Landing pages can live long, fruitful lives. For instance, HubSpot claims that as much as 90% of its monthly leads are converted on old offers.
But how do you create a landing page that becomes a long-term lead generator?
It all comes down to some tried-and-tested search engine optimisation (SEO) best practices.
Here are your most common questions, answered.
Question 1: What are the best practices for page titles?
Page titles should be short but optimised for keywords.
This is the text that appears at the top of your browser or tab, and it should:
- Be short (Google will only display the first 60 characters in search results)
- Include keywords as close to the left as possible, and
- use vertical pipes ‘|’ to separate phrases.
Try to avoid including your company name in every page title, too (even your homepage).
Question 2: What role does the URL play?
An important one!
Search engines read URLs to gather more information about the content in your web page, but they’re also used to convey the site structure.
You can follow the page title rulebook for URLs. Keep them short, include keywords close to the left and separate phrases with slashes.
Question 3: Tell me about the H1 tag…
Every landing page needs a relevant heading, which is otherwise known as the H1 tag.
The H1 tag needs to describe the offer succinctly. It should also explain what the landing page is about, without being stuffed with keywords.
This doesn’t mean it’s safe to use just one keyword as your H1 tag, either. Without context, visitors will likely be confused and end up leaving.
Try and make your H1 tag as close to the page title as possible.
Question 4: I’ve heard about ‘meta descriptions’… what are they?
While meta descriptions aren’t direct ranking factors for Google, they will influence the likelihood of someone visiting your landing page from a search.
The meta description is the small snippet of text that you see beneath the main page title on Google searches. It works best when it’s snappy and to the point.
Think about how quickly you scour Google search results; your meta description needs to be immediately engaging and relevant to your audience.
Question 5: Are images important for lead generation?
Yes!
Google is primarily interested in text, but it certainly doesn’t ignore visual content.
When adding images to your landing page, make sure you do the following:
- Keep the file name short and separate words with dashes
- Use the alt text to describe the content of the image
So, if you’re displaying an image of a smartphone case, the filename might be ‘iPhone-xr-case-white.jpg’, and the alt text something like ‘case for iPhone XR in white’.
Question 6: How do I get my site featured as a snippet on Google?
Google will often display rich listings for certain websites to improve the search experience.
For instance, if you search for ‘gluten-free menus’, Google might hit you immediately with a list of recipes taken from one of the websites listed in the search results.
So, how do you grab a spot like that yourself?
Unfortunately, there’s no guaranteed way to obtain a featured snippet, as they’re known. However, Google offers a free tool that looks at the code of your landing page to see if it’s primed for a snippet.
Unless you’re comfortable with HTML, you’ll need some coding expertise to decipher the results, but it’s a good idea if you have the time and would like to achieve richer listings on Google.
Wrap up
Creating landing pages for every marketing campaign might sound like additional work you could do without, but it’s some of the best time you’ll spend during that campaign.
Use our tips above to create great landing pages that will last the test of time.
