Landing pages are your website's runway—this is where your visitors land and disembark to explore your offer. With the right content, a landing page can convert those visitors into leads and customers.
Implementing SEO best practices for your landing pages can also help you generate meaningful organic traffic while driving sales. However, SEO strategies for landing pages differ from what you would use for blog posts or websites.
For example, a landing page doesn't offer as much space for relevant content and keywords, a practice commonly associated with standard search engine optimization.
In this article, we'll address how you can do SEO on landing pages and boost search engine rankings.
What you will learn
- Why is SEO important for landing pages?
- Differences between SEO for landing pages and blog posts
- Steps for creating an SEO landing page
- Examples of SEO landing pages
What is a landing page?
A landing page is a standalone page on your website created specifically to drive user action. The purpose of a landing page could be to sell a product or offer a lead magnet. It's where a visitor "lands" after they click on a link in an email or ads from pay-per-click advertising on Google, Meta or similar ad platforms.
Unlike regular web pages, which typically have many goals and encourage exploration, landing pages are designed with a single focus reflected in their call to action (CTA).
Landing pages are also referred to as opt-in pages, sales pages, registration pages and direct response pages.
These names hint at the main purpose of a landing page. That could be driving action, such as filling out a form, registering, subscribing, or even purchasing a product or service.
Although generally associated with paid ads, landing page SEO can help your rankings in search engines and attract organic traffic. SEO-friendly landing pages involve strategically placing target keywords to communicate relevance to search engines.
Every landing page is a new opportunity to rank higher in search engines and drive conversions.
You can also take advantage of different types of landing pages such as,
- Squeeze pages
- Splash pages
- Career pages
- About us pages
- Coming soon pages
Elements of landing pages
Landing pages have different components that help make them functional and drive consumer action. These elements are:
- Design—A landing page's design should revolve around a single purpose and trigger the visitor into taking the desired action. It shouldn't be stuffed with information or have a cluttered, distracting layout.
- Copy—Landing pages should feature quality sales copy that communicates benefits instead of just highlighting features. Effective microcopy in the form of small text can be useful to guide visitors and ensure a better user experience.
- CTA (call to action)—The landing page CTA should have a single goal and appear several times on the page. Examples of CTAs are 'Register Here,' 'Subscribe here,' or 'Buy tickets.'
- Contact form—A contact form for lead generation should be concise and convey the offer's value proposition so users know what they're clicking on.
- Social proof and testimonials—Testimonials from clients in real life scenarios can help forge trust with readers and convince them of your products or services.
- Videos—Landing pages with videos attract attention and spark engagement. Videos can also be used to communicate the benefits of your product effectively.
- FAQs—Leave no room for misunderstandings or uncertainties with a section that answers the most common questions
Why is SEO important for landing pages?
Landing page SEO is important because it can increase organic traffic and search engine rankings leading to higher sales and conversions.
SEO for your landing pages is especially important because these pages need a different SEO approach than a traditional website or blog with many pages.
SEO can help attract visitors who are actively searching for your product or service. By including relevant keywords on your landing page, you ensure that your page shows up to the right audience.
Even if you're using your landing page with paid advertising strategies, doing basic SEO for your opt-in page can help you lower the cost of leads or customers.
Unlike paid advertising, where you pay for every click, traffic from organic search is free, so your page will continue to attract visitors without additional costs.
Search engine optimization for standalone pages is especially important for online stores and will make up an integral part of your e-commerce SEO strategy.
Potential buyers often perceive pages that rank higher in search results as more credible and trustworthy increasing the likelihood of conversions.
SEO for landing page vs. blog posts
The difference in SEO for landing pages versus blog posts is in the level of weight that search engines assign to ranking factors.
Search engines consider ranking factors like site-wide topical expertise and niche relevance when ranking pages. We also know that keyword optimization is important to communicate page context.
Your top-level domain's authority and relevance play a significant role in determining page rankings.
SEO for landing pages involves optimizing for high-converting keywords targeting users who are further down the sales funnel and closer to making a purchase decision.
Take the example of Optmyzer, who have optimized their homepage for PPC-related terms like Google Ads optimization software and PPC management tools.
Search queries with such specific terminology are more likely to be transactional or commercial. This is also reflected in the "low" search volume since fewer people are ready to purchase.
Landing page SEO must also pay greater attention to fast load times, mobile optimization, and clear CTAs.
User experience and page performance are more crucial than in the case of blog posts.
In the case of blog posts and websites, SEO includes using relevant keywords throughout the content and internal linking to other pages while encouraging backlinks.
Since you will likely have more content on a blog post, you can strategically place keywords in headers and body tags.
SEO landing pages attract traffic via organic means while PPC landing pages are used in paid campaigns. Implementing SEO, therefore can continue to draw in visitors long after you've stopped your paid campaigns.
A PPC landing page can generate traffic quickly, but the benefits are short-term, and your efforts will pause once you stop paying ad platforms.
There are some exceptions for SEO on landing pages. Seasonal offers and one-off campaigns typically don't need SEO as they're not here to stay.
How to create SEO-friendly landing pages in 7 steps
Fortunately, optimizing your landing pages for search traffic doesn't require a lot of SEO expertise or execution. You can focus on a few fundamental tasks to improve your SERP rankings.
Here are 7 steps to doing SEO for your landing pages.
1. Include relevant keywords
Search engines look for keywords in 4 primary areas of your landing page. Your goal is to place relevant keywords in these spaces to ensure that your page is understood clearly.
The four areas to implement keywords are:
- URL: An SEO-friendly URL structure is crucial as it helps search engines understand what your page is about.
For instance, a landing page URL like "surferseo.com/free-article-outline-generator/" clearly communicates that the page has a free outline tool. Keep your URLs concise and include your primary keyword. - Meta title: This is the title of your page as it appears in search engine results. It should be compelling and include your main keyword to signal relevance to users and search engines.
- H1 header: The headline of your page should include your target keyword and describe the content of your page.
- Subheadings and paragraph tags: Include related keywords and secondary variations of your primary keyword in subheadings and within the body text of your landing page.
Include commercial keywords
Transactional, bottom-of-funnel keywords are crucial for SEO landing pages as they target users who are at the final stage of the sales funnel, ready to make a purchase.
These keywords are used by people who have already done their research and are now looking to buy a product or service.
By optimizing your landing page with these keywords, you are targeting a motivated audience, which can significantly increase your conversion rates.
Some examples of commercial keywords are:
- Best [product/service]
- Buy [product/service]
- [Product/service] reviews]
These search queries indicate a person is almost ready to buy a product or service but requires a gentle nudge in the right direction.
For example, consider Nord VPN's landing page that ranks for "VPN download."
The people who use this keyword are already interested in downloading a VPN, indicating they are at the bottom of the sales funnel.
By having their landing page appear at the top of search results for this keyword, Nord VPN is able to drive more conversions to a paid plan.
Include secondary keywords and phrases
Semantic and secondary keywords are crucial in contextualizing your landing page for your audience and search engines.
These keywords are essentially variations or related terms of your primary keyword. Mistaken for LSI keywords that unfortunately still continue to be a buzzword, these terms help broaden your content's scope.
For instance, if your primary keyword is 'protein powder,' related keywords could be 'nutrition,' 'amino acids' and 'post-workout drink.'
Semantic keywords share a similar meaning or concept with your primary keyword. They help search engines understand the context and relevancy of your landing page content.
Long-tail keywords, which are usually three to four-word phrases, can attract a more targeted audience with a higher likelihood of conversion.
This makes them an effective SEO strategy for smaller websites as they are often less competitive.
Take a look at the landing page of Instantly.ai for effective keyword optimization.
This page has effectively used 18 different variations of email-related keywords.
This helps capture a wider audience searching for different terms but also confirms to search engines that the page is indeed relevant to the topic of email outreach.
2. Satisfy search intent
Users are seeking to achieve a goal when typing a query.
That could be learning new information, comparing products or services, or purchasing an item. This goal is called search intent.
Your landing pages should satisfy search intent for two reasons.
- They should serve exactly what your visitors want to see. This is logical—imagine walking into a shoe store only to see shelves full of backpacks. You'll either stick around to ask the shop assistant if they sell shoes or leave right away.
The same goes for websites.
If your visitors are confused about the content and design of your landing page, they might leave. - Search engine bots will pick up on this behavior and deem your page irrelevant, thus plummeting its SERP ranking.
Understanding search intent is crucial as it allows you to create a page that fulfils the users' needs and encourages them to take the desired action on your landing page.
To analyze the search intent for your target keyword, look at the top-ranking pages in the search results.
These pages are ranking highly because they effectively meet the users' search intent.
By examining these pages, you can gain insights into what content, design elements, and calls-to-action your landing page needs to satisfy the same search intent.
You can classify search intent into one of the following types:
- Informational intent: Users are seeking information or answers and use words like 'how,' 'what,' 'where,' 'tips,' 'examples of,' 'benefits,' or 'instructions.'
- Commercial intent: Users are researching with the intention of making a purchase in the future and use words like 'best,' 'review,' 'comparison, and 'vs.'
Landing pages catering to commercial intent often highlight the unique selling points of a product or service. - Transactional intent: Users are ready to make a purchase. Landing pages for transactional intent are often sales pages featuring a clear and compelling call to action. Words like 'buy,' 'discount,' 'purchase,' 'for sale,' and 'order' indicate transactional search intent.
- Navigational intent: Users want to go somewhere specific, like your brand's homepage or a specific product page. Common words used in such queries are specific brand or product/service names and locations.
These are not very important in the case of landing pages.
Royal Caribbean, a cruise company's page shows up for "all inclusive cruise deals," a highly commercial keyword.
Their page, therefore, is built to convert. Notice how the discount is highlighted and how it encourages people to invite more passengers.
The page has several references to deals, bonuses, and discounts to nudge readers to take action.
By understanding and catering to these types of search intent, you can design and write content for your landing pages that effectively convert visitors into leads or customers.
3. Implement on-page SEO practices
We've already discussed the importance of on-page SEO in terms of title tags, keyword optimization, and URLs. Here's a recap of where to implement your primary keywords.
- Your URL
- Your meta title
- Your page's H1
- Paragraph tags in your body
Here are additional on-page SEO tips to implement on your landing page.
Meta Descriptions: Write compelling meta descriptions that provide a brief overview of the page content. Include relevant keywords and keep it under 155 characters.
Internal Linking: For landing pages, reverse the conventional advice to link from your page. Instead, link to your landing page from other pages on your website. This will help spread link equity across your site and signal importance to search engines.
Headings: Besides using your primary keyword in the H1, use headings (H2, H3, etc.) to structure your content clearly.
Use schema: Using schema markup can give search engines more information about your content and make your page look better in SERPs, leading to more clicks.
Here's an example of a page that has implemented schema to show book ratings and reviews.
You may use Google's markup tool to help you generate schema for your page. You can also ask ChatGPT with a prompt.
Optimize images: Make sure that the file names for your images have keywords. Ensure that the alt text field has a short but accurate image description to help image SEO.
Page load speed: Minimize your site’s loading speed by compressing images, leveraging browser caching, and reducing server response time. Google also stresses mobile responsiveness, so you want your page to render well on devices.
Of course, in addition to these, you want to provide quality content that is well-written and relevant to your audience.
And don't just stuff keywords to fit everything on your page. Instead, ensure the keywords fit contextually.
4. Build relevant backlinks
Given the limited information on landing pages, search engines don't have as much content to understand as they do with comprehensive websites or blog posts.
This makes off-page SEO, particularly backlinks, crucial for landing pages.
Backlinks can signal credibility, especially if they come from authoritative websites.
For example, if you have an e-commerce store for clothes, a link from the fashion design department of a university or trade body will deem your page trustworthy.
However, acquiring quality backlinks can be much more challenging in practice, especially for landing pages.
Because landing pages are generally associated with an offer, they don't usually attract organic links.
This is why making your homepage like a landing page for your product or service is a good idea.
Websites are more willing to link to your homepage instead of a standalone product or sales page.
While creating linkable assets is a good link-building strategy in traditional SEO, it isn't really relevant for landing pages.
Instead, here are a few strategies you can employ:
Reciprocal linking
This is a mutual agreement where you agree to link to another website in return for the same. Google doesn't encourage this practice, so consider ABC link exchanges instead. If you decide on a two-way exchange, ensure some time elapses between the exchanges.
ABC Link Exchanges
In ABC link exchanges, three websites are involved. Website A links to Website B, Website B links to Website C, and Website C links back to Website A.
This forms a non-reciprocal triangle of links. This strategy can help you steer clear of any search engine penalties but will require 2 more partners.
Analyze competitors' backlinks
Keep an eye on your competition and their backlinks.
You can do this by entering your competitor's URL in Surfer Audit.
Then scroll down to the Missing common backlinks section. This will reveal websites that are linking back to their URL.
You can then employ an email outreach tool to establish a reciprocal or ABC link partnership with these sites since they are open to linking back.
5. Structure your page with header tags
A landing page with a huge block of text and no header tags doesn't look very pleasing to the eye.
Using headers such as H1, H2, H3, and even H4 helps search engines understand the content on your page and determine its relevance to a user's search query.
They also help users navigate through your content, making it easier for them to find the information they're looking for.
H1 Tag: This is the most important tag and should be used for the main title of your page. It's the first thing users and search engines see, so it should clearly and accurately represent the page's content.
As I've said before, include your main keyword in the H1 tag.
Take the example of Coursera's landing page for this UX design course.
H2 Tags: These are used for the main sections of your content.
They act as subheadings and should provide a clear overview of the section that follows. Including relevant keywords in your H2 tags can also help search engines understand your content better.
The first H2 on this page refers to a UX design career, a clear indication of material for a professional UX course.
H3 Tags: H3 tags are used for subsections within your H2 sections. They further divide and organize your content, making it easier for users to navigate.
They also provide additional opportunities to include relevant keywords and phrases.
H4 Tags: These are used for additional subsections within your H3 sections.
While not as common as the other tags, they can be useful for structuring longer or more complex content.
Remember that the best way to use header tags is to make sure they are useful and helpful. They should help your readers find their way around your content and help search engines understand and properly index your landing page.
6. Enhance the user experience
The factors that contribute to a good user experience can benefit landing page SEO.
Markers like increased time on page and click-through rates on your page CTA contribute to better search rankings.
Enhancing the landing page user experience is not just about how it looks. It is also about leading your users to take action, like signing up for a newsletter, filling out a form, or buying something.
You can do this by focusing on a single goal and removing any distractions that might prevent visitors from completing that action.
Take a look at this CTA from Wix's landing page to create e-commerce stores.
They understand that the ultimate purpose of an online store is to sell a product, and this is clearly reflected in the CTA.
A landing page could have the best content in the world, but it won't fulfill its purpose if it's cluttered, confusing, or poorly organized.
Clear messaging is especially important because online visitors typically have a short attention span and are likely to leave a page if they can't quickly understand what it's about or what they're supposed to do.
The right copy on your landing page can help visitors find the information they need quickly and easily, leading to higher conversion rates.
Coursera's page on UX design certification, for example, has compelling messages about building a UX career with the help of its resources.
The landing page effectively funnels visitors towards registration by directing their attention with microcopy throughout the page.
It even showcases elements of social proof via logos.
7. Add social proof and testimonials
Lastly, optimize landing pages for SEO by including input from real people.
Testimonials and reviews from satisfied customers or relevant businesses boost the credibility of your landing page.
They act as social proof and can improve your conversion rate.
Actively seek out and showcase positive testimonials on your landing pages from relevant businesses or industry influencers.
Such testimonials show that not only everyday consumers but also industry experts appreciate your product or service.
This can be particularly beneficial if your landing page targets a B2B audience or a niche market where expert opinion holds significant weight.
Surfer AI's landing page has a direct quote from Gael Breton, SEO influencer and founder of Authority Hacker.
You can talk to your sales and support teams for testimonials since they're frequently in touch with customers and will have access to them.
Examples of search engine-optimized landing pages
I've explained how to optimize your landing pages for SEO but let's check out some examples of companies that are doing this well.
ProjectManager
Although the practice of including your primary keywords in your domain isn't as beneficial as it used to be, Project Manager still ranks well for 'project management software.'
Using their primary keyword in the URL and H1 has brought obvious benefits. With 27,100 monthly searches, the page will benefit from significant traffic.
Natural Tone
If you Google 'organic anti-aging cream,' Natural Tone's anti-aging cream will appear on the first page.
The page does a good job of satisfying search intent and has its primary keyword in the URL, H1 with semantic keywords in the body.
Ratings and reviews of the product are also available.
The product page also lists its benefits, ingredients, and how to use in an easy-to-understand manner.
Coursera
Coursera's page on a digital marketing course ranks well for 'digital marketing online course.'
Its meta description summarizes the course offering and provides clear information to potential students that is relevant.
The meta title "Digital Marketing Specialization" targets a key phrase potential learners will likely search for.
This is a good example of SEO on a landing page, using a range of keywords and topics related to digital marketing education to provide context and improve the page's ranking for various search queries
Coursera's page features a prominent "Enroll for Free" button, providing a clear CTA.
GoDaddy
GoDaddy's landing page for website builders is another example of a landing page that does SEO well.
The page is responsive across various devices, ensuring a good user experience for mobile and tablet users.
The copy on the page is natural, using relevant keywords such as "website builder," "create a website," "SEO," and "online store."
The inclusion of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section addresses common user queries, enhancing the user experience, but also naturally covers a range of keywords and phrases that potential customers might use in search queries.
Bankrate
Bankrate's landing page shows up for 'low-interest personal loans' in Google.
The title "Best Personal Loan Rates for January 2024" is highly targeted and indicates what the page is about.
The inclusion of the current month and year signals that the content is up-to-date, a factor that can positively influence click-through rates from search results.
The page content is comprehensive, covering various aspects of personal loans, including rates, lender comparisons, and how to choose the best loan.
It even includes interactive elements like rate checkers and filters for loan amounts and credit scores.
Key takeaways
- Landing pages require a different SEO approach than traditional websites or blogs, focusing more on keywords, linking and relevance.
- Landing pages need to meet visitors' search purposes by showing them what they want to see and getting them to take action.
- On-page SEO practices, such as keyword implementation, meta descriptions, internal linking, and page speed, are important for optimizing landing pages.
- Building relevant backlinks can signal credibility to search engines, especially if they come from authoritative websites.
- Including social proof and testimonials on landing pages can boost their credibility and improve conversion rates.
Conclusion
Optimizing your landing pages for search engines can help widen your reach and attract new users without additional investment.
As I've mentioned at the beginning of this article, it's a good idea to do some SEO for a landing page, even if it's a product or sale page that is primarily used to drive leads from paid advertising platforms.
Most of these tactics will only take a few minutes but can result in sustained organic performance even once you stop running paid campaigns.
