Landing page or website for your ads?
Written by Jack Harrington and Gabriel Pozo, the founders of Urban Media, Melbourne. Updated .
An ad makes a promise. The page it sends people to has to keep that promise within a few seconds, or they leave and you have paid for the click.
Sometimes that page is your homepage. Often it is a landing page built for that ad.
What a landing page is good for
- It says exactly what the ad said, so there is no hunting.
- It has one job and one button, so fewer people wander off.
- You can change it without touching the rest of your site.
When the homepage is fine
If the homepage already states your offer clearly, leads with the thing the ad promised and has an obvious way to enquire, it can work. It struggles when it is trying to speak to everyone.
The match test
- Read the ad, then the first screen of the page. Does the headline repeat the promise?
- Is the price, or a clear way to get one, on that screen?
- Is there one obvious button?
- Does it work on a phone with one thumb?
Keep the form short
Ask for what you need to reply and nothing more. A long form loses people who were ready to enquire. Everything else can be asked on the call.
Measure it
Track how many visitors start the form and how many finish. If many start and few finish, the form is the problem. If few start, the page is.
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All of them are on the guides page.
Who is behind this
Urban Launch is built and run by Urban Media (ABN 28 169 446 902), a Melbourne studio founded by Jack Harrington and Gabriel Pozo. Urban Media makes video, design and websites for clients including Box Hill United, Brighton Grammar and Porsche Club Victoria.
If you want to talk to the people doing the work, call 0456 785 904. More about who we are, and how to check us, is on the About page.
Common questions
- Can I use my homepage as a landing page?
- If it leads with the same offer as the ad and has a clear way to enquire, yes. If it speaks to everyone and the offer is buried, build a dedicated page.
- How long should a landing page be?
- As long as it needs to answer the questions a cold visitor has before enquiring: what, how much, how it works and why trust you. Short for a simple offer, longer for a bigger one.
Start with a Launch Call
Live and generating enquiries within 45 days, or we keep working at no extra cost until you are. The Launch Call is where we check it is the right fit before we book anything in. For a real example, read the Airwize case study (12 conversions, meaning leads that became sales, in the first month of Google Ads from $70 of ad spend, our figures). You can also read how a launch package compares with hiring separately, or go to the packages and prices on the homepage.
More: Brand and website package, Melbourne, Startup package for a new business, Melbourne, Branding, website and photography package, Melbourne.