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Hosting landing page on different domain, bad idea?
I’m curious if this is bad and if so why? Ultimately, my goal is to track conversions and analytics.
By having a landing page hosted off of my domain can you tell me why this is a good or bad idea?
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4 Replies
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Could look sketchy, people may not trust the brand if they get sent to a different site. You can just track conversions on your site and use something like Unbounce on a sub-domain.
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Yes, I’d say that in general it’s a bad look.
As a matter of fact, landing page generators in general (whether on different domains or subdomains) are something we’ve started advising against. Especially when it is so easy these days to build lasting, dual-purpose content on the website itself which will help with both organic *and* paid traffic.
We have found that especially for higher-margin products and services, the typical qualified lead will browse multiple pages on the site before making the decision. They’ll want to research, visit your homepage, learn about the company, etc before they either purchase the product or make an inquiry. Landing pages (especially if the template is different than the main site) fracture this experience. They’re often a bit behind the times unless you’re selling a cheap impulse purchase item.
It’s easy to track conversions on your own site, especially using GTM. If you’re selling via an e-com platform like WooCommerce or Shopify, even easier since you can just set up enhanced e-commerce tracking via GA.
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Compromise – host it on a subdomain? That’s what I do when testing new concepts.
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I’ve been a huge fan of tools like Unbounce, that integrate directly into WordPress via plug-in. That way, the lander simply runs as a page on the site but it’s not accessible via site map, so the only way the guest can land on the page is through paid ads.
If you or your client’s CMS is not WordPress, you can assign a cname change and run the lander off of a subdomain. I’ve worked in the SEO/PPC space for 6+ years and have always had success with separate landers that align with the CTA of the ad copy the person just clicked on, and several places for the guest to convert (ie. call tracking number, submission form above the fold, etc).
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