Landing page or homepage: which should your campaign send people to?
A homepage introduces the whole business. A landing page does one job for one audience, usually after a click from an ad or an email. This comparison sets them side by side and shows when each is the right place to send people.
- A homepage welcomes everyone and points them in many directions.
- A landing page speaks to one audience and asks for one action.
- Send paid and campaign traffic to a landing page, and let the homepage do its own job.
6 min readPublished By Domeq Solutions
What is the difference?
A homepage is the front door of the whole business. It must serve many visitors at once: customers, prospects, job seekers and curious readers, each looking for something different. It points them to the pages that fit and introduces who you are.
A landing page is a page built for one purpose and one audience, usually reached by clicking an ad, an email or a social post. It repeats the promise that brought the visitor, gives the details they need and asks for one action, such as an enquiry or a purchase.
The word landing page is sometimes used for any page a visitor lands on. Here it means a page made for a single campaign or offer.
A homepage invites exploration. A landing page invites a decision.
A campaign's journey, click to result.
Ad or email
Makes one specific promise.
Landing page
Repeats the promise and shows the offer.
Action
One clear button or form.
Follow-up
A fast, helpful reply.
Measure
Count the share who took the action.
How do they compare?
The two differ in goal, audience, content and how much they let a visitor wander. Seeing them next to each other makes the choice clearer.
Landing page and homepage on seven points.
| Aspect | Homepage | Landing page |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Introduce the business and guide visitors onward | Get one specific action |
| Audience | Everyone who arrives | One group, with one need |
| Navigation | Full menu and many links | Little or none, to keep attention on the action |
| Content | Broad: what you do, who you are, where to go next | Focused: the offer, the proof and the action |
| Where visitors come from | Search, direct visits, links, many sources | A particular ad, email or post |
| Life span | Permanent | As long as the campaign or offer runs |
| How to judge it | Does it send people to the right pages? | What share of visitors take the action? |
Both should be fast, clear and work well on a phone.
When should you use each?
Use a landing page whenever you are paying for or earning a click with a specific promise. If an ad says 'free website audit', the click should land on the audit, not on a homepage where the visitor must hunt for it.
Use the homepage for general visits, such as people who typed your business name, followed a link from a directory or want to find out who you are.
Good moments for a landing page.
Paid ads
Each ad group can send people to a page that repeats its promise. See how to plan a Google Ads campaign.
Email campaigns
A message about one offer should end on a page about that offer.
Launches and events
A new product, a webinar or an offer gets its own page for as long as it runs.
Free downloads
A checklist or template offered in exchange for an enquiry belongs on a focused page.
What does a good landing page contain?
A landing page is short in structure but careful in content. It repeats the promise that brought the visitor, shows why to believe it and makes the next step easy. Every element either supports the single action or is removed.
Eight things a landing page needs.
- A headline that repeats the promise of the ad or email
- A short explanation of what the visitor gets
- Proof that you can deliver, using only facts you can support
- One main action, with a button or form that is easy to see on a phone
- A form that asks only for what you need to reply
- Fast loading on a mobile connection
- Few distractions, with little or no main menu
- Tracking set up, so you can count enquiries from the page
Tag the links that lead to it with the UTM link builder.
What mistakes do campaigns make?
Most wasted campaign spend is wasted on the page after the click.
Five landing page mistakes.
Sending ad traffic to the homepage
The visitor has to find the offer themselves, and many will not.
A landing page that does not match the ad
A different promise on the page breaks trust at once.
Too many choices
Several buttons and links split attention and lower the number of actions.
A slow page
Visitors leave before it loads, and the click has been paid for.
No way to measure
Without tracking you cannot tell whether the page works.
How does this fit into a wider plan?
Landing pages sit between the campaign and the website. They need design that persuades, development that is fast and tracking that counts. Domeq plans campaigns under Performance Marketing, designs the pages with UI/UX Design and builds them as part of Website Design & Development. If you are unsure whether to start with ads or search, read SEO vs Google Ads.
Questions, answered.
What is a landing page?
A page made for one campaign, offer or audience, usually reached by clicking an ad, email or post. It repeats the promise that brought the visitor and asks for one specific action.
Is a homepage a landing page?
Technically any page a visitor lands on is a landing page, but in marketing the term means a page built for a single purpose. A homepage serves many purposes and many visitors.
Should ads link to the homepage?
Rarely. A page built for the specific ad usually converts better, because the visitor sees at once that it answers what they clicked.
Should a landing page have a navigation menu?
Often not, or only a minimal one. A full menu invites visitors to wander away from the action. Keep a way to reach the main site for those who want it, such as the logo.
How long should a landing page be?
As long as it needs to be to answer a visitor's questions for that offer, and no longer. A simple, low-cost action needs a short page, and a larger decision needs more explanation.
How do I measure a landing page?
Count the share of visitors who take the action, using conversion tracking in Google Analytics. Compare versions one change at a time, and give each enough visitors to be meaningful.
Can Domeq build landing pages for campaigns?
Yes. Domeq plans paid campaigns, designs the pages that follow the click and builds them quickly, with tracking connected. The scope is agreed around the campaign.
Keep reading.
More guides on the same topic, and on the ones around it.
- Seven Google Ads Myths That Waste a Business's BudgetSeven Google Ads myths that waste budget, from 'a bigger budget means more leads' to 'ads work without a good website', with what is true instead.Performance Marketing
- How to Plan a Google Ads Campaign for Lead GenerationHow to plan a Google Ads campaign for leads: set a goal, choose keywords, write the ads, prepare the landing page, track enquiries and review the results.Performance Marketing
- Marketing KPIs for a Small Business: What to MeasureMarketing KPIs for small business: how to choose three or four numbers, which matter by channel, how to set up tracking and which vanity metrics to ignore.Digital Marketing
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