Consider these two scenarios: imagine visiting a street market during your vacation, spending some relaxation time just wandering from stall to stall. You might make a few random purchases and enjoy the overall experience. Now, imagine that you are in a hurry, arrive at a large shopping mall you've never visited before, and are frustrated with the difficulty of locating the store - and the specific purchase - that you urgently need.

How is this relevant to your web design?

Businesses are eager to attract both types of visitors to their Open Cart, Mojo Shop, Magento, or Woo Commerce online site. However, we appreciate that often, there will be many searches which are simply aimed at locating a specific purchase, or products within a single range from which to choose. The 'just browsing' experience, with little time pressure, can cope with a homepage as a starting point. However, this can simply be a frustrating, even off-putting, location for those other, more-focused, visitors to reach.

Using landing pages - a more precise starting point

These are also known as 'lead capture pages' which suggests a more focused targeting process. People searching for that specific product immediately appreciate that this page is providing them with exactly what they need in the way of information. It can then move them quickly on towards that vital buying decision. Crafting a series of specific, clearly focused landing pages, is the equivalent of a well-signed bricks and mortar department store that quickly provides directions to help a variety of customers get to exactly where they wish to be.

Key elements of effective landing pages

We believe our talented team delivers the levels of responsive web design Canberra businesses should always expect. They are highly experienced at creating landing pages which make powerful use of significant product or service specific keywords and utterly relevant graphic design. This results in pages that both attract instant attention as they need to, and build relevant interest as quickly as you would want them to. Paired with a strong, clear call to action, they can then direct people through the buying process, or to other relevant locations within your eCommerce website.

How can we help you 'land' more customers?

If you feel that specifically-created lead generation landing pages would help your business to attract more potential customers, please discuss this with our experienced Canberra Web team, obligation-free of course, by calling us on 02 6223 2222now...

Once you have perfected your landing page, sorted your ideal website content and figured out your structure, there is just one thing you need to watch out for; zombie pages. Zombie pages, or dead pages, can be responsible for reduced traffic, can make your website appear cluttered and can affect your placement on search engine pages.

Zombie pages can be deadly for your SEO but don't panic, there are a number of ways that you can save your site from these necrotic nuisances. These pages are referred to as zombie pages because they can infect the rest of your site if you're not careful. These pages tend to be laden with information that is of no interest to your customers and therefore is not being searched for. Miring your website with uninteresting information will drag you down search engine pages like a lead balloon.

What does leaving these pages alone mean for your SEO? Well, search engines rank pages by relevance, performance metrics and traffic flow. If there is a page on your site that receives no traffic flow at all it won't matter if your other pages are buzzing like a gridlocked highway, they will be tainted by your dead page.

Identify whether or not a page is infected by checking its unique page views, avg. time spent on the page, total visits and any other metrics that you like to focus on. If they are extremely low to non-existent you likely have a zombie page on your hands. Next, you must consider if the page is worth trying to save or if it simply needs to be buried. If you feel the public need the information on the page, consider restructuring your copy and using internal links to improve traffic. You could link to the page from a more popular page, letting your customers know that there is further information on a certain subject available. Drawing customers to your dead page may improve your SEO.

Otherwise, simply remove the page and any trace of it from your website and move on. Perhaps relocate any information you deem completely necessary to another page but be careful, you may end up accidentally spreading the infection with pointless and uninteresting info.

If you are at all unsure about digital marketing Canberra-based, have a chat to one of our specialists at Canberra Web and we will provide you with professional and practical solutions.

Today, you can create a landing page in minutes. Unfortunately, speed alone isn't enough. Though necessary, on its own it can't drive conversion. In this post, we will share the five fundamentals of a landing page to serve that can help you drive your Google AdWords campaign further.

1. The target audience

Your landing page is a communication piece. Hence, it has to speak to the right target audience to convince and convert. Without a laser focus, it may speak to everyone but is listened to by no one. Nothing can be more frustrating than to have clicks or impressions but zero inquiry. Be clear of the target audience when you conceptualise your landing page.

2. K.I.S.S

In other words, keep it simple and succinct! Every content and visual must guide the target audience towards the call-to-action you want them to take. Clutter is an effective landing page's greatest enemy. It distracts and confuses the reader. A landing page should excite and interest them.

3. Use visuals to maximise the impact

A picture paints a thousand words. Humans are visual creatures. We are drawn to them. Visuals trigger interest to read or learn more. It also facilitates memorability. Finally, visuals enhance the aesthetic appeal of the landing page. In IoT, the average consumer is bombarded by thousands of landing pages. What will make yours stand out?

4. Testimonials sell

Today, people tend to believe the reviews and recommendations of others more than claims made by brands in their ads. The connected consumer has a multitude of sources to learn of a brand's or product's effectiveness. In the digital age, word-of-mouth marketing has grown more powerful than ever. Use it to your advantage in creating a growth-centric landing page.

5. Clarity

Keep your copy succinct, not just short. Make sure it is digestible and easily understood. Fortunately, there are many tools to help you achieve this. They can help you proofread, edit and even make suggestions.

Your landing page is the gateway to your target audience. Ensuring it is optimised to this end is critical. Speak to us to learn how you can achieve this.

Everyone understands that the final step after getting people to your website is to convert them, but far too few people are using landing pages properly to achieve this. 44% of clicks for B2B companies go directly to the homepage of the website instead of landing pages (http://www.meclabs.com/training/). Your website homepage may be optimised for an organic visitor but it certainly isn't the right follow on from an advert. Here we explore the importance of landing pages and why you should use them.

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a web page that will allow you to capture the imagination of a visitor. Good landing pages will target a specific audience and will encourage this person to engage in a particular way. This may be by buying, downloading or subscribing.

How do they work?

Landing pages offer a direct route from a call to action to interaction, creating a genuine and valuable lead for your business. What a landing page does differently is that it offers your potential customer a direct route to follow. Instead of advertising one service and then taking a customer to your homepage where they can choose from a range of services, landing pages take them directly to a point of engagement with your company. Whether or not this is to sign up for a consultation or find out more, it completes the journey for the client so that they don't have to click again. This will reduce bounce rates dramatically and hugely increase interactions.

Why you need to start using them today

These simple reasons should make it clear that you should start making better use of landing pages today:

1. Generate leads easily - Landing pages can dramatically improve your lead generation by increasing your ability to convert customers.
2. Give offers a home - Offers can sit comfortably on landing pages where they are not commonly accessible. This saves you from the trap of discounting custom that was yours anyway.
3. Collect information - Landing pages allow you to start a conversation and learn more about visitors. Doing so will help you to develop your marketing strategy.
4. Understand prospect engagement - Landing pages allow you to track conversions so you can rate visitors by value and hone your marketing more effectively.
5. Fuel other channels - Landing pages can provide you with fuel for other marketing channels, giving you something to promote and drive customers towards.

Having a website is paramount to running a business. However, just having a site alone doesn't mean your business will grow and thrive. Having a bad website can be worse than having no website at all, as it can confuse and drive away your potential clients. One of the worst aspects of bad web design is clutter.

What exactly is clutter?

We define this as:

- Too much, or too wordy content.
- Too many images.
- Too much browsing choice in the form of buttons and tabs.
- Poor and crowded layout.

Is it worth investing in decluttering?

If you are taking a look at your cluttered site and wondering whether it really is worth investing in an upgrade, we can guarantee you that it is.

Here's why:

Cluttered sites lead to fast click away rates

Today, people are time poor. If your potential clients have landed on your website, there is a good chance they already know what information they're looking for, and if they can't find it quickly, they will move on to the next company on their list. You really only have a few seconds to grab someone's attention, and if they are feeling overwhelmed by images and information they won't stay. Cluttered sites take more time to navigate because the eye is confused, and there is a direct correlation between too much clutter on a site, and how quickly someone will leave the site.

Our brains crave order

There is a reason why sleek and simple designs with lots of white space are effective. The best websites have short and informative pieces of information alongside arresting photos and compelling calls to action. Sites that are overcrowded look less credible. This is because our brains want order and simplicity so they can quickly process information, and we tend not to trust sites that violate this rule.

Your website is directly impacting your bottom line

Even if you don't sell products directly through your website, your potential clients might navigate there to find your contact information or important details about your services. If they leave before you connect with them, this is eating into your profits.

Clearly, a cluttered website is costing you in fundamental ways, so talk to the web design Canberra experts at Canberra Web about an update today!