When you first get involved in Affiliate Marketing you will come across a lot of new terminology. One of the words you’ll come across is Landing Pages. Landing pages are where people go to once they click on an online advertisement or natural search listing. Landing pages are designed to be highly relevant to the advertisement or search listing and encourage users to complete a “call to action”.

There are two types of landing pages, reference and transactional. A reference landing page or webverts marketing goal focuses on lead generation and interaction with the visitor. A webvert is not ‘transactional’ in nature. A webvert is a reference based, ethical landing page.

The traffic is driven from Google Adwords and is designed for two specific marketing tactics;

1) To attain high Google Adwords landing page quality scores, the benefit being any Adwords campaign costs are minimized.

2) The webvert has a clear call to action, usually a reply form.

The visitor traffic is immediate as the webvert relies on Google advertising to drive visitors to the webvert.

A transactional landing page seeks to persuade a visitor to complete a transaction such as filling out a form or interacting with advertisements or other objects on the landing page, with the goal being the immediate or eventual sale of a product or service. If information is to be captured, the page will usually withhold information until some minimal amount of visitor information is provided, typically an email address and perhaps a name and telephone number as well – enough to “capture the lead” and add the prospect to a mailing list.

So What Makes A Good Landing Page?

In a previous life I used to do graphic design and printing of flyers. I immediately found comparisons between landing page design and flyer design. Below I have listed the main aspects to consider when designing your landing pages which I got from econsultancy.com’s blog. I have also shown an example of a flyer I designed a few years ago and an example of a landing page I downloaded from zacjohnson.com.

1. Brevity
Keep it short and to the point. Paragraphs should be no longer than three lines, if they are used at all. One idea per paragraph is plenty of information fodder.

2. Relevancy
In the case of PPC landing pages you need to match the offer to your text ad copy. Keywords should be highlighted or displayed prominently. Keep it relevant to that person’s search query, because that’s all they care about.

3. A direct approach
Bullet points work well online, to help communicate the benefits of a product or service. Keep in mind that people skim read on the web. Use bold text to reinforce key messages.

4. A clear call-to-action
That potentially means a big Buy Now button, above the fold…

5. Fact over fiction
Stick to the key facts and be transparent, especially when the landing page is related to an ad campaign. Do not hide the price. Avoid flowery prose. This ain’t a press release. Product features, product features, product features.

6. Persuasion
Persuasion means removing any links that might distract, focusing the consumer’s mind on the end goal: the checkout. This means writing compelling copy. Persuade visitors not to drop out by limiting their options - remove link navigation, for example. Prominently display delivery options and costs. Sell the goddamned product…

7. Clear scent trails
How easy is it for a novice web user to get from A to B? You need to encourage visitors to walk / run down that conversion path. Conducting usability testing on your landing page templates may also provide you with some answers.

8. Grammatical accuracy
Its important, innit? Because people dont like spelling misteaks and stuff like that. First impressions count.

9. Reinforcing credibility
Testimonials, press, kitemarks, partners, visible customer support options. All these things convey trust and respectability. They ease the mind of the prospective buyer, who might not know your brand. Trust is very important.

10. Good use of images and colour
Presentation (eg: colours, graphics, icons) can play a big role in reinforcing purchase intent. Avoid clutter. White space and big fonts. Smart layout.

In this flyer you can see straight away that the benefits to the perspective client are listed on the right hand side in almost bullet point form. The copy is kept short for scanability. The opening headline is backed up by a background image of the service they provide. Credibilty is added by listing the national health companies of where they are registed. The call to action in this case is their contact details which are highlighted prominintly at the bottom of the flyer and also in the map provided.

In the above landing page from zacjohnson.com we can see that the headline is backed up by the image on the left of the girl with the tape measure. All of the benefits of the product are listed in bullet points. Credibility has been added by listing the t.v. programs the product has appeared on and also through the use of client testimonials and before and after pictures. There is a clear call to action in the “try it now” buttons.

So remember the next time your looking for inspiration for your landing pages look no further than the flyers that come through your front door.

On a side note, another succesful affiliate marketer that has taken his experience with flyer marketing and transfered it to online success is Yaro Starak from entrepreneurs-journey.com . Check out his blog post about flyer/poster marketing