A landing page or a multi-page website: what a business should choose

Any business that is going to order a website sooner or later comes up against this choice: make a landing page or a full multi-page website. The first is faster and cheaper, the second is broader and works for search. Both formats are good, each for its own task.

We will go through how they differ and give five questions that will help you decide for your particular case.

What a landing page is

A landing page is a single page that leads a person to one action: to leave a request, to sign up, to buy. There are no extra links or sections on it. The offer, the benefits, cases, answers to objections and the form go in the order in which a person makes a decision.

Its strength is in combination with advertising. A user came from an ad with a specific promise and immediately sees a page that confirms that promise. How we make landing pages is on the service page.

What a multi-page website is

A multi-page website is a structure of pages where each service and each client problem has its own address. Each such page answers a specific search query, so the website can bring clients from Google and Yandex on its own, without paying for each click.

A comparison with examples

The difference is best seen in two of our projects.

A community needs a clear page that explains what is inside and leads to a request. A car rental needs to be found by hundreds of different queries, from a specific model to renting in the right city. These are different tasks, and they require different formats.

Five questions to choose

1. Question 1

   Where will clients come from?

   If from advertising, a landing page for a specific ad will do. If you want to be found on your own, you need a website with a structure for search.

2. Question 2

   How many services do you have?

   One or two similar services can be shown on one page. If there are many services, each needs its own page.

3. Question 3

   How broad is the demand?

   A narrow and clear demand calls for a landing page. Dozens of different queries call for a multi-page website.

4. Question 4

   How fast do you need a result?

   A landing page launches in 14 days. A website needs more time, but it works all the time.

5. Question 5

   What will happen in a year?

   If you plan to grow, build the structure in from the start or begin with a landing page that later becomes part of the website.

Can a landing page be promoted in search

It can, if the demand is narrow and clear. An SEO base is built into a landing page: meta tags, microdata and loading speed. But for a broad demand with dozens of queries a multi-page website is more effective. We handle promotion as a separate service: SEO promotion.

A landing page is an answer to one question. A website is the answers to hundreds.

Code Republic

Common mistakes when choosing

• A landing page instead of a website for a business with dozens of services: the page turns out endless and loses focus.
• A multi-page website for a narrow offer: you pay for a structure you do not need.
• A website without a promotion plan: beautiful but invisible to search.
• A landing page without analytics: it is unclear which advertising brings requests.

What to do next

If you are unsure, tell us about your task: we will look at the niche and the competitors and suggest the format that solves your particular task. You can compare the formats in more detail on the “Landing page” and “Website development” pages, and read about the cost in the article “How much a website costs in Astana”.