Landing pages are some of the most effective and reliable methods to convert website visitors into prospects. There are quite a few things to keep in mind when optimizing a landing page. We will go over them shortly after we discuss common uses for them.

All things considered, landing pages require a great deal of testing and analyzing combined with compelling copy and visual composition. If you are sending prospects to your landing pages via paid search and display ads, you will want to make sure you have a fully optimized and compelling landing page to ensure you are converting at a high rate.

In this article, we will show you common uses for Pardot landing pages, how to build a landing page in Pardot, and provide you with up-to-date resources and best practices.

Uses for Pardot Landing Pages

You may want to use a Pardot landing page for:

• Scheduling a demo
• Downloading a whitepaper
• Contacting a sales rep
• Asking for sales collateral
• Downloading a case study

Scheduling demos

Scheduling demo landing pages are typically created when a prospect is in the decision stage of the buyer’s journey. In the decision stage, a prospect has already acknowledged they have a problem, he/she has evaluated their options and is now looking for a solution with your services.

Downloading white papers

White papers are long-form pieces of content that show your authority and experience in your industry. This is positioned to a prospect when they are in between the awareness and consideration phase of the marketing funnel. You can offer this piece of content as gated or non-gated, depending on how valuable or proprietary the content is.

Contacting sales rep

Landing pages that include click to call buttons can drive high-quality conversions because you are giving the impression that prospects are not just leads – they are people too. Make the process as painless as possible by providing easy access to a real person who can help.

Asking for sales collateral

Sales collateral are typically focused around the decision stage, similar to scheduling demos. With the help of your sales collateral, your prospects can explore which potential solutions are right for them.

Common sales collateral:

• Comparison charts
• Breakdown of services
• Frequently asked questions

Downloading a case study

Case studies are another form of valuable content that you can position as a value proposition. Having a case study not only empowers you with credibility but allows the prospect to read about past customer experiences and success stories.

Along with understanding common uses for a landing page, it’s also important to know how to build one that leaves a lasting impression. Next, we will go more in-depth with creating optimized landing pages in Pardot.

Creating a Pardot Landing Page

Before you can begin to create your first Pardot landing page, you will need to understand the mechanics of Pardot layout templates, forms, and landing pages.

You will need to follow these steps:

1. Define your goal
2. Create your layout template
3. Choose your form
4. Add landing page content

Define your goal

The first step to creating a Pardot landing page is defining your goal. Without defining what your goals are for your landing page, it may be difficult to lay the groundwork in building a fully optimized one. Are you trying to convince your web visitors to submit a demo request or download a whitepaper?

Once you decide which different metrics you want to report on, you want to create a clear call to action that corresponds so with your product or service and pushes your prospect further down the sales funnel.

Create a layout template

Pardot has a layout template builder that you will work out of when you create a layout template.

The layout template has two tabs:

• Form. You can control the structure of your forms under this tab. Elements like fields, labels, and submit buttons all show up in the correct order. You will rarely need to modify this.
• Layout. In this section, you manage the look and feel of your landing page.

To begin, Pardot provides you with the option of completely customizing a layout template or use one of its responsive templates that already contains all of the necessary variable tags, codes, and content regions for an easier editing experience. Please note that drag and drop landing page elements are only available for stock templates.

Note: If you choose to add your own custom code, you may need to have some background in front-end coding languages like HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

In the Layout tab, you can select a responsive layout from the Import Layout dropdown. From here, you can make edits to your page styling, page structure, form styling, and content regions.

Make sure to preview any changes that you make and save your layout template. Next, you will want to apply your template to a new or existing landing page by going to Marketing -> Landing pages. Select the content layout and choose the layout template that you’ve just created.

Choose Your Form

As we explained earlier, Pardot has smart forms that are short and simple. Next, you will want to choose the form you created earlier so that it populates into your landing page.

Add landing page content

Your landing page content is where you can simply drag and completely customize everything to align with your brand and message.

If you click into a white space anywhere on the landing page content, you will be able to drag any of the following blocks:

• Textbox
• Image
• Video
• Table
• Button
• Background

Pardot’s responsive templates allow you to manipulate anything you want on the page. For example, if you drag a video block – a video window will pop up where you can paste in your video embed code and your video will play on your page wherever you place it.

Testing landing pages

The last step is to test and optimize your landing pages. In order to take your Pardot landing pages to the next level, you can use multivariate testing or A/B testing. This allows you to test what multiple elements and layout versions convert the best.

Testing and tracking results are essential for seeing what your landing page in Pardot is doing right, and what it is doing wrong.

Below, you’ll find how A/B and multivariate testing works.

A/B testing

A/B testing is a way to see which design or copy resonates with your audience more. The process is simple: build identical landing pages and alter one aspect of them.

For example, have landing page A have a different heading than landing page B, or modify the design and keep the copy on each landing page the same. The one that produces a better conversion rate, wins.

Multivariate tests

Similar to A/B testing, multivariate testing uses the same core system but compares a higher number of different variables and reveals more information about how these variables compete with each other. The purpose of a multivariate test is to track and measure the effectiveness each design performs.

As a caveat, it does take more time than A/B testing but also returns with more accurate results.

As you can see, while A/B and multivariate testing share the same basis; however, there are key differences between the two. A/B testing is the least complicated method when evaluating a landing page design. The advantages of using A/B testing is simple in concept and design, while multivariate testing proves to be a little more complex because of so many elements are up for debate.

Conclusion

In short, we should always be improving our marketing initiatives. When you are consistent with running tests on your landing pages, it allows you to bridge any gaps you may have missed.

Read the next section to learn more about Pardot email marketing.