  • No distractions: This page should not have any content that can distract users from their intent. Ideally, a Landing Page should not have a navigation menu, links to other pages, or any other element that visitors can interact with, except a Call-to-Action.
  • A/B Tested: Don’t make decisions on a hunch, use A/B Testing for every element on the page to decide what works.

When should I use a Landing Page?

  • Real-Time Marketing (RTM): In traditional marketing, your goal is to distract users from what they were doing, e.g., TV commercials, direct mail, web banners, etc. RTM platforms like Twitter, allow you to draft along existing conversation topics. This present an opportunity for you to use your marketing materials to join existing conversations and not distract users from them. You can create Landing Pages that are optimized for specific conversation topics that will generate leads.
  • Contextual and Pay-per-Click (PPC) CampaignsContextual and PPC advertising are based on keywords. Having a Landing Page that is clearly associated with the keywords that you select for your campaign will deliver higher conversions. Tip: keep your keywords list short and highly focus.
  • Event-driven marketing (EDM): If you can anticipate a significant event that will impact your customers’ circumstances, behavior, or state of mind, a good Landing Page that offers relevant information and solutions will be well received. Significant events can include: sudden change in market conditions, government laws, or even natural disasters. Studies have shown that the average response rate to EDM is 34%, compared to most other marketing response rate of 1%-4%.
  • Emphasize an individual product or achievement: In general, because Landing Pages are highly focused on a single offer, they work well for highlighting an individual product or service. A Landing Page allows you to highlight achievements, and show how you differentiate from competitors for an individual offer. For example, as a real estate agent, you can setup a single property Landing Page, or a Landing Page for a community that you specialize in, or a Landing Page that demonstrate why and how you achieve a reward or designation.

When should I not use a Landing Page?

  • Main Website: Landing Pages have very specific purposes and should not be used as your main website. You don’t want to list a Landing Page on your business card or promote them in networking events.

Creating a Landing Page with Agent Zealder

Zealder makes it easy to create Landing Pages. While you can setup separate accounts for each Landing Page, you can also use the following features, which are included with every plan, to accomplish this very effectively with a single account:

  • Add-on Domain Names: Most of Zealder’s website plans allow you to host additional domain names to your account. Add-on domain names can be 3rd level domains (e.g., anything.yourdomain.com) or parent domain names (e.g., yourdomain.com).
  • Mini-website: Most Zealder members understand the value of using it’s Web Presence Suite plans to build their main website. But a very underutilized feature is the Mini-Website feature, that’s included with every plan. Every add-on domain name can be configured as a mini website (i.e. Landing Page).
  • Lead Capture Forms: In addition to all the default forms included with your Zealder account, you can also create your own Lead Capture Forms. Since these forms can be customized with virtually any form fields that you desire, your Landing Page can include a Call-to-Action form that is very specific.
  • Page Modules: Page Modules are content widgets that can be added to any page on your website, including Landing Pages. These Modules can be placed above or below your page’s main content, or on a side column. You can add your own content modules or use built-in modules like: Featured Listings, Listings Search, Contact Card, RSS Feeds, Mortgage Rates, Upcoming Events, etc.

With all the advantages Landing Pages present, and the ease Zealder offers to create them, I can’t think of any reason why a real estate agent would not use a separate Landing Page for every marketing campaign that they create, and for each service that they offer.