In the field of online marketing, we often talk about a website or homepage, subpages of a website or landing pages. So many different terms can lead to confusion. But don’t worry, in this blog article we’ll explain briefly and simply what they mean and what the differences between the individual words are.
- Website
- Subpage
- Homepage
- Landing page
The Website
The term website is used as an umbrella term for internet presence. The website is something like a digital business card of a company or a brand. It serves to represent your company and shows who you are, where you come from and what your goal is. Websites can also provide information about who works in your team or who has already collaborated with you. Having your own website gives you the opportunity to showcase your full range of services. You can share content and include any information about your company, your brand and yourself. In the area of “content sharing”, the subpages of a blog are very SEO relevant and efficient. You can include many important keywords in blog posts and thus improve your ranking in the search engine. The website, with its many different offers, subpages, diverse content, and mediated content, is good for brand building (building and establishing a brand through marketing). The website includes all subpages of your website. The subpages of a website are referred to as web pages.
The Web Pages of a Website
For example, the “About us page” is a web page and therefore a subpage of a website. If you are currently reading this blog post, you are on a web page of our website’s blog. The web pages of most websites are categories such as “Home”, “About us”, “Contact” and “References”. Others may be about coaching and workshops or provide information about any services. The subpage with the contact form can also be a web page of a website. As you can see, a website consists of many different small web pages.
The Homepage of the Website
Technically speaking, the homepage is the start page of a website and is also called the front page. It is the first page that visitors see when they type your internet address into their browser. Imagine that the homepage is the entrance to a house, where the house is your website, and the entrance area is your homepage. This is why a small house is often used as a home button on a website. Visitors are much more likely to enter a previously unfamiliar house if it is nicely decorated and tidy. As the homepage is the welcome page for your potential customers, the first impression counts. So, make it clear and inviting.
Landing Pages
Visitors often reach a landing page after clicking on an advert on social networks or in a search engine. This is known as the landing page for the adverts and is a website set up specifically for this purpose. The problem with websites is that sometimes, customers feel overwhelmed by the flood of information. They find it difficult to decide what to click on first. They may even lose sight of their main concern. This is exactly where landing pages come into play. Here, the options are minimized, distraction factors from other websites are prevented and thus the risk of your customers getting “lost” on your website is eliminated. Landing pages are much more specific than websites, as only one topic is addressed on this page and there are usually no menu items.
Landing pages are very strategically structured. One offer on the landing page is packaged in a classic structure to take visitors by the hand, so to speak, and lead them to their destination. Landing pages typically contain an image in addition to a headline and sub headline. A summary of the most important points informs your customers briefly and concisely about your product or service. The end of a landing page is concluded with a call to action. Overall, it is always important to emphasise the benefits that customers will receive if they act on a particular call to action. For example, by subscribing to a free newsletter (your goal: to win customers via the newsletter, maintain customer contact, create a company presence), they receive high-quality information that provides them with expert knowledge (benefit for the customer). Customers must be convinced that they will receive a benefit if they click on the call to action. Within the narrow framework you have set, they only ever have two options: Either they stay on the page and perform a certain action (subscribe to your newsletter) or they leave the landing page.
The Advantage of Landing Pages
Imagine this: A potential customer has seen an advertisement on Facebook as part of your traffic campaign. If they respond, they will be directed to your specifically chosen landing page, providing the advantage that they land on the exact right webpage for your business.
It is also advisable for you to set up individual landing pages for each of your company’s services or offers. The reason for this is that landing pages increase the conversion rate (rate of converting website visitors into customers or purchases) much more than normal websites. This is why the use of landing pages is very effective in online marketing and performance marketing. They make it possible to better realise company goals and generate enquiries.
The Landing Page as a Concept for Your Website
Let’s take the idea of landing pages a little further at this point. What if every subpage of your website could function as a landing page?
In reality, users nowadays almost exclusively navigate the internet through search engines. Remembering domains has become a rare practice among users, unless perhaps it’s a well-known brand like Amazon. Modern browsers have integrated search engine tools in their address bars, eliminating the need for internet users to memorize domains. Entering a query into the browser’s address bar triggers a search, effortlessly guiding them to their destination.
Search engines always select the webpage they deem most relevant for the results of a specific search query. This means that when users click on a search result for your website, they won’t always end up on the homepage. And it’s possible that users may not find their way in the user navigation you envisioned for your website. With a short attention span and high bounce rates, there’s a high likelihood that potential customers may not even see your actual offerings.
We, therefore, recommend that you conceptualize every webpage of your online presence as a landing page. Any user could land on any one of your subpages, so it’s crucial to ensure that they encounter all essential information about your offerings and always find a clear call-to-action. Even if certain content elements may seem repetitive to you, your potential customers might only see that particular webpage.
The Website "House"
Now that we’ve clarified the meanings of these terms, imagine a house when you encounter them in the future. The house represents your website, the entrance area is your homepage, and the webpages are the individual rooms of the house. The landing page is a special room that can also be entered through a different entrance.
Our Web Agency from Thuringia
Of course, a house has to be built first and, even if it is already standing, it needs constant maintenance and renovation. Do you need support in setting up your landing pages, or would you like more customer enquiries via your website? Or are you interested in having your own website?
As an advertising agency from Thuringia, we take care of your concerns, create websites and implement targeted marketing measures. We keep an overview for you so that you can achieve your business goals. Contact us today!
