To create a landing page you have four options. Develop the landing page yourself, hire a developer to develop it for you, us Sass software to create it, Hire a designer to create it for you using a SAAS software. 

So there are two ways: Develop the landing page or use a SAAS builder. and with each option, you have to figure out if you have the ability to do that option yourself or hire someone to do it for you. 

Quick introduction, I'm Javon Isaac, an Art Director and Graphic Designer, how you doing! I have experience in various companies that organized and hosted live events, where landing pages played a pivotal role. I build websites for fun and for clients, some of which would benefit more from a landing page vs a full website and I am writing content about landing pages to help people understand the power of a landing page.

 

What is a landing page

For those of you who do not know what a landing page is, it is a single web page that is designed to promote a specific offer or call to action. The offer can be anything from a webinar, event registration, product launch, a single service or a free download to a resource that is going to help build your email list. It is sort of like a website but one page that is super specific and doesn't have navigation links to take you to other related pages. 

 

according to UnBounce

 

Why do you need a landing page

A well-crafted landing page is a great tool for any business or individual seeking to maximize their online presence and conversion rates. Unlike a generic website, a landing page is designed to capture the attention of a specific audience and guide them towards a targeted action. In essence, a well-designed landing page is a powerful tool to boost your online marketing efforts, improve lead generation, and ultimately drive the success of your campaigns.

This article is all about the four ways of getting that landing page online so people can engage with it. If you are looking for strategies to increase conversion rates, or how to get your potential customer leave their email address in that form, or if your goal is to learn how to create a high-converting landing page... this isn't that blog. All of those things comes after you decide which method you will use to get you page on the web. 

 

The Four Options for creating a landing page

Let's compare these for option in terms of cost, time, features, and level of difficulty. Full disclosure, I am a designer in the business of creating landing pages for clients, so this might be a little bias, but it is my truthful opinion on the subject.

 

Option 1 - Develop the landing page yourself

Let's pretend that you are an elite web developer and you know everything you need to know about developing websites with code. I know that only a small percentage of the population can consider themselves a master developer, and if you are you most likely wouldn't be reading this blog post, but here is the breakdown.

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This option gets a score of 13/20. There are very little cost involved because you are using skills you already have and are not paying for a sass builder or spending money to hire someone to create it for you. When it comes to time, you are the service provider and the client, a direct line of communication. Sometimes, if you have the skill, it is faster to do it yourself compared to hiring someone to do it, it adds an extra step in the process and that increases time.

It would be faster to develop it yourself but it is still a slow process. Features scores a 5/5 because theoretically you can get all of the features you could imagine, you are a master develop remember, if there isn't a pre-built system for what you need to do, you can create it yourself. Difficulty scores the lowest out of the four options. It is really hard to become a master web developer, and if you are already master developer, it is still easier to use a web builder. 

 

Option 2 - Hire a Developer to develop the landing page for you

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This option gets a score of 9/20. This option costs the most. The hourly rate for a master web developer can exceed $200 per hour, which is out of a lot of peoples budget. This is also the worst when it comes to time. Again development is a slow and tedious process to begin with, but factoring, that added person you need to onboard for the project and giving them feedback and waiting for revisions, the billable hours can add up fast.

Features stays at the max, again, we are still pretending that they are the best of the best, so they should be able to add every feature you need. Difficulty gets a low score. Even though you are not doing the complex coding, you need to find someone that can do the job and manage them throughout the process. Finding good talent and dealing with people can be tough at times.

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Option 3 - Build a landing page with a SAAS software

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This option scores a 16/20. Cost a little more to use a no-code landing page builder compared to building it from scratch with code. Once you have selected a builder to use the time it takes to build it dramatically decreases compared to the previous option. That time decreases even more if you use prebuilt elements or landing page templates. But you may spend some time on tutorials on how to use the builder until you get the hang of it.

Features are there too. most builders offer a wide range of integrations to do almost anything you need. I don't thing all SAAS product have all the features, so you would have to find the one that fits your needs the best, And they are very easy to use which is why it has the best score for difficulty. I am not going to pretend that you are an elite designer, but if you do have some design skill, the difficulty gets a perfect score.  You can also use free design software like canva to create unique images to improve the the landing page design. I highly recommend this option. 

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Option 4 - Hire a Designer to build the landing page with a SAAS software

This option gets a score of 15/20. This option costs more compared to if you use a builder and do it yourself. The hourly rate for a high-end graphic designer isn't as much as a master web developer but it can easily exceed $150 per hour, which at first glance can also seem to be out of peoples budget, but the right designer can create an effective landing page with a builder in just a couple of hours. The process is fast, which saves you a tone of money in the end. But again, I am a designer and I am in the business of creating perfect landing pages for clients, so this is the bias portion i mentioned earlier.

As far as time goes, you are working with an extra person and you must again go through edits and revisions, which adds time. I recommend choosing a design with a portfolio that has landing page examples that matches the style and layout you are looking for. If they have the exact experience creating the visual elements you are looking for, this option could potentially be the fastest. For the features, that depends on the platform, not perfect but really close.

It is a little easier to find a designer compared to a developer. It is easier to become a a designer so there are a lot more designer out there, but with that said, it is easy to find a designer, but it is a little harder to find a good one, which is why this doesn't get a perfect score. I recommend starting your search on Behance and find someone that has a portfolio that matches you esthetic.   

 

Pros and Cons of building a landing page yourself

Pros:
Cheaper and fun to get your hands dirty with these tools. 

I am confident you can create a simple landing page with a little help from youtube. you can even watch video on landing page design tips to help you design elements that will make you page look like a  professional created it.

Cons:
Can take a little long to finish, and might not look as good compared to hiring a designer. 

Customers tend to take action and spend more money when the see professional designed images compared to something that seems DIY-ish. So if you really want users to hit that action button just hire a designer. 

 

What is a Landing Page Builder?

landing page builders or drag-and-drop builders do a lot more than helping you placed the super cool hero image. It's a tool that is often use in marketing campaigns with the goal of converting a visitor into a customer.

Converting visitors into customers isn't an easy thing to do, it can be a long and slow process that involves some sort of sales funnel, and the best landing pages builders help you at every step of the funnel. I am not going to go into details about the sales funnel but it involves using contact forms to collecting data, typically an email, and periodically providing value via a newsletter and tracking everything with google analytics, until that visitor becomes a customer. 

I know that is a generic and rough over view of a sales funnel but there are many different strategies you can use, and the best landing page builders offer countless integrations to help track and optimize user activity.

Evaluating different landing page builders

There are many different types of landing page builders to choose from. I can not tell you which one is they absolute best because I have had a chance to test them all. And even if I did test them all, which one I think is the best would be my opinion based on the things i need and like.

So I suggest trying out as many as you can and see which one works best for what ever digital marketing strategy you currently have. A successful landing page may look different from industry to industry and everyone has different campaign goals and metrics that are important to them. So test them out and find one that works for you and your budget. 

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