Having an online presence, whether it be for a brand, product, or ad campaign, has become essential in the modern world. With a landing page and full website from which to choose, the distinction is critical for entrepreneurs and marketers.
We’ve shared in this blog a few important things for you to know.
This post will highlight the primary differences between a landing page and a website while explaining how both a web designer and developer can help achieve your goals.
What’s A Landing Page?
As defined in the name, a landing page is a stand alone webpage created for a specific marketing purpose or campaign. Unlike a full website, it serves one unique focus: enticing website visitors to complete a particular action such as signing up or making a purchase.
A landing page can be defined as a digital flyer with minimal navigation compared to a website alongside defined CTA (call to action) making it easy to navigate.
Example Uses of Landing Pages:
Advertisement of products and services
Paid promotions using Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.
Event sign ups
Generating leads through lead forms
Limited time discount offers
Components of Effective Landing Page Design:
Layout that is focused and uncluttered
Concise Call to Action (CTA)
Clear focus without unnecessary distractions
Captivating persuasive text copy and headlines
Signifiers of credibility (testimonials or badges)
WordPress is often used for building websites containing landing pages. With drag-and-drop builders like Elementor or Divi, a designer’s skill allows them to create high converting landing pages that suit your business’s campaign objectives and brand identity.
What’s A Full Fledge Website?
In contrast, a website serves as a multi-page platform providing detailed information about your business, brand, or services. It’s built to showcase what you offer and serves multiple functions like promoting products, content publishing, customer support, and building long term relationships.
A completed website frequently features the following pages:
Home
About Us
Services or Product
Blog or Resource
Contact Us
FAQs
Testimonials or Case Studies
A Website’s Key Features Include:
Full website navigation/menu
Multitude of pages with cohesive content that links to create a network
Blog or Content Management Systems (CMS)
Ecommerce capabilities if needed
Custom functionalities such as booking systems and chatbots
SEO for all pages
If you want to establish a brand or require a digital home base for your business, a full website is ideal. Web developers commonly construct dynamic and scalable websites on platforms like WordPress, making them easy to manage and update.
When Should You Select A Landing Page?
A landing page should be your go to when you need a fast, action-oriented campaign with a single goal, such as:
Google Ads where you want to convert clicks into sign-ups.
Urgency oriented and time-limited offers.
Testing ideas for a new product or marketing message.
In these scenarios, a website designer can create a compelling landing page that adheres to ad copy and brand visuals in minimal time.
Landing pages are also ideal for A/B testing, where multiple versions with varying headlines or CTAs can be created.
When Is the Right Time To Go For A Full Website?
A full website is the most appropriate choice for companies looking to:
Build respect and trust, Display services or portfolio, Share about me / contact information, blogs, customer resources, Rank in search for consistent SEO, Sell products or services.
In this scenario, a web developer can build a custom website for the client with a WordPress or other CMS system. WordPress is known to be incredibly versatile and is suitable for businesses of all sizes, including. It has a plethora of themes, plugins, and SEO capabilities that enable your website to evolve with your business.
Can Landing Page Be A Part Of A Website?
Yes! In fact, almost every performing website incorporates landing pages into their marketing initiatives. You can build a full-fledged website and then create unique landing pages for individual campaigns. These pages can be excluded from the primary navigation menu but can still be referenced using ads or email marketing.
To illustrate, a digital agency’s website can contain:
A main page that includes the Home, Services, and Blog sections.
A landing page offering free SEO audits.
A paid workshop registration landing page.
Almost any good web designer or web developer, especially those who work with WordPress, will help integrate these features.
Should You Hire a Web Designer or Web Developer?
A web designer is an expert in visuals, UX, layout, and overall branding. A designer’s work is to ensure that you have an amazing looking website that is well organized and easy to operate.
On the other hand, a web developer is focused on the technical aspect, which is coding, and doing integrations, along with performance issues and the overall functionality of the website.
And there are experts who specialize in both, or work in teams.
These roles are important for small businesses, new startups, or personal brands because there are numerous WordPress experts who can do both design and development work at a reasonable price within a short timeframe.
Conclusion
Whether to go for a landing page or a fully fleshed website isn’t a matter of better/worse, it’s about understanding your goals. A landing page suffices for quick targeted marketing efforts while an entire website creates trust, narrates a story, and facilitates sustained progress over time.
