Blue Page Pro Landing Page Vs. Homepage: What’s The Difference?
First of all let’s settle it right away – your business needs both to survive and connect with more homeowners seeking your services.
So what’s the difference between a landing page and a homepage?
That’s the topic of this guide — we’ll discuss some key differences, when to use each, and how to make these marketing assets as effective as possible.
Let’s start with some definitions..
Here are 4 of the most common differences between a homepage and a landing page:
- Landing pages have minimal navigation — Homepages do.
- Landing page traffic comes from focused traffic sources — Homepage traffic comes from many sources.
- Landing pages are separate from a business’ website — Homepages are the front page of a business’ website.
- Landing pages have a single goal (CONVERSION) — Homepages promote website browsing.
To give you a visual idea of these differences, look at the Watkins Constructions homepage — a TOP TEN Pro plan member of the BluePagesPro in Jackson Mississippi.
And now look at Watkins BluePagePro listing landing page, promoting one of their 50 year warranty and financing options…
As you can see, the overarching difference between landing pages and homepages is that a landing page is action-oriented, and a homepage is browser-friendly.
Said a different way, landing pages try to accomplish a single goal — getting the visitor’s email address, selling a product or service, getting homeowners to fill out a form, etc. — to the exclusion of all else. On the other hand, homepages focus on creating a browser-friendly experience (easy website navigation, lots of content, products, services options, etc.).
At first glance, those differences might not seem like they need to be mutually exclusive.
So let’s take a moment to dive into a little more detail about the goal, traffic, and navigation differences between landing pages and homepages.
3 Key Differences Between Landing Pages and Homepages
When the rubber hits the road, there are three key differences between landing pages and homepages.
Those differences have to do with the pages’ goal, the traffic being driven to them, and the on-page navigation options available to visitors.
1. Goal
Landing pages and homepages (should) always start with a goal — but those goals are very different from each other.
The primary goals of a homepage — like a brochure — should be to; A) explain the brand, B) build trust with the brand and C) promote engagement with the brand.
On the other hand, a landing page has a single-minded focus. Rather than promoting the brand in general (like a homepage), a landing page promotes a single offer.
An example would be the FINANCING button on Watkins Construction BluePagesPro listing.
The focus of obtaining a financing application is simple by promoting how easy it is to apply and approvals are obtained in 15 seconds.
That single-minded focus is a key quality of landing pages — it results in higher conversion rates and, therefore, a better return on ad spend (ROAS).
This brings us to our next key difference: traffic.
2. Traffic
If we do a Google search for “BluePagesPro Watkins ,” we’ll see quite a few ads at the top of the results. We are showing up organically in Google.
Since each of those businesses is paying for that advertising space, it’s wiser to drive clicks to a landing page, rather than a homepage.
The point is, you should almost always drive advertising traffic to a single-minded landing page with a clear-cut conversion goal — that results in a better ROAS (Return On Ad Spend).
That goes for Facebook ads, Google ads, and any other paid traffic you might be driving to your website.
Conversely, you should probably darn-near never drive paid traffic to your homepage. Your homepage’s traffic will come from other unpaid sources — direct traffic as you build brand awareness, organic Google searches, content shares on social media, etc.
The final key difference between landing pages and homepages is all about on-page navigation.
3. Navigation
Have you noticed something different about all the landing page screenshots in comparison to the homepage screenshots?
They don’t have a bar at the top that allows visitors to navigate elsewhere!
Where a homepage is browser-friendly and allows people to visit many different pages on your website, a landing page’s die-hard focus on a single goal means no top-bar navigation.So when we create your BluePagePro landing page, we ditch the navigation. On your homepage, however, navigation is necessary for creating a browser-friendly experience.
When to Use a Landing Page & When to Use a Homepage
Make no mistake; landing pages and homepages are both important digital marketing assets.
Since landing pages have a higher conversion rate than homepages, you might be wondering why you need a homepage at all.
But homepages serve an important purpose: they allow visitors to experience your brand in a way that landing pages don’t.
People can gain an understanding of your business on the homepage. For instance, they can navigate to other pages — your blog, “About” page, products and services, etc. To summarize, home pages let users get to know your brand in a free-form manner.
For brand awareness (which is sometimes underrated by business owners), the homepage is critical.
In fact, if you have a website, you should also have a homepage that acts as the storefront for your business.
You need a landing page (or landing pages), on the other hand, if you’re trying to accomplish a more focused goal… and especially if you’re running advertisements. Landing pages are almost always better at generating leads and making sales than homepages. Just compare the 2% – 4% conversion rate of ClickFunnel’s Homepage.
…vs. the 30% conversion rate of this ClickFunnel’s landing page…
See the difference – Hyper Focused, just like the way we build your BluePagesPro listing landing page!
Point is, use landing pages when you’re trying to accomplish a very specific goal and use a homepage when creating the front page of your website.
3 Qualities of a Great Homepage
Now that you understand the differences between a homepage and a landing page let’s talk about 3 qualities that make each effective.
First, the homepage.
1. Clear-Cut Brand Overview
The first thing a homepage should deliver is a clear understanding of what your brand is and does.
This should start with a brief above-the-fold description…
…that then expands into more detail as visitors scroll down the page…
Your homepage should answer some of the most basic questions a new visitor — someone who’s only just learned of your business’ existence — will have about your brand.
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Why should I care?
You can answer the first two questions with simple descriptions.
For the 3rd question, though, you might consider enlisting some social proof (testimonials, credibility badges, ratings, service stats, publication features, etc.) as an answer.
Whatever you decide, answer those three questions on your homepage, and you should set new visitors off on the right foot.
2. Modern Design
When people visit your website, you want to make a good impression — you want people to feel that they’ve stumbled across a business that takes itself and its customers seriously (in terms of design quality, not necessarily in terms of voice).
The fact is, consumer expectations have advanced almost as quickly as technology.
It’s not just about the words on your homepage. It’s also about the feel.
After all, you’d probably leave a site like this just as quickly as you arrived…
What a bloody mess. Matter of fact most home improvement contractors print ads look just like this in home magazines I receive at my home!
If your website gives off the vibe that your brand or business is underdeveloped, then people are less likely to stick around and see what you have to offer.
So spend a little extra money, take a little extra time — do what you have to do to make your website feel like it’s promoting a brand that’s worth the visitor’s time.
3. Easy Navigation
We’ve already talked about this, so I won’t belabor the point — but your homepage should make navigating around the rest of your website quick and easy.
Here are a few navigation options that you should consider, including:
- “About” Page
- Blog
- Features
- Pricing
- Main CTA
The navigation elements you include will largely depend on the type of business you’re operating — but make sure that visitors can easily go wherever they want to go.
3 Qualities of a Great Landing Page
Now let’s talk about 3 qualities that make landing pages effective.
1. Singular Focus
This is the heart of your BluePagePro landing page. We built your page to convert and connect.
With a singular focus — and a die-hard discipline of saying no to navigation options — landing pages drive higher conversion rates and better results for businesses running ads.
So before you create a landing page, you should have a clear answer to the following question: why are we building this landing page, and what is the ONE GOAL that it’s going to accomplish?
When you ask this question to yourself, think about your needs and your target market. Do you want to promote an amazing irresistible offer from your video? Do you want to focus on your financing options? Do you want to offer a Virtual Proposal or Estimate? These are the capabilities you will have now on your BluePagePro landing page. We can help you determine what will connect best with your perfect qualified homeowner.
2. Compelling Copy
To a large degree, a landing page lives or dies based on how compelling its sales copy is.
Design matters, too — but it’s the words that sell. (ps: and your video)
To understand what type of sales copy you should use, you must understand your landing page’s goal.
Are you trying to sell a high-ticket service? Giving away a free resource to grow your email list? Hosting an upcoming webinar? Wanting to get people on the phone?
This makes a huge difference.
Simple offers with the right copy can make a homeowner say YES.
3. Eye-Catching CTA
It might seem petty, but there’s quite a bit of evidence that CTAs that stand out on the landing page drive more conversions than CTAs that are easily missed.
A Quick Note About Improving Conversion Rate
We have added a few other tools to the BluePagesPro to help conversions increase. Tools like LIVE CHAT which helps meet those visitors that do not like to fill out forms. And, TrueReview, this tool is amazing because it showcases authentic 4-5 star reviews and feedback from past customers. The Proposal Tools and Virtual Estimators are also amazing value adds that can be installed into a BluePagePro listing.
Once you have decided what call to action, offer and direction you would like to go, we will build out your page to spec. Keep in mind, we can also adjust Call To Actions, Videos, Pictures, Tools on your page. We are here to serve you.
Conclusion
You should now have a clear understanding of the difference between landing pages and homepages, when to use each, and how to engineer them so that they effectively serve their different purposes.
From here, it’s just a matter of building your BluePagePro page, driving traffic, running tests, and measuring results — the typical marketing go-around.
Along the way, you’ll learn more specifically what works for your business. Of course, we can help.
And that’s when things get exciting.
Cheers to your success!
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