If you want to drive more high-quality traffic to your website and generate more leads and sales, landing page SEO needs to be a key part of your digital marketing strategy. When you optimize your landing pages for search engines, you can attract your ideal customers who are actively searching for what you offer.
But landing page SEO isn‘t just about stuffing pages with keywords. To rank well and convert, your landing pages need to be fast, mobile-friendly, and provide an excellent user experience with compelling, valuable content.
In this in-depth guide, I‘ll share proven strategies and tips to help you create landing pages that both search engines and users love. You‘ll learn how to find the right keywords, optimize your pages, build authority-boosting links, and drive real results for your business. Let‘s dive in!
What is Landing Page SEO and Why is it Important?
First off, let‘s define what we mean by landing page SEO. Landing page SEO is the process of optimizing standalone web pages to rank well in search engines and drive targeted traffic to generate leads, sales, or other conversions.
The main difference between a normal web page and a landing page is that landing pages are specifically designed to convert. A blog post aims to inform and engage readers, but a landing page has a single focus and call-to-action (CTA), whether it‘s to capture an email address, generate a sale, or get someone to register for a webinar.
Landing page SEO is important because it allows you to attract high-quality "organic" traffic (traffic you don‘t have to pay for) from people searching for relevant keywords in Google and other search engines. With the right landing page SEO strategy, you can:
- Drive a steady stream of targeted leads and sales on autopilot
- Reach your ideal customers while they‘re actively searching for what you offer
- Generate high-quality traffic that‘s more likely to convert
- Build trust and credibility with your audience
- Get an edge over competitors who aren‘t investing in SEO
Now that you understand the importance of landing page SEO, let‘s look at how to find the right keywords to target.
Keyword Research for High-Converting Landing Pages
Keyword research is the foundation of landing page SEO. By finding the right keywords to target, you can attract qualified traffic that‘s more likely to take action.
But not all keywords are created equal. To get the best results, you need to target keywords that match the intent and awareness level of your ideal customers.
Finding Keywords Based on Buyer Awareness Stages
Legendary copywriter Eugene Schwartz identified five stages of customer awareness:
- Most Aware: Your customer knows your product and only needs to know "the deal."
- Product-Aware: Your customer knows what you sell, but isn‘t sure it‘s right for them.
- Solution-Aware: Your customer knows the result they want, but not that your product provides it.
- Problem-Aware: Your customer senses a problem, but doesn‘t know there‘s a solution.
- Completely Unaware: Your customer doesn‘t know they have a problem.
By targeting keywords that match these different stages, you can more effectively move people through your marketing funnel.
Most Aware and Product-Aware Keywords
Most aware and product-aware searchers are your best bets for driving conversions with landing page SEO. These people are already familiar with what you offer and are more likely to be in buying mode.
Most aware keywords include your brand name and products, like:
- [your brand] pricing
- [your brand] features
- [your product name] reviews
Product-aware keywords include competitor comparison keywords, like:
- [your product category] reviews
- [competitor 1] vs [competitor 2]
- [competitor] alternatives
- best [your product category]
Product-aware keywords also include keywords related to specific product features and use cases, like:
- [feature] for [your product]
- how to [use case] with [your product]
Here‘s an example of how Leadfeeder, a B2B lead generation software, targets product-aware keywords with its landing page for "Google Analytics Lead Generation":
Solution-Aware Keywords
Solution-aware searchers are looking for a way to achieve a specific result. They might not be aware of your product yet, so your job is to show them how you can provide the solution they‘re looking for.
Solution-aware keywords include:
- [desired result]
- how to [desired result]
- [desired result] tools
- [desired result] software
- [desired result] services
For example, if you sell email marketing software, a solution-aware keyword might be "grow email list." Your landing page could focus on how your tool helps businesses effectively grow their email lists.
Problem-Aware Keywords
Problem-aware searchers are experiencing symptoms of a problem, but they might not know what the solution is yet. These keywords tend to be more informational in nature.
Problem-aware keywords include:
- why [problem]
- how to fix [problem]
- [problem] solutions
- [problem] tips
For example, a problem-aware keyword for a time-tracking software company might be "time management tips." The landing page could highlight productivity tips and techniques, and then introduce time tracking as a solution.
Completely Unaware Keywords
Completely unaware searchers aren‘t even aware they have a problem yet. Trying to sell directly to these people usually isn‘t effective. However, you can use educational content to get on their radar and start building trust and authority.
For example, a marketing agency could write a blog post about "X digital marketing skills every marketer needs." The post could cover a wide range of marketing topics to attract people in the awareness stage, and then introduce the agency‘s services as a way to level up those skills.
On-Page SEO for Landing Pages
Once you‘ve found relevant, high-converting keywords to target, the next step is to optimize your landing page for search engines. Here are some of the most important on-page SEO elements to focus on:
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Your title tag and meta description are what show up in search results, so it‘s important to make them click-worthy while also including your target keyword. Keep your title tag under 60 characters and your meta description under 155 characters.
Header Tags
Use H1 tags for your main title and H2 tags for subheadings. Include your primary keyword in your H1 and sprinkle secondary keywords in your H2s where relevant. This helps search engines understand the structure and content of your page.
Content Optimization
Write in-depth, quality content that aligns with search intent and provides value to your audience. Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and visuals to break up text and make it easier to scan.
Optimize for readability by using simple words and short sentences. Aim for an 8th grade reading level or below.
Internal Linking
Internally link to and from your landing pages to boost their authority and help search engines discover and index them. Use keyword-rich anchor text for your internal links.
Site Speed
Page speed is an important ranking factor. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to test your landing page speed and get recommendations for improvement. Optimize images, minify code, and use a CDN to improve load times.
Mobile-Friendliness
With mobile searches now outnumbering desktop searches, having a mobile-friendly site is non-negotiable. Use a responsive design that works well on any device. You can use Google‘s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to see how your landing pages perform.
Building Links to Landing Pages
Links from other authoritative, relevant websites act as "votes" that tell search engines your landing pages are valuable and trustworthy. The more high-quality links you have pointing to your landing pages, the better they‘ll perform in search.
Some effective link building strategies for landing pages include:
- Internally linking from other relevant, authoritative pages on your site
- Writing guest posts for other sites in your industry and linking back to your landing page
- Conducting outreach to other site owners and bloggers to get links
- Creating link-worthy assets like infographics, videos, and original research
Focus on quality over quantity when building links. A few links from high-authority sites will do more for your rankings than a ton of links from low-quality sites.
Optimizing Landing Pages for Local Search
If you have a local business, optimizing your landing pages for local search is a must. Nearly half of all Google searches have local intent, and 78% of local mobile searches result in an offline purchase.
To optimize for local search:
- Include your city, state, and/or region name in your page title, headings, and throughout your content
- Add your complete name, address and phone number (NAP) to every page
- Create dedicated landing pages for each of your business locations
- Get listed in local directories and citations like Google My Business, Yelp, and industry-specific directories
- Generate and respond to reviews on Google and other review sites
Here‘s an example of how DUI attorney David Benowitz optimizes his landing pages for local search in the Virginia and Washington DC area:
Measuring Results and Continuous Improvement
Finally, don‘t forget to track your results and continuously work to improve your landing page SEO. Use tools like Google Analytics to measure your organic traffic, rankings, conversions, and user behavior.
Some key metrics to track include:
- Organic traffic
- Keyword rankings
- Conversion rate
- Bounce rate
- Time on page
- Pages per session
Look for pages with high traffic but low engagement and conversion rates. Then A/B test different elements like your headline, page layout, imagery, and CTA to improve performance.
You should also keep an eye on Google Search Console to monitor your average rankings, click-through rates, and any manual actions or security issues.
Combining Landing Page SEO with PPC
For even better results, combine your landing page SEO efforts with pay-per-click (PPC) ads. With PPC, you can get your landing pages in front of your target audience immediately, while your SEO efforts are a long-term strategy that will generate results over time.
By combining SEO and PPC, you can dominate the search results and get more visibility for your landing pages. You can also use PPC to test out new keywords and get insights into what messaging resonates best with your audience before optimizing for those terms organically.
Conclusion
Landing page SEO is a powerful way to drive more organic traffic, leads, and sales for your business. By targeting the right keywords, optimizing your pages for search engines and users, and building relevant links, you can get your landing pages in front of your ideal customers at the moment they‘re searching for what you offer.
The key to success with landing page SEO is to focus on providing value to your audience. Don‘t just stuff your pages with keywords—create in-depth, compelling content that helps your visitors and provides a great user experience.
Start implementing these landing page SEO strategies today and track your results. Then keep working to improve your pages over time. With consistent effort and a commitment to quality, you can generate long-term, sustainable results for your business.
Need help optimizing your landing pages for organic search? [Your company] can help! Our team of SEO experts will help you create a custom strategy to drive more high-converting traffic to your website. Contact us today to learn more.
