Landing pages

Landing pages, also known as campaign pages, are stand alone pages that are design to gain engagement or valuable information from your site visitors. For example, your page could encourage site visitors to register for an event, subscribe to an email list or apply to a program. Think of them as a form of marketing; they should have a clear message and desired action behind them. 

Elements of landing pages

Like explained above, the purpose of a landing page is to get the site visitor to complete an action: fill out a form, sign up for a campus tour, apply for financial aid, etc. For this reason, you'll want to make sure your page has the following:

• A clear message: be clear on what you want your site visitors to know about you and what content they should take away from the page.
• Short text: On that same note, be concise so the page is short and straight to the point. Landing pages aren't intended to have a great deal of content. 
• An action: ensure that the site visitor know exactly what action to take when coming to your page. This could be displayed as a button, form, etc. 
• Visual interest: use visuals and widgets to create an engaging experience. If you're not sure where to start, come to open lab for a consultation.
• A responsive design: Be sure to check out your work to make sure it's mobile friendly. Many people use their mobile devices to browse the web. 

Because landing pages should be designed with a specific action in mind for site visitors, it excludes many elements from a standard website. These elements include: 

• Full site navigation: this could deter users from completing your desired action by allowing them to go to other pages.
• Standard footer navigation: much like the previous point, extensive navigation deter site visitors from staying on the page and completing the desired action. 
• Website name and parent/approved partner names: pairing down the content on a landing page to only show what is necessary is recommended. In this case, the website name isn't needed and it potentially gives the user another avenue to go to another webpage.
• Global links: again, this gives the user a way to go to another site when the goal is to keep them on the page. 

Creating a landing page

1. On the dashboard, choose "Pages" at the top of the screen.
2. Select the "Create a Page" button.
3. Enter a name for the page.
4. Under "Put this page..." select at top level to prevent inherited settings.
5. Uncheck the option to "Show in navigation"
6. Enter a page title, which can be the same as the page name. Be more descriptive if possible. 
7. Select the page landing campaign template. (Learn more about templates and setting up your site.)
8. Skip the 'Page Navigation" section. Landing pages traditionally do not have navigation elements on the page.
9. Under "Footer Navigation", find Global link and select "Blank". This will remove the Global links from the top of the page and the skip the rest of the section. 
10. Skip the "Site Settings" section, as landing pages do not need a website name on the page.
11. Decide if you would like a CTA in local header. Many times the action items will be in the body of the page but can also be repeated in the header.
12. Skip the "Logo/Mark" section.  
13. Enter a description and keywords to help search engines find your page.
14. Copy and paste the appropriate Google tag manager ID for your domain to track analytics.
15. Fill out "Social Sharing" to curate what is displayed when your links are shared on social media.
16. Skip the "Advanced options" section. 
17. Hit "Create and go to add content".