There are many ways to measure the success of your online marketing campaigns. Key metrics frequently tracked include website traffic, conversion rates, and lead generation. Needless to say, many people neglect to measure their landing pages. A bad landing page can cripple your campaign performance. No need to worry; we're here to provide you with the six landing page metrics you need to track for every marketing campaign.
When marketing your website on social media, via email, or search engine advertising, your target visitors are sent to any web page of your choice. You're in complete control of the experience. So why do we see so many non-functioning, poorly designed, and user experience-devoid landing pages?
We may not have the answer, but we can certainly provide you with the information to prevent your landing pages (LPs) from falling into the category of being critically ineffective. Let's start by looking at the importance of a landing page.
The Importance of a Landing Page
A landing page is an essential part of any online marketing strategy. It's the first impression visitors receive when arriving on your website, and it plays an essential role in converting them into customers.
More conversions
A land page is usually minimalistic and focuses on one goal, so your users won't be distracted by other links that could deviate them from the primary objective. Landing pages also have a single call to action, such as “Install” for app ads or “Buy Now” for sales ads. This single call to action eases the customer's decisions and typically converts more effectively.
Landing Page Statistics:
- The average landing page conversion rate across all industries is 9.7% (Wordstream)
- The highest-converting number of form fields on landing pages is three. (Omnisend)
- Forty-nine percent of marketers say that customer acquisition is the primary driver. (HubSpot)
With performance comes success, and understanding how to improve your landing pages is critical to achieving greater success with your marketing efforts.
Improve SEO
A well-crafted landing page with relevant keywords that can be indexed and applies a user experience-focused design will eventually boost your site's SEO. Most landing pages are campaign driven and marked as non-indexable, but LPs are potent allies for those instances where organic traffic is desired.
Deliver specific messages
Unlike other pages on your website, a landing page is built to deliver a specific message to your customers. It could be installing an app, signing up for your latest webinar, or any other action you want users to take. Landing pages can also be temporary and, in these instances, provide excellent value when used in seasonal promotions or for events.
Related Content: The Best Landing Page Builders
Essential Landing Page Elements
There are a few key elements that make up an effective landing page, and they all play a role in helping your visitors convert. They all fall within Layout, Imagery, Messaging, and Relationship. Let's explain.
Images: Use images sparingly – one or two at most – but make sure they're high quality and relevant to the topic. Images help break down complex information into digestible chunks, making it easier for viewers to understand it. Plus, images encourage clicks.
Header or Headline (Layout)
The header is the upper section of the landing page and usually includes the landing page headline. Your landing page header is the first thing your prospects will see when they click the link in your ad, email, or other collateral. This section should stand out and ensure a good user experience.
Value Proposition (Messaging & Relationship)
This element of your landing page tells your customers how your product or service differs from your competitor's offer. Remember to speak to your customer's needs and not inward facing. This section usually comprises a subheading and a few sentences that support the claims made in the heading.
For instance, your subheading could be, “Using this app will boost your mental health in less than a month.” In this case, add a sentence explaining how the app boosts mental health.
Call to Action (Layout & Messaging)
The page's CTA or call to action is an essential element that encourages the user to take action. The CTA can be a button that leads to another page, a form they fill out, or a download they can access. Whatever your objective, the messaging on the CTA itself is critical to success and a perfect area to A/B test to improve conversion.
Your CTA (call-to-action) should be clear and concise – tell your visitor exactly what you want them to do next. It's important not to overcomplicate things – keep it as simple as possible so that people know exactly how they can benefit from following through with your request.
Features & Benefits
In the benefits or features, you need to briefly highlight what the users will get if they complete the objective. Whether you choose features or benefits or relate features to benefits, write using precise sentences that prospects can quickly skim. If it is an application, highlight core app features clearly to ensure users find a reason to install it.
Social Proof/Testimonials
One of the most critical areas that have been shown to increase landing page value and conversion is a testimonial, review, or a social proof section. This section contains quick quotes or reviews of previous buyers using the product. You can also embed social proof if your testimonials and reviews occur off your website. Depending on your industry, you can use Facebook, Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, G2, Capterra, Glassdoor, and others.
Now that you know all the core elements you must add to your landing page let's get into our list of the six key landing page metrics that matter. All the metrics we will discuss in the next section can be captured using the tools we outline later in this article.
6 Landing Page Metrics That Matter
Which landing page metric is most important for your business? It depends on a few things, such as what type of product or service you offer and how you plan to market it. Here are six landing page metrics that can help you determine which one is most important for your business:
1. Traffic Source
A critical landing page metric, traffic source refers to the website where your prospects came from before clicking on your landing page. Some analytics tools may categorize traffic sources as organic, social, email, paid, etc.
Landing page views can come from multiple angles, and it is essential to know the sources of the traffic generated. Understanding the traffic source is key to testing messaging and other elements based on your knowledge of those sources.
The traffic source of your landing page visitors will also give you an idea of the platforms embracing your product the most. For instance, if you notice that Pinterest brings in more traffic than Facebook per 1000 impressions, it indicates that your brand or products are resonating better on Pinterest.
Full details of your traffic sources will also help you decide how best to spend your marketing budget. Spending on platforms that bring more traffic per dollar spent is always best. These details can be used to appropriately split the ad budget for your future marketing campaigns.
2. Time on Page
Time on page refers to the average time users spend on your landing page before leaving, either by exit, bounce or clicking to another page. The average time your visitors spend on a page will usually depend on the quantity and quality of content.
By ensuring quality content, you can increase how long visitors spend on your landing page and the average conversion rate. Landing pages are designed to accomplish varying goals, so extended average time on a page can be good or bad, depending on your objective.
For example, if you have very few words on a landing page, you should not expect users to spend a lot of time on the page before taking action or leaving. However, if you find the average time on page is more than expected, chances are the information on the page needs to be sharpened for them to have a better experience.
When crafting a landing page, establish a benchmark for time on the page and measure performance against that benchmark. The benchmark will help determine whether the landing page is performing as expected. If there is a variation from what you had anticipated, the cause should be investigated further.
You should A/B test landing pages to determine better which version performs best. These tests will help you decide on a well-optimized landing page format that meets your marketing goals.
3. Scroll Depth
Scroll depth refers to how much your website visitors scroll down the landing page. This is a vital landing page metric for measuring engagement with the content. If your landing page is long enough to require scrolling, you will want to know how far most users scrolled.
This information will give you an idea of whether users found the content on your page relevant to their needs. You can use this feedback to craft landing pages that align better with the user's needs. Tools like Mouseflow can help measure scroll depth.
The scroll depth of your landing page will also depend on the location of your call-to-action button/link. Most users may not scroll beyond that point in your content. Understanding average scroll depth and positioning of content are vital.
Variation in the scroll depth is also device dependent. It is best to categorize scroll depth based on the device type. Mobile device users will usually scroll more than desktop users since screens on mobile devices are small and accommodate less viewable content than on desktops.
Note that scroll depth is measured vertically and horizontally. This will depend on how the landing page is designed. Creating a landing page that doesn't require horizontal scrolling is typically best. Make sure it is well-optimized to fit different screen sizes of your target customers' devices. It is best practice to use a responsive framework for landing pages, so a single codebase covers all devices.
4. Bounce Rate
In this context, bounce rate refers to the percentage of your landing page visitors that view and leave the page without taking action. This metric lets you know whether your landing page visitors are interested in your content. Several other factors can impact a landing page's bounce rate.
Higher bounce rates indicate poor campaign alignment with the target audience. When you get errant traffic to a landing page, they typically won't engage or stick around long.
Your landing page design could also significantly impact the bounce rate. You will likely see a high bounce rate if it fails to load quickly or is designed poorly.
Suppose your keywords are out of alignment with the content on the page, or you are not carefully monitoring keyword use and the search terms people use to find your landing page. In that case, you could need to sharpen your keywords to improve the overall campaign performance.
For example, if you are selling pool tables for playing billiards or a game of pool, ensure people searching for pool tables for location by their pool outside aren't clicking. This errant click can wreak havoc on the campaign and LP performance.
Most experts consider a 30% bounce rate to be reasonable. A 50% to 70% bounce rate is considered average. Bounce rates above 80% are poor. For best results, aim at keeping the landing page below 50%.
5. Form Abandonment
Form abandonment refers to the percentage of your landing page visitors who start to fill out a form on your website and then leave without completing it. Of course, this metric only applies to landing pages that require users to fill in a form.
The biggest reason is too many form fields being asked to fill out. Remember, the statistics tell us that three is the optimal number. You'll want to test your needs for qualified leads vs abandonment and hit the sweet spot for form fields.
Sometimes users only fill out part of the form because they find the information requested too private to share. For example, only some people are willing to share phone numbers. Therefore, try to request information your prospects will be willing to share.
Users typically want something in exchange for their information. Don't make people provide personal information without giving them something in return. You could offer free access to an eBook, a sample product, a whitepaper, or a promotional discount.
You should also ensure the form is well-designed and appealing to your target audience. It should also be designed to assist with the information they need to input in each field. Add placeholder text or have information pop-ups to indicate the type of information and format needed.
6. Cost per Conversion/Cost per Acquisition
CPC/CPA refers to the cost incurred during the campaign divided by the number of acquisitions provided. If your goal is to get app installs, your cost per landing page conversion will be calculated using the total cost of running ads divided by the total number of app installations.
Calculating the conversion cost is crucial because it provides an idea of whether the potential value outweighs the cost of the campaign. You can also calculate the conversion cost for each platform used during the campaign. The cost of acquiring customers from different channels often varies greatly.
This alone can help you decide the percentage of your marketing budget to allocate for each platform. It is best to prioritize platforms with a lower cost per conversion. You can also compare how these costs vary over time and data. This will give you a clear picture of the ads that work and those that don't.
The goal is to lower the cost per acquisition across all marketing campaigns. Set a target before each marketing campaign and use it as a benchmark to determine its success.
The best and most effective way to measure the performance of your landing pages is through the use of analytics tools. Below are the measurement methods and the recommended tools to measure with pricing and alternatives.
How to Measure Metrics Successfully
As shared earlier, measuring the above key landing page metrics requires you to use analytics software if you are not going to employ a landing page builder tool. You will also need to provide access to the platforms you use to run your campaigns. For instance, data such as the total amount you spend on Facebook or Google ads will require the software to have access to these accounts.
It helps if you also provide the software with clear goals that it should track for every campaign. Calculating metrics like landing page conversions and cost per conversion is possible if the software has received the proper setup and inputs.
Some of the best analytics tools for measuring landing page metrics include the following;
Google Analytics
This free website analytics tool by Google can track most of your landing page metrics, including bounce rate, traffic sources, landing page views, and time on page. You may also enable scroll depth-integrated through Google Tag Manager. Google is retiring Universal Analytics on July 1, 2023. You might want to try an alternative, as GA4 is reported as being quite difficult.
Google Analytics starts at: Free
Google Analytics alternatives: Matomo or Clicky
Kissmetrics
This is a paid analytics tool for measuring real-time analytics, conversion tracking, customer journey analysis, data visualization, and segmentation. Kissmetrics will measure landing page performance metrics that you would like to know about your landing pages.
Kissmetrics starts at: $299/month
Kissmetrics alternatives: Mixpanel, Amplitude, or Woopra
Mouseflow
Mouseflow is the perfect tool to measure user behavior on your landing pages. Using heatmaps, video capture, scroll tracking, click tracking, and more, you can learn how your visitors interact and respond to your landing page messaging, layout, and overall experience.
Mouseflow starts at: $39/mo with a paid plan but offers a free plan to get started.
Mouseflow alternatives: Hotjar, Lucky Orange, or Crazy Egg
SEMrush
This is an SEO-focused tool that will help you improve the performance of your landing page in search engines. You can monitor rankings, check backlinks to a landing page, and even review the tool's recommended content updates for your LPs.
SEMrush alternatives: Ahrefs or Ubersuggest
Landing Page Metrics That Matter Wrap-up
Landing pages are a vital aspect of any digital marketing strategy. They are essential for running single-goal-driven campaigns, generating sales for a specific product on an eCommerce website, or encouraging app downloads. Tracking the six landing page metrics outlined in this article is crucial to get the best out of your landing page.
To track landing page success, you must run A/B tests and have the proper measurement tools in place. The list of measurement tools mentioned in this article is not all-inclusive. You can use hundreds of reputable tools to monitor rankings, measure traffic, and discover user experience issues. Whichever direction you choose, ensuring your landing pages perform well is half the battle to improving campaign performance.
