Splash Pages / Landing Pages...Do They Really Work?

[ScottJSmith]

After meeting many of you in August, and listening to several experts both at NAMS and elsewhere, there seems to be a lot of focus invested on "Landing Pages" (I've also heard "Splash" pages.)

Are these really effective?

The reason why I ask, is that most/all seem to have WAY TOO MUCH information on them. Do your customers ever really read the content on these pages...or does this standard template somehow translate into conversions?

As a consumer, I'll read maybe the first paragraph, then hit the "End" key on my keyboard to find the "Add to Cart" option to see what the price is. I completely skip past the 5 or so pages of screenshots, the 2- or 3-pages of videos, the multiple paragraphs with the HTML "Highlight" text in 28 point font, the testimonials, the quotes from articles, the "Keep reading for a special offer" teasers.

The crazy thing is, the products I often find myself on these pages are tools, services or utilities designed to save me time and effort. If the company presumes I, their potential client, is someone who is starved for time, what makes them presume I'll sit at my workstation for up to an hour, and focus my undivided attention, scrolling and reading every word?

Also, we're in the world of Web 2.0 now. You know, HTML5, mobile computing, XML and the like. Can't the standard template that everyone follows be...cleaner? ...and what message does that send to potential customers when your landing page looks exactly like every other one out there?

[CarolBremner]

I'm with you, Scott. I skim to the end of most long content and see what the price is. Then if it really is interesting, I'll go back and read a bit more, but don't think I've ever read an entire sales page. Problem is that some people might want to go back and find out about different info than what I went back to see. And since copywriters don't know which of those bits of info people might like to go back and read, they have to include all the possibilities I guess.

At least we have the ability to skim, unlike a video sales page.

[James Zedd]

I've used splash pages and gotten results from them. I do often skip out on most of the copy though when I'm browsing though something I'd like to buy ... I do read the headlines though and bullets. Basically I'd like to see the benefits to me, and also be assured that who I'm buying from is not some loser who will spam the crap out of me and over-promise and under-deliver.

Also, I'm liking more of the video sales pages these days. If they can summarize their product in a creative video and prove that it gives me what I want when I purchase, then I'm almost instantly sold. A good page that did this was Profitstheme (http://profitstheme.com/) Very creative video, and displayed all of it's functions very well.

[Brett Rhodes]

Hey Scott,

I do the same thing now with long sales letters -- skim, check the price, skip the testimonials, etc. But at this point I'm a sophisticated Internet consumer.

That being said, there is plenty of evidence to support the success of squeeze page and long form sales letters.

I recently came across a podcast discussing long form sales letters. The speaker talked about a dual path method -- one path for "skimmers" and one path for "readers". A well crafted, dual-path, long form sales page has both.

For skimmers, the headline, subheadings, bullet points, highlighted phrases and such give all the pertinent info and leads to the "buy now" call to action.

For readers, the text under the headline, in each subheading section, etc. Gives the extra details this type of buyer wants.

Pretty cool way to structure a sales page.

Also keep in mind that long form sales letters have been effective since the 1800s and maybe further back. And squeeze pages, with little change, have been effective for 10 plus years on the Internet.

So, yeah, they work.

:)

Best,

-Brett

[ChristineCobb]

One of the things I struggle with is to keep in mind that people are not like me. Imagine that! Some people need more information, some want to scan the sub headlines, some want to watch a video and some want a couple of bullet points and the price. And as marketers, we need to provide the information that most of the people will need in a way they want to consume it.

[James Zedd]

Chris nailed it! Different people will respond differently to your information, and having all the medias available to present your product can only benefit you.

Brett - do you have a link for the podcast you came across?

[KaronThackston]

Different people do communicate differently. The DISC behavioral model is just 1 such scale that gauges people's communication styles. Those high in Dominance (the "D") are VERY bottom line people. Give me the outcome first and I'll ask for the details later IF I think they are necessary. Think CEOs of major corporations.

The opposite of that (and the standard for why most long form copy and sales letters are constructed the way they are) is the "S." It stands for Steadiness on the DISC model. This makes up 40+% of the population. The majority by far. These people need:


Detail
Reassurance/social proof (the testimonials, etc.)
Benefits, benefits, benefits because they might not get why the features are important
Examples of how to use the product/service (if there are multiple ways)
Guarantees and warranties and anything else that can put their nervous minds at ease and help avoid buyer's regret.


But... back to the original question. Splash pages and landing pages are not the same thing and neither is necessarily a sales letter.

Splash pages are generally ultra-short with a video or only a paragraph or two of copy and a sign-up form. Here's one (http://onlinecopywriting101.com/members/)Chris Cobb and I did together.

Splash pages are lead-generators for the most part.

Landing pages can be ANY kind of page. All a "landing page" is, is a page where someone lands after specifically being sent there from some trigger such as an email or PPC ad. So it could be an ecommerce product page on Amazon.com or it could be (and SHOULD be) a specifically created page that addresses the questions/information someone needs after clicking from a purposely designed banner ad, email, etc.

These are not always related to info products either. NetFlix uses squeeze pages and landing pages. "Sign up now and get 1 month for just $3.99" You get the pitch and the sign up form. Then, you get an email and last you click from the email (trigger) to the landing page (Don't let your trial run out... sign up now for more movies, etc.)

LOTS of uses for both splash and landing pages.

[BobTheTeacher]

As my brother likes to say, "Numbers don't lie, people do!"

Use what works in your market and for your audience, which means you'll want to test your pages to see which convert better.

But it's important that you hear what Karon said here for your terminology: you're really talking about Sales pages, and speficially long-form sales pages.

Landing pages are designed to be the FIRST page a new visitor sees in your site. They can be splash, squeeze, sales pages.

Splash pages are typically SINGLE pages, with no scrolling to see the entire content. Netflix is a great example, as are the tons of traffic exchange pages you'd see surfing in those (if anybody actually does anymore).

Video sales letters are fantastic, with or without long copy text to go with it. One of the modules in my Simple Video Velocity course details this, via James Wedmore. But whatever form of copy you are using, you have to bring the visitor on a journey from where they are now to where you want them to go (opt-in, buy, etc.).

As for good looking templates, you are now seeing a major trend of using Optimize Press (regular link (http://optimizepress.com) | my affiliate link (http://discoveroptimizepress.com)) for squeeze and sales pages, with various customizations. That's what you are seeing at SimpleVideoVelocity.com (http://simplevideovelocity.com) and the page Karon mentioned above.

Finally, when thinking about long copy sales letters, consider that search engines do have a lot more content to judge and rank your page by when you have quality content on those pages, too.

Bob Jenkins

[KaronThackston]

I can attest to the quality of the content in Bob's video course. I'm a recent grad and LOVED it. Exceptional content through and through. (As you can always expect from anything Bob does.)

[Brett Rhodes]

@ James: The podcast is from Foolish Adventure at http://foolishadventure.com/.

They're up over 75 episodes now and I have no idea which episode had the content about the dual path sales letter.

But I can say without reservation that the entire series is full of excellent and actionable info.

I've been listening since the first episode. Best Internet Marketing podcast I've ever found (and I've listened to a few). :cool:

[KaronThackston]

Landing pages are designed to be the FIRST page a new visitor sees in your site.

Well, I think that depends on the funnel. If I do a squeeze page followed by an email series THEN send them to the site, that will be the last page they see, not the first. Or do you mean that once they get to the site, this will be the first page?

[BobTheTeacher]

I mean, by their nature a "landing" page is the first page they hit. It could be the home page, or whatever other page, with traffic via search engines, media appearances, affiliate links, whatever... but it's the very first page they land on by your design.

A content page they find through Google is typically not seen as a landing page, although it can be considered as such.


If I do a squeeze page followed by an email series THEN send them to the site, that will be the last page they see, not the first.

The page you're describing here isn't a landing page, but is a sales page most likely. The squeeze page would be your landing page.

[James Zedd]

Thanks for the info Brett. I'll be tuning in soon.

There's also a lot of great information in this thread. Thank you all for sharing.

[Brett Rhodes]

My pleasure James. I'll see you around the forums!

- Brett