The SEO News Blog from Pat Marcello

When you ask a group what a landing page is, you might come back with many different ideas. Some will say it’s a squeeze page. Some, a sales letter, while others have no freakin’ clue whatsoever and are still scratching their heads.

It’s simple…

A landing page is where you LAND after clicking on a link. It can be any of the above, or it can be totally unrelated to commercial enterprise. It’s just where you end up, no matter what the link says or what the page includes.

You can make mistakes when setting up a landing page, though, so you should keep some things in mind:

• The anchor text in your link must match the page. If you hyperlink the phrase “dog training,” then the page that people land on when they click that link best be about training your dog.

• The keywords on your page must  match your link.  When you’re link says, “used golf balls,” your page should have words like “used golf balls,” “used bridgestone golf balls,” or “cheap used golf balls.” The page should be not just about “golf,” but indeed, “used golf balls.”

• If you have an online store, and you’re selling video cameras, when your anchor text says, “Mino Flip video Camera,” then that specific product had better appear on the page after a person clicks on that link. It’s best when it’s the only thing on the page, but worst when it’s not on the page at all.

There are a couple of reasons that you want to be heed these warnings.

First, especially if you’re using pay-per-click to advertise your link, you’ll have a huge tiff with the Google ghods. Your page quality will be “poor” unless your link actually matches what’s on your page.

Secondly, have you ever gone shopping online and clicked a link and didn’t find what you thought you would when you got to the landing page? Did it tick you off? How likely are you to go back to that page or even that company again?

Remember that anchor text delivers page reputation.  Don’t advertise what you don’t intend to deliver.

It’s like a chihuahua growling at a pit bull. Could mean trouble.

8 Responses so far | Have Your Say!

1. 

   manoj gopale
   February 24th, 2009 at 12:28 am #

   The point you made about the content and the URL (advertising) is true & is reaffirming the fact that if you deliver what you promise people are gonna believe you, surely one can monetize that belief in coming future with great service.

   Reply – Quote
2. 

   Justin Brooke
   February 25th, 2009 at 4:43 am #

   For internet marketers, they will know immediately what the landing page is. But for some, this is still an alien term.

   Reply – Quote
3. 

   Vicalla
   March 4th, 2009 at 1:29 am #

   This is a good point. Currently, my homepage ( http://www.vicalla.com ) is a landing page for most of the traffic. I can say that this landing page has exact content as it appears on the referral sites, however, the bounce rate is still high ( 30%. I’m not sure if this is really considered high bouncing rate or not. For me it seems high though). Do you have any immediate tip for improving bouncing rate? I’m going to look through your blog, maybe you already say something about this.

   Reply – http://www.vicalla.com ) is a landing page for most of the traffic. I can say that this landing page has exact content as it appears on the referral sites, however, the bounce rate is still high ( 30%. I\’m not sure if this is really considered high bouncing rate or not. For me it seems high though). Do you have any immediate tip for improving bouncing rate? I\’m going to look through your blog, maybe you already say something about this.’); return false;”>Quote
4. 

   aparna
   March 4th, 2009 at 8:55 am #

   there is good valuable information. If you can provide a video valuable information for it. it will be useful for the people like us.I want to know more about it.

   Reply – Quote
5. 

   Pat Marcello
   March 4th, 2009 at 6:55 pm #

   Will do, aparna!

   thanks for your comment.

   Pat

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6. 

   jayakar jangam
   March 10th, 2009 at 6:14 pm #

   These are all the facts which you has mentioned there.Why can’t you provide video on your blog that could help a lot.we will expect a good service in the future.

   Reply – Quote
7. 

   zarak
   April 15th, 2009 at 6:19 am #

   how can i submit my website link to non reciprocal and free site.
   can u give me list of non reciprocal site name

   Reply – Quote
8. 

   Pat Marcello
   April 15th, 2009 at 10:28 am #

   Hi Zarak,

   Please don’t spam my blog, but… since you asked.

   One way to get one-way links is by submitting your site to reputable directories, like Yahoo, Joe Ant, DMOZ, and a few others. Some are free, but some make you pay. Yahoo is $299 a year, for example, while JoeAnt.com is only like $39 once.

   Don’t submit to link farms, which are directories that aren’t edited. They take any link they’re given. Google doesn’t like them, and it can hurt you.

   – Pat

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