What is the difference between a homepage and a landing page?

This guide will discuss the key differences between them, when they can be used, and how to make each marketing asset as effective as possible.

Let’s begin with some definitions.

What is the difference between a landing page and a homepage?

These are the 4 most significant differences between a landing page and a homepage:

1. Landing pages have no navigation — Homepages do.
2. Ads drive page traffic to land pages. Homepage traffic comes in many forms.
3. Landing pages are not part of a company’s website. Homepages are the business’ homepage.
4. Landing pages serve one purpose — to promote website browsing.

Landing pages are designed to achieve one goal. They can be used to collect visitors’ email addresses, sell a product, or get registrants for an event online, etc. — and everything else. Homepages, on the other hand, are focused on making websites user-friendly (easy navigation, lots of content, products, and services options), ).

These differences may not appear to be mutually exclusive at first glance.

Let’s now dive deeper into the traffic and goal differences between home pages and landing pages.

Three Key Differences between Landing Pages & Homepages

There are three main differences between homepages and landing pages when the rubber hits the pavement.

These differences are due to the pages’ goals, traffic to them, and the navigation options that visitors have on the page.

1. Goal

Homepages and landing pages should always have a goal. However, they can be very different from one another.

A homepage, which is a brochure, should have three primary goals: to explain the brand, build trust and promote engagement with it.

HubSpot’s homepage provides information about its services and shows its expertise. It also gently encourages users to sign up for a “Get HubSpot Free” CTA.

A landing page, on the other hand, has a singular focus. A landing page promotes one offer, rather than promoting the brand as a whole (like a homepage).

A landing page with a single-minded focus is key to higher conversion rates and a better return on ad investment (ROAS).   

We now reach the next important difference: traffic.

2. Traffic

We’ll see many ads at the top of Google searches for “CRM”

Each of these businesses is paying to advertise on their website. It’s better to drive clicks to landing pages than to the homepage.

It’s true, they all do it (except KPMG).

You should drive traffic to a single landing page that has a clear conversion goal. This will increase your ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).

This applies to Facebook ads, Google Ads, and any other paid traffic that you may be driving to your site.

However, it is best to avoid driving paid traffic to your homepage. Other unpaid traffic to your homepage will be generated by brand awareness, organic Google searches, social media content sharing, and other non-paid sources.

On-page navigation is the final difference between landing pages & homepages.

3. Navigation

Are you noticing something different on all landing pages compared to the home pages?

There is no bar at the top to allow visitors to navigate around!

A homepage can be browser-friendly, and allow people to visit multiple pages of your website. However, a landing page is focused on one goal.

AmeriFirst saw a 30% to 40% increase in conversion rates after they removed the navigation bar from their landing page and simplified it…

According to ConversionXL HubSpot noticed a steady increase in conversion rates after removing navigation from landing pages.

*In all cases, conversion rates were higher without navigation on landing pages

When you create your next landing page, get rid of the navigation. Or at least test it. Navigation is essential for creating a user-friendly experience on your homepage.

When to use a landing page and when to use a homepage

Landing pages and homepages both are important Miami digital marketing assets.

Landing pages convert at a higher rate than homepages so you may be asking why you even need a homepage.

Homepages serve a crucial purpose, however: they enable visitors to experience your brand in ways that landing pages can’t.

The homepage can give people a glimpse into your business. They can also navigate to other pages, such as your blog, the “About” page, product, and service pages, and more. Home pages allow users to get to know your brand informally.

The homepage is crucial for brand awareness, which is often underestimated by business owners.

You should also have your homepage as the shopfront for your website.

A landing page or landing pages is necessary if you are trying to achieve a specific goal. It is especially important if you run advertisements. Landing pages do a better job generating leads and selling than homepages. This is one reason Kobe Digital makes twin ads for our clients and landing page templates.

Compare the ClickFunnel homepage conversion rates of 2% to 4%

…vs. The ClickFunnel landing page has a 30% conversion rate   

When you are trying to achieve a specific goal, create landing pages and then use a homepage for your website’s front page.   

Three Qualities of a Great Website

Let’s now talk about the 3 characteristics that make each landing page effective.

The homepage is the first.

1. Clear-Cut Brand Overview

A homepage should first convey a clear understanding of your brand.

It should begin with a short description of the product…

…that expands as the visitors scroll down the page…

Your homepage should answer the most fundamental questions that a visitor to your website — even one who has just heard of your business — will have about your brand.

1. Who are you?
2. What are you doing?
3. Why should I care?

The first two questions can be answered with simple descriptions.

However, for the third question, you might want to consider getting some social proof (testimonials and credibility badges as well as ratings, service stats, publications, etc.). As an answer.

No matter what you do, make sure you answer these three questions on your homepage. This will help you get new visitors started on the right foot.

2. Modern Design

You want people to have a positive impression of your business when they visit your website. They want to feel like they’ve found a company that cares about its customers and takes design quality seriously.

Consumer expectations have advanced nearly as fast as technology.

It’s more than just the words on your homepage. It’s also about feeling.

Your website should not give off the impression that your business or brand is undeveloped. People will be less inclined to stay on your site and explore what you have to say.

Spend a little more money and take a little longer to make your website feel like it’s promoting brands that are worth their time.

3. Easy Navigation

This has been discussed before, so I won’t repeat it. Your homepage should be easy to navigate around your website’s rest.

These are some navigation options you might want to consider:

• “About” Page
• Blog
• Features
• Pricing
• Main CTA

Your business type will determine the navigation elements that you include but ensure that your visitors can easily navigate wherever they need to go.

Three Qualities of a Great Landing page

Let’s now talk about three qualities that make landing pages successful.

1. Singular Focus

This is the heartbeat of a landing webpage.

Landing pages are more effective at converting customers and driving better results for advertisers who have a single focus.

Before you start creating a landing page, it is important to answer the following questions: Why are we building this page and what is its ONE GOAL?

2. Compelling Copy

A landing page’s success or failure is largely determined by how persuasive its sales copy is.

Design is important, but it’s the words that sell.

Understanding the goal of your landing page is key to understanding what type of sales copy you should use.

Do you want to sell a premium service? You can give away an email resource that will help you grow your list. Hosting a webinar? Are you looking to get people to the phone?

This is a big difference.

If you are selling a premium service, you will need more copies. You’ll need to explain the offer, risk reversal and add social proof, as well as create urgency and scarcity.

As a copywriter, the following format has proven to be extremely effective for long sales pages.

1. Hook
2. Features/Benefits
3. Social proof
4. Urgency/Scarcity
5. Risk Reversal
6. Call-To-Action

3. Eye-Catching CTA

Although it might sound trivial, there is a lot of evidence to show that CTAs that stand out from the landing page convert more than CTAs which are easy to miss.

HubSpot has done a famous study that found that a button with a red color converts 21% more than one with a green.

Optinmonster’s blog argues that this is due to color contrast. Visitors who see too much contrast (such as the green button) will be able to ignore them and click on fewer CTAs.

CTAs with high contrast will usually convert better than those with low contrast.

You don’t want your CTA to be too obvious just to “attract the visitor’s eye”.

It is important to ensure that the CTA stands out and grabs the attention of people as they read the text.

One Quick Note about Improving the Conversion Rate   

There are several ways to increase the conversion rate. These include increasing load speed, adding social proof, scarcity and urgency, and taking on the risk of reversal.

However, split testing is the best way to determine what converts your landing pages and homepage to visitors.

Every business is unique and each offer is unique. It’s up to you and the marketing team to decide which strategies work best and which ones don’t.

Conclusion

Now you should be able to distinguish between homepages and landing pages, how to use them, and how to design them to best serve their respective purposes.

It’s easy to build pages, drive traffic, run tests, and measure results from this point.

You’ll discover more about what works best for your business. Of course, we can help.

This is when the excitement begins.