What is a Landing Page vs Website?

76% of consumers view a business‘s online presence before visiting in person. But there’s one important decision to make before you make your business visible online: What is a landing page vs. a website?

Many business owners and marketers mix them up, creating misaligned marketing strategies. Knowing the difference between a landing page and a website is very important to enable you to make decisions that differ greatly in how successful you are online.

In this blog, we’re going to go into detail on the definitions of landing pages and websites, discuss their principal differences, when to use each one, and help you figure out which one your business needs most.

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What is a Landing Page?

Whenever you click the ad, whether in your social media feed or another place, in most cases, it opens a page popularly known as a landing page. By definition, a landing page is an independent single web page designed with one clear objective in mind.

Unlike a website, which may have several goals and pages, a landing page focuses on getting visitors to take a specific action. This could be anything from getting them to subscribe to a newsletter or download an e-book to actually purchasing a product.

Common elements of a landing page include the following:

• Minimal navigation: Oftentimes, there’s absolutely no menu or links to other pages, so visitors can’t navigate somewhere else.
• Strong call-to-action: A very attractive button or link that would motivate visitors to continue the process.
• Brief content: Short and to the point, containing only the information that would persuade people to act.

Why Do We Need Landing Pages?

Imagine a company getting ready to launch a new product. Create a landing page zeroing in on key features with a CTA button for people to pre-order. After that, implement it in ads and emails to drive conversions.

When to Use a Landing Page?

A landing page is most suitable in those cases wherein you want to focus on one clear and single objective. Specific cases include:

• Running a marketing campaign: Whether it’s through PPC, social media, or email marketing, a landing page will help you target specific audiences to drive conversions.
• Introducing a new product or service: A landing page helps give a spotlight to the new offering, literally center-staging it.
• Capturing leads: If you have a webinar or some other free resource, you may create a landing page capturing sign-ups for it.

Benefits of Using a Landing Page

• High conversion: Focused content leads to more actions taken.
• Targeted messaging: Tailor the page to your audience to guarantee relevance.

What Goes Into a Really Good Landing Page?

Well, depending on your niche, product, and service in hand, it’s normally compelling headlines, backed by strong CTAs, less or no distractions, and mobile-friendly designs that move visitors to become leads or customers.

What is a Website?

Whenever you search for anything on Google and then click on any SERP results, you are most likely to land on a web page. A website means hosting a number of interlinked pages under one domain name. It caters to serving many purposes in contrast to a landing page that focuses on one sole goal of the webpage. It’s designed to provide full information, showcase products or services, and even build an online presence for a brand.

Common website elements include: 

• Homepage: This is the ‘front door’ and generally gives an overview of what your site offers.
• Navigation menu: These are links to help users find different sections of the website.
• Multiple pages: About, Services, Blog, Contact, and others may be used for various purposes.

Who Needs a Website?

A small business may design a website to share information about their products, blog about industry trends, and detail contact information for potential customers. It will increase their credibility, work as marketing, and facilitate ease of reach.

When to Use a Website?

With over 1.13 billion active websites, and thousands more coming up every day, it is absolute to have a website for most businesses. This would be in cases like building brand authority by demonstrating expertise or establishing dominance on the internet. In conducting multiple sales of products or services, a website becomes essential to feature everything that one’s business offers in one place.

Blogging, content marketing, and search engine optimization are also a good option. The best place for creating content that magnetizes and captures interest is a website.

Benefits of Having a Website

• Establishment of credibility: A professional website enriches trust in your brand.
• Long-lasting SEO benefits: Search engine ranking through constant updating of content.
• Effective user experience: Smooth and knowledgeable experience to visitors.

While thousands of websites are getting created and launched on the web daily, standing out becomes a challenge. A few thumb rules may be user-friendly navigation, responsive design, content to be clear and concise, and frequent updating to keep it fresh and relevant.

How to Decide Between a Landing Page and a Website?

1- Define your immediate goals: Do you want to create short-term conversions or a long-term brand?

2- Consider who your audience is, how they will engage with your digital content. Are they more of a ‘do-quickly’ type, or do they need to know a great deal of information?

3- Consider your budget and resources. Can you afford the upkeep of an entire website, or are you looking for something easy and impactful?

Which One To Choose?

• Landing pages: For startups, small businesses, and campaigns where the focus is on quick conversions and lead generation.
• Websites: This works best for creating a strong online presence in established businesses that need to offer multiple services and engage in long-term SEO.

For most businesses, a middle ground would be more valid. Take a comprehensive approach to marketing and consider both strategies: a landing page for any kind of targeted campaign and a website for brand authority and customer engagement.

Wrapping Up

What is a landing page vs. a website? This is something that bothers many newcomers. By distinguishing between landing pages and websites, one can make informed marketing decisions. Assess your business needs to choose the proper option for you.

Ready to boost your online presence?

How much more visibility your website obtains will determine the success of your product/service in the long term. You can also hire a professional agency for expert web development and marketing services to enable you to achieve maximum results.