Brand Development
Although your homepage and landing page can be similar in some ways, there are major differences between the two. Both feature clear-to-follow design with a strong visual hierarchy, and some of your content may even be shared on both pages, but outside of those similarities, homepages and landing pages differ in terms of audience, purpose, intent and more.
Here are the four main differences between homepages and landing pages:
With homepages, you typically have to cast a wide net, showcasing the most basic information. With landing pages on the other hand (specifically with paid search ads), you already know your visitors’ intent, so you can tailor your content and CTAs to that intent.
It’s best not to oversell on your homepage (it’s easy to clutter your page and make your site visitors feel ambushed), but a landing page is an ideal way to drive conversions and push your specific products and services to targeted demographics.
The preferred actions you want your audience to make differ from home page to landing page. One goal of your homepage is to get site visitors to explore your website, so you should have plenty of links throughout the page.
With your landing page, links all over can distract from your CTA, affecting your conversion rate, so try to pare them down to only the necessities. For landing pages, there are only three routes a visitor can take (convert, log in or leave), instead of links, you’ll want to use a form focused on conversion.
Your homepage content works hard to drive traffic and encourage visitors to explore the entire site, which is a totally different strategy from your landing page content. Some of the content from your homepage may be the same as what’s on the landing page, but since your landing page is focusing on a specific product or service, you’ll want to make sure that your content reflects that.
Going back to your audience, you know exactly what search terms and ads brought your visitors to your landing page, so the landing page content should be specific to those search terms and ads.
One of the greatest differences between a homepage and a landing page is the presence of call to action buttons. Sure, your homepage design should have some CTAs sprinkled throughout, but since your site is mostly being used as a resource, you’ll be focusing on other things like on-page SEO.
When it comes to creating landing pages, an obvious, a clear, direct CTA button is crucial to getting conversions, and it never hurts to throw in a special offer (i.e.: Call Now to Save 10%).
| Homepage: | Landing Page |
|---|---|
| Designed for entire target audience | Directed at more granular demographics |
| Site visitor will use this as a reference and to browse through web pages | Targets potential customers based off of search intent |
| Uses web design and content to build a connection with the site visitor | Focused CTA to drive lead generation |
It’s important to think of these pages as a team (not as though they’re pitted against each other like landing page vs homepage). How do these pages help you achieve the goals of your marketing campaigns? Is your landing page designed to drive potential customers to call your phone number? Does your homepage offer a clear, optimized navigation bar?
There are loads of other questions you can ask yourself to make sure that both are serving your brand and your campaign properly, but this is a great start to making sure that all of your digital marketing efforts are working in your favor.
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[Updated on June 26th, 2023]
A homepage is the main entry point to a website, providing an overview of the entire site, while a landing page is a standalone page specifically designed to capture leads or drive conversions for a specific campaign or offer.
Yes, a homepage can function as a landing page if it is optimized to convert visitors effectively, but dedicated landing pages are usually more focused and have higher conversion rates.
A well-designed homepage should have clear navigation, a concise value proposition, engaging visuals, and easy access to important information to provide a positive user experience.
A landing page should have a compelling headline, a clear call-to-action, relevant content, and minimal distractions to maximize conversions and achieve specific campaign goals.
The choice between a homepage and a landing page depends on your specific marketing objectives. If you want to provide an overview of your brand or business, use a homepage. If you have a specific campaign or offer, use a dedicated landing page to drive conversions effectively.
