How to Create an Effective Freebie Landing Page on Your Own Website
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If you’re a business owner in the online space, you’ve probably heard from every marketing guru and funnel expert that you have to start building your email list. While creating an email list is one of the best returns on investment you can make in your marketing, making companies an average of $40 for every $1 spent (Porch Group Media), building your email list the RIGHT way using landing pages on your own website can also be helpful for your SEO.
If you need more information on the importance of starting an email list for your business, check out my recent blog post, How to Build an Email List with FloDesk and Squarespace.
What is a Landing Page?
A landing page is a standalone web page that serves a specific purpose within a marketing or advertising campaign. Its primary goal is to convert visitors into leads or customers by encouraging them to take a specific action, such as signing up for a newsletter, downloading a resource, making a purchase, or requesting more information.
A landing page is typically shorter than a sales page on your website because it doesn’t require as much information to get the visitor to “buy in.”
How Freebie Landing Pages on Your Website Help Your SEO
As web designer and SEO consultant, I always advise my clients to create all of their email opt-ins on a separate landing page on their website so that they don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity to increase their website traffic.
Think about it. How many times have you replied to a post on an influencers Instagram page, and gotten an automated Manychat response asking you to submit your email address in exchange for a free download, coupon, or resource?
If instead of using the full-page form you create in FloDesk, ConvertKit, Mailchimp, or whatever other email marketing service you use, you embedded this opt-in form on a page on your website, you could potentially get hundreds or even thousands of new visitors to your website every time you share that link with your audience!
Those visitors can then be directed to a customized thank-you page that you create that encourages them to browse your website for other resources you want to promote.
And as we all know, the longer you can keep a visitor engaged on your website, the more valuable your website appears in the eyes of search engines like Google.
Here are some other ways creating a landing page on your own website can significantly help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization):
Targeted Content
Landing pages allow you to create highly targeted content focused on specific keywords or themes relevant to your business or offerings. By optimizing your landing page content with relevant keywords, you can improve your website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) for those terms.
Just as you would optimize any other page on your website, you’ll want to make sure those targeted keywords are in the headings, body paragraphs, meta tags, and image alt tags on your landing page. This gives Google more information about what this page is about, so that when people search using keywords around your freebie topic, your page will be more likely to show up in the search engine results page.
Internal Linking
When you create a landing page on your website, you can strategically link to it from other pages within your site. This internal linking structure helps search engines understand the importance of your landing page and can improve its ranking in search results.
You can share the landing page link in your blog posts, service pages, podcast episode pages- really anywhere that makes sense on your website!
Improved User Experience
Well-designed landing pages provide a better user experience by delivering relevant and valuable information to visitors. Search engines like Google prioritize websites that offer a positive user experience, which can indirectly improve your SEO rankings.
You probably can have a more customized page and experience when your opt-in form is hosted on your own website compared with the form builders provided by your email marketing provider.
Better Strategy + Better Design = a Better User Experience!
Lower Bounce Rates
A well-crafted landing page that meets visitors' expectations and encourages them to take action (such as signing up, downloading a resource, or making a purchase) can lead to lower bounce rates. Lower bounce rates signal to search engines that your page is relevant and engaging, which can positively impact your SEO performance.
Quality Backlinks
If your landing page offers valuable content, it has the potential to attract quality backlinks from other websites. Backlinks from reputable and relevant sources are an essential factor in SEO, as they indicate to search engines that your website is authoritative and trustworthy.
So if you have a freebie that might benefit another audience, ask that business owner to link to your landing page within their own content and get yourself that backlink! The business owner will likely be more inclined to link to an opt-in page when it is hosted on your website vs. one that gives very little information as is typically the case with those built on email marketing services.
Optimized Meta Tags and URLs
When creating a landing page, you have control over its meta tags (title tag, meta description) and URL structure. Optimizing these elements with relevant keywords and compelling descriptions can improve click-through rates from search results and enhance your SEO efforts.
Analytics and Optimization
By creating a landing page on your website, you can track its performance using web analytics tools like Google Analytics. Analyzing user behavior, conversion rates, and other metrics allows you to identify areas for improvement and optimize your landing page for better SEO results.
This is the same reason I encourage business owners to have their long sales pages on their own website, too! While platforms like Thrivecart and FloDesk give you the option to create a custom check-out page, the analytics are much more limited compared to the analytics you can get from your own website’s Google Analytics.
If this sounds like more work, keep reading, because I am going to walk you through what you need to include to have a successful landing page and give you the steps to take to create an effective landing page using Squarespace as your landing page builder. (Though keep in mind, if your website is hosted on another platform like Wordpress or Wix, the same strategies still apply!)
How Much does a Landing Page Cost?
The beauty of creating a landing page within your existing Squarespace is that it costs you no additional money! That’s right, unlike using separate platforms like Leadpages or ThriveCart, you can host your freebie landing page for free.
And you can have a separate landing page for each freebie you offer without spending any more money. Beautiful!
What makes landing pages effective? How to Optimize Your Landing Page Strategy
Creating a landing page on your website is a great way to attract visitors and convert them into customers or subscribers. Here are some steps you can follow to create an effective landing page:
Define Your Goal
Determine the primary objective of your landing page. Is it to sell a product, collect leads, promote an event, or something else? This will guide the design and content of your page.
You’ll want to make sure your landing page has a clear headline that demonstrates what the user will gain from opting in to your email list. Use bullet points, visuals, and multimedia elements to make the content engaging and easy to digest.
Understand Your Audience
Know who your target audience is and what they are looking for. Tailor your messaging and offer to meet their needs and interests.
Choose a Compelling Headline
Your headline should grab attention and clearly communicate the value proposition of your offer. Use persuasive language that resonates with your audience.
Keep this text to a minimum (1 or 2 sentences) so that your website visitor doesn’t get overwhelmed or confused and make sure the most important content is above the fold, or before the user scrolls down the page.
Include a Strong Call to Action (CTA)
Clearly state what action you want visitors to take, such as "Sign Up Now," "Get Started," or "Buy Now." Make the CTA button prominent and visually appealing, with enough white space to provide directional cues around the button that entices people to click.
Stay away from “cutesy” calls-to-action as this may confuse people, and when people aren’t sure what they are signing up for, they will be less likely to take the intended action.
Design for Conversion
Use a clean and professional design that aligns with your brand identity. Use contrasting colors for important elements like the CTA button to make them stand out.
Your landing page should be consistent with the branding of the rest of your website and social accounts, again to avoid confusion.
Optimize for Mobile
Ensure that your landing page is mobile-friendly and responsive. Many visitors access websites on mobile devices, so optimizing for mobile is crucial for a positive user experience.
Add Social Proof
Include testimonials, reviews, case studies, or trust badges to build credibility and trust with your audience. You can pull direct quotes from conversations you’ve had with your customers and even screenshot them to share (with permission).
Remove Distractions
You can remove the header and footer of your landing page by selecting “Navigation” under the “Page Settings.” This will prevent visitors from getting distracted and clicking onto other parts of your website.
Test and Iterate
A/B test different elements of your landing page, such as headlines, CTAs, visuals and even colors, to see what resonates best with your audience. Continuously optimize based on data and feedback.
By following these steps, you can create a compelling and effective landing page that drives conversions and achieves your business goals.
Now let’s get to the fun part, actually building your landing page!
Using Squarespace as Your Landing Page Builder
Using Squarespace as your landing page builder is straightforward and user-friendly. Here’s a guide in 5-7 steps:
Create a New Page
If your website is already hosted on Squarespace, you’ll click the “plus” sign to add a new page to the not-linked section.
Edit text, upload images, change colors, and adjust layout elements using Squarespace's drag-and-drop editor.
You’ll want the first section to have a very clear headline with a subheading to briefly describe the transformation someone will get by opting-in to your email list or downloading your freebie.
Take a look at my landing page example for my free SEO Challenge.
The headline: “3X YOUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC AND LEARN HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR SITE IN 5 DAYS!” is clear with the intended result and time it will take to achieve the desired outcome.
The CTA on the button is also clear saying “CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FREE CHALLENGE!”
Neil Patel’s blog also has a great list of landing page examples if you want to check out some other ideas.
Add a Form or Call-to-Action
To capture leads or direct users to take a specific action, add a form or call-to-action button that links to your email marketing provider.
Squarespace provides built-in form blocks that you can easily insert and customize if you want to also use Squarespace as your email marketing system.
BONUS: Create a Custom Thank You Page
After someone opts-in to your email list, you can have the page redirect to another customized thank you page, also hosted on your website. This page can have links to ways to work with you, your about page, or other free resources they can snag.
Here’s an example of the thank you page I have on my website. You can see, it doesn’t have to be complicated and you can make it in a matter of minutes.
To redirect from a Squarespace opt-in form, click the “Post-Submit” option then choose “redirect” and add your link.
To redirect from a FloDesk form, select the “Thank You” option in the form editor. Then switch on “Redirect to URL” and add your link.
Optimize for Mobile
Ensure your landing page looks great on mobile devices by using Squarespace's responsive design features.
Preview your page on different device sizes to make adjustments as needed.
Set SEO Settings
Improve your landing page's visibility by optimizing its SEO settings.
Edit page titles, meta descriptions, and URLs to make your page more search engine friendly.
Publish and Test
Once you're satisfied with your landing page, publish it to make it live.
Test the page on different browsers and devices to ensure everything functions as expected.
These steps should give you a solid foundation for using Squarespace as your landing page builder. Squarespace's intuitive interface and built-in features make it easy to create professional-looking pages without needing advanced technical skills.
I hope you found these landing page SEO tips helpful!
Creating a landing page on your website can positively impact your SEO efforts by targeting specific keywords, improving internal linking, enhancing user experience, reducing bounce rates, attracting quality backlinks, optimizing meta tags and URLs, and enabling data-driven optimization.
It’s all about keeping your audience engaged and having the most amount of control over the platforms you use to market to them and hosting your landing page on your own website gives you that!
If you need help creating a sales page or landing page for your website- feel free to check out my landing page design services or grab a sales page template from my Squarespace template shop!
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