Landing pages and sales pages are basically the same things, but, served a different purpose. There are both designed to established and make a connection with potential clients, share information about a product and move the page visitor to take action before leaving the page. Such action could be to buy something, join the group or download the free gift.

Don’t over think this! The goal of landing pages and sales pages is for engagement and action. Both landing pages and sales pages could be short or long, temporary or permanent. It can also include the frequently asked question (FAQ), testimonials and in some case social media proof.

How to  differentiate landing pages from sales pages

Landing pages have one single goal – to make a connection, share values and move the page visitor to take action, either to download something for FREE or to buy LOW-COST products. Landing pages Call to Action Button are – download the free gift, Buy Now, Join a Group, sign up to watch a video, book a discovery call, etc. Most landing pages also show what would happen when you click on their buttons.

Sales pages also have one single goal – designed to make a connection, share information about a product and move the page visit to buy BIGGER products. Examples of sales pages Call to Action Button are – Buy Now, add to cart, make a purchase, buy a product etc. Sales pages usually have pricing tags and in some cases, money back guarantee and some payment plan or options.

 

How to decide when you need a landing page or sales page for your product.

This is not a rocket science; think of your offer as BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST, the size of your offer determine either a long or short landing page or even a sales page is required.

Before you decide what you really need, first evaluate and define the core objective of the offer. Is the offer going to be FREE, LOW-COST or BIG INVESTMENT?  Just think about the commitment it will take both you and your clients to achieve the result. Evaluate this commitment in both tangible and abstract (effort, time & money) be very clear and intentional about what it will take you to create the offer and market it to the right audience and what it will require from your clients to achieve the result. After the evaluations, if your offer is going to be something FREE or LOW-COST; such as free resources, short email classes, and easy to consume video training – all you need is a short landing page. Testimonials or social proof is not necessary on your landing page to get someone to download your free resource. Simple tell them what it is and show them how to get it with a simple button like DOWNLOAD NOW.

If your offer is relatively low cost, you don’t need a ton of explanation or social proof either. Keep thing simple and add only what is necessary, When you try too hard to sell something small, you actually lose credibility.

In another occasion, your offers would be a bit bigger. They require a bigger effort, time and money to create and put it out there for your clients and it would also require a bit bigger commitment, a bigger level of trust, and a bigger cash investment and the result is also bigger. Examples of bigger offers are courses or training with a higher price point and a greater time commitment. In this case, you would need a longer landing page or a sales page. – Since this offer is a bit bigger, it would definitely require more. You would have to give a bit more details, testimonials and a little social proof could become necessary, you could add payment plans. This offer is a bit bigger for a reason and more would be required.

Still another time, you could have your premium or signature offers. This is the biggest of all your offers, it would also require huge from both you and your clients. Big effort, time and money to create this offer and market it, it would also require you to reach out to a big audience, and everything about this offer is big – Big time commitment, big price tag, big results. Your biggest offers could be group mentoring programme, extensive training courses, or special event and workshop – you would need a sales page with all the details that you can think of – testimonials, social proof, and lots of details showing benefits of the product. You have to explain the results this offer would deliver to your clients, provide various payment options, and answer lots of frequently asked questions (FAQ). Your page has to be designed to match with your branding with a feeling of consistency flowing through your site. Even though consistency and brand recognition is very important in all your offers, your premium or signature offers requires all the reassurance and trust it can get since it would require a big commitment from your clients.

Whether you choose a sales page or a landing page, the intention is the same.  You want people to engage with the page and take a single action. Your job is to know your offer well enough that you can measure their sizes and choose the right page that would deliver the best result for you and your clients. Your goal is to help people fall in love with your offer, share the benefits and values, not features.

 

How to avoid confusion on your landing pages and sales pages

When I was researching for this blog post, I came across so many landing pages and sales pages with multiple different Call to Action Button, such as, Buy Now, Download the free gift, book a call – all in one single page. My first thought was – which of the action should I take? I linger a little bit to read the page copy; needless to say, the page copy was very inconsistent as the result of having multiple intentions. Whatever the strategy behind the page, it was very confusing to understand which action was necessary and which one was extra. Avoid asking your page visitor to take more than one single action on your page, be very intentional, have a clear goal and set the right Call to Action button.

 

How to get the best result from both landing pages and sales pages

• Give the page visitor just one option to act on. Keep things simple; provide enough details and create consistency in your designs with ONE Call to Action. Ask your page visitor download something for free, or buy a product or join your email list, or whatever you choose.

 

• Keep the page precise and concise with appropriate information about the offer. No one wants to scroll through pages of text to get to the DOWNLOAD button at end of the page for a free offer. Equally, no one wants to spend thousands of dollars without knowing a certain amount of detail. Try not to add unnecessary detail but give your clients enough information so that they feel comfortable taking action.

• Place the right number of call to action button on each landing or sale page. You remember the acronym for our offers – BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST. Big offers require ONE prominently placed call to action. BIGGER offers require two or three. BIGGEST offers need at least three, maybe more and spread them out throughout the page.

 

Wow, that was a ton of information right on your face! The debates about landing page vs sales page have become clearer to you. Now, just imagine for a second, what it could mean when I help you to create a landing or sales page that would deliver your intended result? Your energy and confidence could increase as you now have one less thing to worry about. I get that, my friend! need help with your landing or sales pages? Click here to drop me a message

 

 

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://inyeneudom.com/meet-inyene/[/author_image] [author_info]About the Author: Inyene Udom is a strategic web designer dedicated to helping visionary entrepreneurs infuse their personalities into their websites so that they can grow their businesses and make more sales. She combines years of experience working with entrepreneurs, helping them to understand and use computer software to improve their businesses, as she guides her clients through web design and marketing.[/author_info] [/author]