SEO 101: What are landing pages?
Whenever you read advice about content for SEO, landing pages almost always come up. However, a lot of SEO advice online is very broad, trying to cover SEO in general. They could be talking about landing pages for online stores, but also news sites, review blogs, corporate websites, and more.
Today, we’re going to zoom in and focus on ecommerce landing pages and SEO. We’re going to talk about what they are, why they’re important, and give some examples of how real brands are using landing pages.
What is an ecommerce landing page?
Landing pages are standalone web pages that are generally used for marketing purposes to drive conversions. They’re called so as the user “lands” on that page after following a link related to the campaign. That campaign is usually what gives the landing page its focus - it’s about one topic, and designed to achieve specific goals. There are minimal distractions for the user, while still providing a great user experience.
Let’s get specific with our definitions - after all, we want to design ecommerce landing pages that are also great for SEO. SEO-led landing pages are those which are also designed to rank in search engine results. These are well optimized, and will pay special attention to things like keywords. Ecommerce landing pages are designed to attract and convert customers, giving them more information about something that may make them more likely to want to make a purchase.
Landing page campaigns that combine SEO and ecommerce might be long-term such as focussing on a specific aspect of the product and demonstrating its value. Short-term might be a seasonal landing page for Black Friday.
The question then arises, why use a landing page instead of a blog or product page? The answer being that you can get much more specific and include more content that’s tailored to an audience and their needs. Product pages have to appeal to quite a broad audience, but a landing page can focus on a specific quality of that product. Say for example, you sell blue-light glasses. You might talk about this on the product page, but there’s a lot of other information you need to cover. So, you can create a landing page that’s all about the effects of blue-light, the unique features and benefits of your product, and review snippets from both customers and news outlets.
Why are ecommerce landing pages good for SEO?
Landing pages allow you to add both more keyword-rich content to your store, as well as targeting different types of customers and search intent. Product pages have a specific type of audience and search intent - they’re good for researching, and for purchasing intent. However if a customer wants to learn more about a specific topic or product benefits/features, a product page may not necessarily satisfy their search intent.
Consider, for example, you sell enamel coated skillets if someone is interested in buying a new skillet. They are not at the stage where they’re looking at a specific product, but they could be convinced. The search terms they may use may not be the same that you’re targeting with your product page. They may be more long-tail or questioning, such as “is enamel coating better for skillets”. You can create a landing page that focuses on answering that question through demonstrating the unique benefits of your product.
You’ve now created a landing page with keyword-rich content that will target those potential customers and has the potential to rank in SERPs. In SEO we want to maximize the amount of opportunities your store has to rank, and landing pages can help give additional opportunities that you may not always find with product page and blog content.
3 examples of great ecommerce landing pages
Nothing beats seeing live examples, right? Let’s take a look at three examples of landing pages from three very different brands, to see how landing pages can add those extra SEO opportunities.
#1 - Nugget
Kids' furniture should be both comfortable, easy, and inspire little ones to explore, and that’s exactly what Nugget’s play couches do. From one set of cushions, kids can come up with all different combinations of how to set their Nugget up to fuel their imagination. And with over 50,000+ happy customers and counting, it’s clear to see they’re paving the way forward for better kids play furniture.
So what exactly is a Nugget? What’s its purpose and how can it be used? That’s what one of Nugget’s landing pages tries to answer. The goal is clear - educate potential customers, drive them towards products. The page covers what a Nugget is, the unique benefits of the couch, and finishes with some reviews from real customers. It’s concise, it’s to the point, and it’s clear how it helps their SEO.
Click here to view the live landing page.
#2 - La Colombe
Pioneers since 1994, La Colombe roast their delicious coffee beans sourced directly from sustainable sources around the world. Between their coffee shops found across the US, to their online shop shipping nationwide, coffee lovers can get their caffeine hit in all different varieties. From cold brew, to canned coffee, single origin whole beans to decaf ground coffee. And to help customers get the most from their coffee, La Colombe has created different resources about brewing techniques and coffee guides to help.
One of those helpful resources is their landing page which gives advice on how to brew cold brew vs flash-brewed iced coffee.
This type of landing page is more focussed on a topic that La Colombe’s target audience might be searching for. They may not be immediately looking for a product, but more information about how to make their own cold brew at home. It targets keywords and phrases that might be used in search, providing helpful answers as well as recommendations for products to try. The goal here is to direct those interested in cold brewing to the products La Colombe sells that help with that.
Click here to view the live landing page.
#3 - Olipop
Want to stop drinking soda that’s full of sugar and empty calories? Olipop takes a health-minded approach to making sodas that are not only delicious, but good for you too. Packed with fiber, prebiotics and plant-based sugars, they work with experts in gut and digestive health to formulate their recipes. They sell well loved classic flavors like Vintage Cola and Root Beer, as well as fun and unusual flavors like Cherry Vanilla and Banana Cream. Tastes great, and even better for your gut.
And when we’re talking about a product that claims to help with gut health, an informative landing page can go a long way. This can attract customers looking for more information than they’d find on a product page, as well as those who may simply be looking for terms related to digestive health and beverages.
Olipop’s landing page has a drop down FAQ with top questions around digestive health, as well as a summary of how their products help. Users can navigate to other pages to buy the product, or learn more about Olipop’s unique ingredients.
Click here to view the live landing page.
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Landing pages are an extremely useful asset in your SEO toolbox. They can give you that extra SEO content boost, while also adding to your customer experience by providing more helpful resources.