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Effective Landing Page Design Principles - How to Build a Great SEO Landing Page
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Landing pages are a major technique of effective search engine optimization (SEO). A good landing page should be laser focused on a specific target keyword family, use appropriate on page SEO techniques such as a keyword-heavy TITLE tag, and be correctly linked to the home page. Once launched, a landing page should also be promoted through an effective link building and news campaign.
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By Jason McDonald
Senior SEO Instructor - JM Internet Group.
Posted: April 27, 2011
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Contents:
Landing Page Defined
Google defines a landing page as the first page of contact that a person lands on when they encounter your site. For most websites, the home page in this definition will be the primary landing page. That's all well and good, but for our SEO purposes this is not a useful definition. Instead, we define a landing page as follows:
A landing page is a page defined to target a specific keyword search on Google, a page that uses effective on page SEO tags / content that is very keyword heavy, and a page that enjoys effective inbound links such as from the home page. Landing pages are laser focused on one (and only one) keyword family.
A keyword family is the grouping of keyword searches around a target phrase. One of my favorite examples is the Motorcycle Insurance page on Geico.com (here), which targets all sorts of related searches about Motorcycle Insurance, such as online motorcycle insurance, motorcycle insurance quote, cheap motorcycle insurance, etc.
So the first step in creating a great landing page is to identify your target keyword phrase. In addition, identify the related helper keywords. You will then be creating lots of keyword-heavy content that uses the target keyword phrase plus helpers again and again and again. The actual content of the page will be very heavy in terms of the target keyword phrase, yet have the phrase embedded in natural English prose. There is a certain Google prose that works well - heavy on keywords, so heavy that when read aloud it sounds very very redundant, but not a crude list of the keyword over and over again, separated by comment. We want keyword-heavy prose with natural syntax for a great landing page.
So -
- first define your target keyword family.
Next, we shall proceed to the tag layout of a great landing page, and use the Geico motorcycle page as our example.
Anatomy of a Great Landing Page
There may be many ways to skin a cat but there are not many ways to create a great SEO landing page in terms of the text. All SEO landing pages are keyword-heavy, and all weave the target keywords into the best tag structure. Use the list below to prioritize and weave your keywords. You can also browse my PDF diagram of the Geico Motorcycle Landing Page as an example of what a good landing page looks like.
- Define the target keyword family (example: motorcycle insurance).
- Write a great TITLE tag (less than 69 characters visible, less than 80 characters indexed), that contains the keyword family and also will read well as your headline on Google.
- Write a pithy META DESCRIPTIOIN (less than 155 characters) that both contains the target keyword family and is fun to read. Nine times out of ten this will become the visible description on a Google search.
- Write an effective H1 tag that reinforces the TITLE tag, containing the target keyword phrase. This will be very prominent for human visitors. Note on the Geico page, this is the prominent visible headline.
- Write effective H2, H3 tags that also contain the keyword phrase. Google loves the H1, H2, H3, family so be sure to use it.
- Write lots of keyword heavy text. You should be able to do a CTRL+F in Firefox and see MANY occurrences of your target keyword phrase. Read the page out loud to yourself, and pinch your self each time the keyword phrase occurs. It should hurt a lot, but not so much that you are in agony. If it does not hurt, you do not have enough keyword density! A good target is 5% density, but be sure to write natural English sentences, as Google looks for 'natural' syntax!
- Use the A HREF tag to link downwards to other pages, and embed the target keyword in the A HREF tag.
- Have a defined action, such as a registration or purchase.
Use my Geico Motorcycle Landing Page diagram as an example of what an effective landing page looks like.
Links and link-building for Great Landing Pages
Once you have built your landing page, your next step is to link to it. A prominent link from the home page to your landing page is a powerful signal to Google that this page is important. Take a look at the Geico.com home page, do a VIEW SOURCE, and notice that the landing page for Motorcycle insurance enjoys a prominent H2 / A HREF link. Here is the source from Geico as of April 26, 2011:
<div class="featuredProd blue">
<div>
<a href="/getaquote/motorcycle/" onclick="reply('Motorcycle1', 'Moto', this.href);" class="reply">
<img src="/public/layout_images/homepage/design1/04-featured-products/Motorcycle1.jpg" alt="Motorcycle Insurance" />
</a>
<h2><a href="/getaquote/motorcycle/" onclick="reply('Motorcycle1', 'Moto', this.href);" class="reply">Motorcycle Insurance</a></h2>
<p>We insure scooters too! Great coverage at an affordable price.</p>
</div>
I have bolded the H2 / A HREF link. What this does is let link juice flow from the home page to the landing page, thereby reinforcing both the home page and the landing page to Google as showing that Geico.com has a prominent focus on 'motorcycle insurance.'
Home page -> Landing page (via A HREF Tag)
Beyond that, Geico.com has powerful inbound links from external sites. Another tactic to use is to generate news and news syndication pointing to your new landing page. Those inbound links will turbocharge your effective on page SEO landing page. The result? For Geico, excellent performance across a cluster of searches relating to motorcycle insurance. You can do the same in your own industry! Just follow the steps and structure indicated above!
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