Landing Page vs. Home Page: What You Need to Know

The online marketing vocabulary is full of terms that we at Leap Clixx live and breathe all day, every day – and yes, it’s both highly rewarding and tons of fun.

But we certainly appreciate that many of our clients aren’t as immersed (read: obsessed) with this stuff as we are, which is why we want to spend a few minutes helping our community understand the difference between a landing page vs. home page.

When comparing a landing page vs. a home page, it’s obvious they’re both a critical piece of your website. Essentially, one is the digital business card that you’re handing out when people first click. It’s the first impression and can make or break you. On the other hand, one drives leads to your website and is the sales pitch that persuades visitors that you have information that can help them.

Let’s look at both website pages a little closer…

Landing Page vs. Home Page: The Similarities

Before looking at the differences, let’s first look at how these two major players on the online marketing landscape are similar (note that we said similar and not synonymous, because contrary to what some people believe, the answer to “Is a Landing Page the same as a Home Page?” is definitively no).

And so, as for similarities:

Both landing pages and home pages are web pages (i.e. they aren’t websites or microsites – they are single, standalone web pages).

Both landing pages and home pages often (but not always) live on the same website. In some cases, however, a business will register a separate URL exclusively for their landing page. However, most opt to simply build a landing page as an extension of their existing website.

Both landing pages and home pages should use responsive design so they are fully compatible with mobile browsers and operating systems.

Both landing pages and home pages contain a mix of graphics, text, and other elements (e.g. videos, animation, etc). What’s more, sometimes similar language and well as design is used for both pages in order to create a consistent “omnichannel” experience for visitors.

Landing Page vs. Home Page: The Differences

Now let’s look at the differences, since this is where a lot of the confusion stems. Here’s what you need to know in the context of online marketing:

People who visit a home page can be assumed to have some basic familiarity with a business and/or its brand. As such, most business home pages – at least, the good ones – don’t focus on making a sale or driving a conversion. Rather, they greet and nurture visitors, give them a 50,000 foot overview of core value propositions and/or brand messages, and then skilfully usher them forward on the customer journey. This can include pointing them to products, offers, demos, or other features, or simply giving them an overview of where they can go and what they can do, and why they’re in the right place at the right time.

People who visit a landing page can be assumed not to know about a business (even if they do, it’s wise to assume they don’t). This isn’t because visitors don’t care about who owns the page – because they do. Rather, because they’ve just clicked a link on a web page or possible an online ad, they’re focused on achieving a specific goal, such as downloading an eBook, accessing an Infographic, getting a free trial, and so on. As such, the approach, language and tone of a landing page is very focused and simple (often making ample use of bullet points), and graphic elements are also very obvious and simplified (e.g. big “download now” buttons, over-sized forms that look super easy to fill out, etc.).

A Final Word on Landing Pages vs. Home Pages

While the answer to “Is a Landing Page the same as a Home Page?” is still no, it’s important that to use tracking and analytics tools to measure how each page is working. You want to go beyond traditional metrics like hits and time-on-site, and also look at where visitors are coming from, where they’re going next, which on-page elements are generating the most engagement, and so on.

At Leap Clixx, we set all of our clients up with enterprise-grade tracking for all of their pages and their website as a whole, and then we do all of the analytics in-house and provide weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports. Of course, this is in addition to ongoing client dialogue and collaboration that takes place throughout various campaigns and programs.

Learn More

To learn more about landing pages vs. home pages, or any other aspect of online marketing, contact us today. Your consultation is free, and we promise you’ll learn something valuable during out call that you can implement in your business right away to improve your results.