Know the difference between landing pages, conversion paths and microsites

Behind Door #1 is a single landing page, door #2 is a conversion path, and door #3 is a microsite. But you don’t know that. You just see three closed doors.

So, do you choose a closed door at random, or demand to see what is behind each door first? If you’re a marketer, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess you want to know what is behind each door first. 

In the world of online marketing, guessing counts for very little. 

So, let’s talk about what exactly is behind each door. 

A single landing page is the page a user ends up on after clicking an ad or link. Ideally, it is a highly targeted page that is very relevant to what the user clicked on.

A conversion path is a sequence of pages that users go through from click through conversion. Like a conversion funnel. Ideally, it is a conversion path you (as the marketer) have designed very carefully and purposefully to drive more visitors through your conversion funnel. 

A microsite is a very small Website that is topic- or purpose-specific. Ideally, it is a very conversion oriented experience, keeping the call to action front and center.

What should they all have in common?

All three types of landing experiences should provide:

• Simplicity
• Laser-like focus on the call to action
• Specific/relevant information

Your needs at the time will determine which door you select.

If your product is complex, and your viewers will need in-depth education, you may want to try a microsite. If your product is expensive and/or for a specific type of user, you may go with a conversion path to weed out unqualified prospects or to help people drill down to what’s relevant for them. If your product is a low-consideration purchase, a single landing page may be right for you. 

You never really know what’s best until you test them. So, I think a great test is to try a microsite against a landing page. Or a conversion path against a microsite. These types of tests help you answer the fundamental question: what type of experience will convert more visitors? It may be different for different sources of traffic, so don’t expect to walk away with one single type of experience. Look for what experiences convert based on context and type of traffic.

Either way, keep your design and content simple, focused and relevant. These are three keys to high conversion rates. 

Conversion paths: the next wave in landing page design

Check out ion President & CTO Scott Brinker’s interview with David Szetela of Clix Marketing on Webmaster Radio. It’s a great listen and Scott and David cover: 

• Landing pages 1.0 (single pages) vs. conversion paths
• How search ads are like the headline of a print ad, and the landing experience is like the body copy of an ad
• How Citrix Systems quadrupled their online lead generation with conversion paths
• How conversion paths deliver tailored pitch, persuasion, and information for specific audience segments
• and much more!

Listen here.

Are you using conversion paths? Most of are clients are, and they are able to increase their online conversion quality and quantity. 

Landing Pages or Conversion Paths?

Still trying to figure out what’s right for your organization?  Get the skinny on landing pages versus conversion paths in this six minute video from Web Marketing Today.

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, Editor-in-Chief of Web Marketing Today, interviews ion interactive President (and No More Landing Pages blogger) Scott Brinker from the SES San Jose show floor about landing pages vs. conversion paths, and how to find out what strategy is right for you.

More from Web Marketing Today.

How many of us use landing pages?

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Lots More Conversion Paths

Fine, landing pages stink. Now what? Plenty. Multi-step conversion paths are a high-performance alternative. Think 2-10x the conversion rate of whatever you’re getting with your hyper-optimized landing pages. They’ll be much higher quality too.

And you can expect reliable pre-conversion directed segmentation & qualification data on 60-80% of all respondents. What’s that mean? It means you’ll know exactly where your best prospects are coming from—no more guesswork. And since you have all of this qualitative data, you’ll also know for a fact if you’re converting your highest quality respondents—or if they’re dropping like flies.

Bottom line is that your bottom line will find a new normal. One that multiplies the ROI of your online spend by 2-10x. For real.

Post-click marketing conversion paths dramatically increase the value proposition of online advertising, search engine marketing, search engine optimization and email marketing. If you’re generating a paid click and you’re using a landing page to catch it, you’re leaving at least half of your conversions behind.

Want more meat, check out the articles.