Stop Sending Traffic to Your Homepage: 3 Reasons Why Landing Pages Convert More Visitors into Leads

by Jun 16, 2015Apartment Marketing, Blog1 comment

Want to convert more leads from your website? (Who doesn’t?)

Then stop sending traffic to your homepage.

I know this sounds crazy, or maybe counter-intuitive, but hear me out.

Have you ever walked into a big box retailer with a particular purchase in mind, and not a clue where to find it?

Wouldn’t it be nice if a sales associate was at your side as soon as you hit the door and took you right to the aisle you needed?

Now imagine the front door of that big box store is your homepage and the item you’re shopping for is an apartment.

Chances are, your homepage is as helpful as that store entrance overlooking aisles and aisles of stuff. Most of it being stuff you don’t need. A prospect has to wander through your site to find the information they’re looking for, and there’s no guarantee they’ll find it quickly (or even find it at all).

Make it easy for your prospects— instead of leaving them at the front door of your site, drop them right in front of the product they’re looking for. On your website, this means pointing them directly to a landing page that answers their question.

Why Use Landing Pages?

As Mike says in the video, there are three advantages to using landing pages:

They’re More Targeted

Don’t waste a prospect’s time with messaging that doesn’t apply to them in that moment. Again, landing pages get right to the point. They answer a specific need for the visitor, and the calls-to-action are built to match where the prospect is in the buying process.

They’re Less Distracting

Which means they’re more effective. With fewer chances to lose the prospect, they’re more likely to convert. The best landing pages give prospects only two options: contact the property (fill out a form or phone call) or leave.

The average website typically converts about 2-5% off all visitors to email leads, while we regularly see our clients’ best-performing landing pages converting at 30-40% or better.

They’re Easier To Track

Make a new page on your website. Use a custom domain that’s easy to remember and use unique tracking numbers for your marketing campaigns. Create tracking links with Google URL Builder to understand exactly which sources are working and which campaigns are actually producing for you.

Make sense so far?

Good. Let’s dig a bit deeper and look at how this could apply to your marketing.

Here’s a real example of how you you can use a landing page to address a prospect’s need:

Your prospect’s need: “My roommate and I need a new place.”
What they search for:2 bedroom apartments capitol hill”
Your landing page: Search Our Two-Bedroom Apartments In Capitol Hill

Here’s another one:

Your prospect’s need: “I just got a new job in Chicago, and I’ll be moving next month. I need a place for me and my dog, and I don’t want to deal with parking.”
What they search for: “pet friendly apartments near blue line”
Landing page: Search Over 300 Pet-Friendly Apartments In Wicker Park

And here’s an example of how a landing page can help you track a specific campaign or ad source:

Prospect’s need: “An affordable 2 bedroom apartment close to campus.”
How they found you: Through a Craigslist ad
Your landing page: LiveAtYourPropertyName.com, a one-page website with content around this week’s Craigslist specials

Compared to your homepage, which likely has a much broader message, these pages leave little room for doubt about whether you’re a good fit for the visitor. Which explains perfectly why our clients who use landing pages consistently see higher conversions and more qualified traffic from their ad campaigns.

Don’t let prospects languish at your door. Walk them right to what they want to buy with landing pages for your most valuable search topics and each of your ad campaigns.

Need help creating landing pages for your next campaign? Let’s talk.