How I Use Squarespace Cover Pages To Attract New Clients
Do you offer a service in your business, yet that service can be used for different purposes? For instance, a computer repair shop that specializes in Apple computers but also works on PCs; a hairdresser who may primarily works on brides, but can also do hair for a young girl’s quincenañera; and of course, a DJ that mostly spins at weddings, but also works high school dances too.
Service providers can no longer be single faceted. And for me as a DJ, one of the places this needs to be conveyed is on my website. In 2016 I emceed 23 weddings, 20 yoga and fitness events and then another 30 or so “other events.” With this diverse list of work, I could really confuse and possibly deter a potential client if they arrive on my site and are unable to find information about their event type that they would want me to DJ.
A homepage with a singluarly focused subject matter may deter potential customers.
Squarespace cover pages are a great way to route incoming web traffic to the correct places on your website.
Many potential clients are naturally routed to a provider’s homepage. This could be from a referral site such as Yelp or Wedding Wire. Or perhaps via a Google Adwords advertisement. When they are arriving via search, it’s imperative that the landing page has exactly what they were searching for.
Given that, imagine this scenario: A potential 40th birthday client searches for “birthday party DJ in San Diego.” There’s a Google ad on the right hand side and she clicks on it. It’s been programmed to go to the website’s homepage. The photo she sees is a wedding couple having the time of their life at at their wedding. The links are generic, “about,” “services,” “blog” etc. She thinks, “hmmm, I don’t think he does birthday parties,” and then clicks away.
So what’s the solution and the best way to provide information your potential customers are looking for? Customized direct landing pages. The content manage system I use is Squarespace, and it labels this feature “Cover Pages.”
Content specific landing pages are not only useful, but important. I rarely send potential customers to my homepage. Instead, I’ve created landing pages for the three event types I DJ, and it is one of those three pages where they are routed.
Image 1a
This is an important online advertising strategy. Nearly 100% of the test searches I conduct for DJ services lead me to that DJ company’s homepage. Advertisers who are paying for certain keywords and search terms are leading visitors to pages that are not relevant to their search and are definitely losing customers.
Referencing the previous scenario, I did a search for “DJs in Portland,” (see image 1a) playing the role of someone looking for a wedding DJ. Clicking on the first result that came up, I arrived at a page that only had bar/bat mitzvah information. It took another click before I was confident the company also provided wedding service.
Further, if the images on the landing page are not representative of the event they need a DJ for (in this case a wedding), it gives them further reason to continue their search elsewhere.
How I Did It
Now that I’ve told you about direct landing pages and why they are important, I’m going to show you exactly how I use them in my business. I mentioned earlier that I have three specific landing pages for the type of events I do. Since setting those up initially, I’ve even developed sub-categories of those landing pages.
Imagine if you are a wedding DJ that specializes in Indian weddings. One landing page could be created for general weddings and the other for Indian weddings. The links on the general page could take the visitor to your wedding blog, while the other takes visitors to a specific blog page showing only filtered results of Indian weddings.
While I do not specialize in a wedding type, I did create a few custom landing wedding pages.
Weddings
General Wedding Landing Page
This is my generic wedding landing page that shows a great picture of the couple and guests having a good time. Most importantly very few links: contact, blog and resource guide.
This is an example of a generic wedding landing page created on the DJ Kanoya Productions website.
Parents/Family Landing Page
Occasionally I have a parent that makes the initial contact with me and participate in the decision making process. When that occurs, rather than send them to my general wedding page, I send them to a page that specifically addresses that the parties I create encompass the entire family. This picture perfectly captures that my events have people of all ages on the dance floor.
When communicating with a parent of a potential wedding client, visitors to the DJ Kanoya Productions website are routed via this landing page.
Wedding Wire Landing Page
This is the landing page for traffic arriving via my Wedding Wire storefront link. This is specifically greeting the visitor and acknowledging they are coming from Wedding Wire. This would work for any traffic arriving via a referral site (i.e. The Knot, Yelp, or maybe a lead from a trade show).
Personalize your referring site web traffic by specifically mentioning the destination they are arriving from. In this case, the first line says, “Glad we connected through Wedding Wire.”
Yoga & Fitness
I’ve started to establish a niche in DJing fitness and yoga events. As I’ve worked these events, I’ve created content related to these event types, so it made sense to direct these potential client types to fitness event specific event information.
This landing page also keep things simple, showcasing a photo of me working a Fitbit event, with just three links: fitness event related blog posts and photos and a way to contact me.
With a speciality in yoga and fitness events, it was important to create a specific landing page on my website for that traffic.
DJ Justin Kanoya
Lastly I have my “miscellaneous category” or inquiries from people that need information on me. Using that same philosophy of someone planning a birthday party not needing to be confused by information about weddings or fitness events, I bring them to this landing page that also has three links: my blog, a podcast interview I participated in, and of course, a contact me link.
Always make it easy for someone to contact you!
Rather than sending a link to the “About” section on your website, create an attractive landing page like this.
Landing pages are a great way to breathe some new life into your site as well as segment your client base, sending them into a direction that is specific to their needs. And a potential client whose initial experience with you is easy will always have a better chance in converting to a new booked client.