If done well, a landing page can be a particularly effective way of promoting a Christian Science lecture. For those of you who may be wondering what the benefits of a landing page are, here is an excerpt from a report I recently wrote:
What is a landing page?
A landing page is like a web page, but it is simplified and has a very specific purpose, without other information to distract from that purpose. Because of its singular purpose, search engines are more likely to recognise it as focused on that topic, and therefore there is potential to reach those who are seeking info on that topic. It can be used as a central web location for a particular event or group of events.
A landing page allows a simple focus without distractions. It is similar to a flyer in its layout and simplicity. Its intent is not to overload the visitor with extra information, but just to provide the information people are seeking, with a visual appeal that encourages people to respond. Due to its specific focus, a landing page is also more likely to be found on search engines by people specifically looking for an inspiring talk.
A shared landing page
“Wisdom, economy, and brotherly love” (Manual Art.XXIV, Sect.5)
One idea to consider in loving your online seeker is whether to provide just one web location to find all information relating to Christian Science lectures in your locality. It would potentially be easier for people to share events with friends and family who might live elsewhere in the surrounding area. And instead of joining multiple mailing lists they could join just one mailing list to be notified of all future events in your vicinity. Each lecture promoted would need to clearly state the sponsoring branch(es) and have a link to their website. People could then return to the site after the event to view a video or audio replay.
And, for those branches who wish to share all upcoming events from the surrounding churches with their website visitors, it would seem wise and economical to have one website showing all upcoming events and video or audio of recent events, thereby:
- allowing them to simply place a link to it on their websites
- removing the need to create other branch’s events on their websites
- removing the need to place lecture video or audio files on their websites
- enabling analytics reporting to be set up on the page to measure the effectiveness of various advertising campaigns.
Collecting useful data through registrations
A further economical benefit would be the ability to allow registrations for events. This would only work if the page were simple enough with no other information distracting from the message, such as on a landing page. Registrations would provide the following benefits:
- People would be automatically added to the mailing list.
- Interest in an event or topic could be gauged.
- Useful data could be collected such as how they found out about the event, what future topics they would like to see, and feedback about the lectures, venues, etc. This would make future efforts wiser and more focused on lovingly meeting the needs of the community.
Presenting lectures as community-focused events
Due to its simple focus on the upcoming event(s) and appeal to search engines, the landing page also provides the potential to present Christian Science lectures as community-focused events.
If you’re interested in exploring this option for your branch, please be in touch.