Building a landing page is necessary for any digital marketing campaign or website. An effective web design is a balance between aesthetics and functionality. Choosing what to prioritize is the most important part of building a landing page. When it comes to SEO (organic web traffic) functionality is what matters most. SEM (paid traffic) is a more aesthetic approach since you’re skipping the rules necessary for SEO.

Building A Landing Page For SEO

Building a landing page for SEO is one of the more difficult tasks to do. This is because a variety of factors go into SEO like:

• Content available
• Keyword relevancy
• Domain authority
• Backlinks
• Citations
• Page speed
• Mobile optimization
• & more

Typically when working on an SEO campaign, blogging (like this article) is your best choice compared to building a page on your site. This is because blog content (posts) tends to rank higher. However, the purpose of a blog is to rank organically on the web so the design, structure, layout, content is all formatted for that purpose. This is why SEO prioritizes functionality over aesthetics.

To put it simply, a blog post isn’t the ideal landing page experience because its primary goal is to rank organically. The secondary goal for a blog post is to generate enough visitors to your website that a percentage of them convert into clients. (This is why at the bottom of all my blog posts, there is usually a paragraph dedicated to how DOS-M can help)

Building A Landing Page for SEM

When it comes to building a landing page for SEM, the primary goal is to convert web traffic into customers. This is because you’re paying money to make sure your ads are showing to your ideal target client (if they’re set up correctly). It’s in your best interest to make sure you get the most bang for your buck by getting as many conversions as possible in these campaigns so they’re not a waste of money.

Because of this difference in the primary objective, building a landing page for SEM has more of an emphasis on aesthetics. You want the landing page to captivate the visitor and convince them that this is the best choice for their needs. You don’t have to worry about ranking organically, so the functionality of the page is just on conversions.

Typically because of this distinction, a lot of PPC/SEM landing pages are set up to not be indexed on search consoles so they can prioritize the landing page experience and not worry about any SEO repercussions.

Building A Landing Page For SEO & SEM

Building a landing page for all your marketing campaigns isn’t always the best choice, however, I’d argue that it’s worth considering. Remember how I said, “building a landing page is a balance of aesthetics and functionality?” There comes a point where you have to sacrifice a bit of both to get landing pages that convert.

I personally am not a fan of using blog posts as a landing page for my web design services. I want to wow the user, not give them a reading assignment. That’s why for my “Tattoo Artist Websites” marketing campaign, the landing page I’ve built is for SEM and SEO.

The primary goal of this landing page is to get conversions, the secondary goal is to rank organically. I am slightly prioritizing aesthetics over functionality for this landing page but still giving it the chance to rank organically. This takes a slight toll on the aesthetics because I can’t just “make it look cool.” Everything included on the page has a purpose for ranking on the web as well.

The Benefits To Building A Landing Page For SEO and SEM

• Internal management and updates are only for one page rather than multiple if something needs to change
• The primary goal is always to convert traffic regardless of the source
  • The same user experience for all users
• The landing page has a purpose even when no paid marketing campaigns are running
• Theoretically should be easier for users to navigate to the landing page from anywhere on the website

The Disadvantages To Building A Landing Page For SEO and SEM

• Traffic sources could respond differently to A/B testing making optimizations more difficult
• Less chance to rank organically compared to if that was the primary goal
• Building a landing page is more difficult when adding SEO into the mix

Need Help Building A Landing Page?

If you’re in need of a landing page and have no idea where to start, let’s schedule a free discovery call to discuss what the possibilities are and what might work best for your scenario. DOS-M specializes in web design, SEO, SEM, and many other things. Whether you’re looking for a marketing campaign or help with building a landing page, contact us anytime to get started.

Check out the other blogs in this landing page series:

Pt 2 – Elementor Landing Page Builder – 2021 – Honest Review

Pt 3 – 5 Amazing Tips For Landing Page Optimization