How to create a landing page in Google Docs

TechCopywriting
Written By Sarah Henson

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links to products or services that I recommend. I may receive a commission should you sign up through my link (but at no additional cost to you). I only suggest products and services that I wholeheartedly support and believe in and have either used myself or have used on behalf of a private client.

 
 

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OR if you need someone to set you up with an all-in-one solution, check out The Tech Remedy.

If you prefer to DIY it, here’s what you need to do…

If you’re just setting up online and want to test your ideas first before spending thousands of dollars on a website, then using this method to get an offer online is a great solution. It’s the perfect solution when setting up “all the things” is overwhelming, plus bootstrapping (spending as little as possible) might have to be your thing until you start making revenue. So how do you get your offer online, fast?

How to create a landing page in Google docs

GET YOUR OFFER ONLINE, IN AN INSTANT, WITH THIS LOW-TECH SOLUTION

So you have an idea to offer a service or a product and the first question that comes to mind is “do I need a website?”.

And the answer is no – not straight away! You can use this low-tech method for getting your offer online in an instant.

In this post I’m going to show you the one and only thing you really need to get started and that’s a landing page with some information on what you do or what you sell so that you’re not constantly fielding emails or writing out the same thing over and over as you get enquiries.

All you’ll then need to do is direct people to your landing page to learn more.

What can you use a Google Docs Landing Page for?

You can use this type of a landing page as a quick solution for:

  • Information about your new product when seeking investment or interest from the public at trade fairs.

  • Information about your service as a provider, for people to get in touch with you if they want to hire you.

  • How to book appointments with you for consultations or service enquiries.

Why a Landing Page in your Google Drive?

You CAN create landing pages on a website, or a pages platform like LeadPages as your first page, but if you don’t want to deal with the headaches of setting up all that tech, or investing the money, you can just use a Google Doc that you share with people.  

Also if you have a domain name already purchased you can also redirect your URL to the shared Google Doc.

Even if you have an established business and have a fully functioning website, this is a quick and easy solution if you want to get an offer out there right away. So, I’m going to quickly show you how to set up a landing page in Google Docs.

First I’ll show you how you set up a landing page and link to it. And then secondly I’ll dive into what you should be including on your landing page to make sure it’s working for you – I’m talking persuasive copy and a call-to-action.

Watch the video below, or scroll to read the instructions.

No need to take notes! Get the main takeaways by entering your details below!

GET THE LANDING PAGE COPY GUIDE & CHECKLIST

MAKE SURE YOU’RE INCLUDING ALL THE RIGHT ELEMENTS IN YOUR LANDING PAGE

    PHASE ONE

    How to create a Google Doc landing page - the tech stuff!

    STEP 1: Sign into your Google account and navigate to Google Drive or Google Docs using the grid icon when you select your avatar in the top right corner of your screen.

    STEP 2: Click the + button on the top left and select Google Docs to create a new doc.

    STEP 3: Add the copy you want for your landing page and style it up using the font selection or the head/title drop downs in the menu bar. If you want to add a link for people to contact you (linked to an appointment scheduler), an email address, or even a link to get on a waitlist for when your product releases, then you can highlight your text and add your link URL using the link button in the navigation (see the video at 4 Minutes 15 Seconds for guidance).

    If you want to know how to make your Google Doc look more professional using some images and font selections, check out this post: 13 Things (You Didn’t Know) You Can Do With Google Docs

    STEP 4: Once you have completed your Doc, you’ll need to grab the share link by clicking File> Share> Get Link (remember to change the settings so that anyone with the link can view). Then copy the link shown in the box.

    STEP 5 (optional): Making it a PDF: If you’d rather be a PDF in your Google Drive that people view, then be sure to select File> Download> PDF Document.  Once it downloads to your device, find it in your downloads folder (if you’re using a Mac, you can find it in the bottom bar of your browser), then drag and drop it to the location you want in your Google Drive.  You then get the share link for that using the method above in Step 4.

    STEP 6: Redirect your Domain name to this new URL link so that people can view your information as you hand out your domain name via social media or on a business card. See below how to do this in NameCheap.

    How to redirect your domain name to your Google Doc

    In this part of the tutorial I’ll be showing you how to redirect a domain name in NameCheap.com to your Google Doc. 

    1. Copy your share link from your Google Doc or PDF.

    2. Sign into your NameCheap account

    3. Navigate to your domain name and click the “manage” button

    4. Scroll to “Redirect Domain”

    5. Click in the box “Destination URL”

    6. Paste in your Google Doc link in and click the green check mark

    It may take some time for the redirect to activate, but from now on whenever someone types in your domain name, they’ll be redirected to your Google Doc or PDF in your Drive.

    How to set up a short link to your Google Doc landing page

    You can also create a short link to redirect to your landing page by using apps like Tiny.cc or Bit.ly. I prefer Tiny.cc because you have the option to change your link in the future if you want, whereas Bit.ly doesn’t allow this.

    1. Copy your share link from your Google Doc or PDF.

    2. Sign into your Tiny.cc account.

    3. Click the Shorten URLs button.

    4. Paste your URL into the box and choose an appropriate shortened link to use.

    5. Click Shorten It and voila you have your new shortened link.

    PHASE TWO 

    What are the elements you should include on your landing page?

    It’s all very well knowing how to set up a landing page but you’ll want to make sure that your new landing page is going to do something for you. 

    Note: This should be PHASE ONE whereas the creation of the page (above) is PHASE TWO - but since you likely found this post through a search for “how to create a landing page in Google Docs”, I wanted to give you that information first before we dive into the creative side of it.

     

    No need to take notes – get the main takeaways from this post by entering your details below!

    GET THE LANDING PAGE COPY GUIDE & CHECKLIST TO MAKE SURE YOU’RE INCLUDING ALL THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN YOUR LANDING PAGE

       

      The creative side is where your copywriting skills will come into play – don’t worry if you don’t have any copy skills yet, you’ll find links at the end of this post with some resources on how to write copy that converts – but for now I’ll share what you need on your page to give it the best chance to convert.

      And when I say convert, I mean get your reader to do the thing you want them to do. So that’s where we start!

      What is the purpose of your landing page?

      Decide what the purpose of your landing page is. Ask yourself… “what do I want my reader to do?”

      Is it to book a call with you? To donate to your fundraiser? To add their name to a product launch interest list? To book a consultation? To buy your product? To download a free report?

      Start with your end goal in mind and work backwards from there.

      The 7 essential elements to include in your landing page

      1. Headline

      You have about 7 seconds (give or take) to grab your reader’s attention. Your headline’s one and only job is to do this so that they’re curious to know more and continue reading.

      Whilst we started with the end in mind (the purpose of your landing page), we should also think about our headline LAST. This is how we reverse engineer our customer’s journey.

      You can consider your headline as the thing that contains all the juice and promises of what’s to come when they continue reading and then take action.
      So with this in mind your headline should contain one of these elements: A promise, a benefit, a result, a dream or goal achieved, a vision of the future.

      2. What you do or what your product does

      You need to clearly articulate what it is you do or what your product does. This means getting back to basics and writing it in such a simple way that a five year old can understand it. 

      Try to avoid using the “clever” ways of describing what you do or using industry jargon (unless you know your reader is at the same level as you in terms of understanding your industry’s terminology), instead drill down to the bare bones in as simple a way as possible. so that 

      3. Who it’s for

      Be extremely clear about who you’re targeting with your copy. It may be that your service or product can be used by a multitude of people but the more niched you are in the copy on your landing page the higher chances of converting your reader.  

      When considering your offer, you may find that you create several different landing pages for the same product or service, with each one highlighting a different ideal client or customer.

      4. What results they can expect

      Think of this part as a formula. If your reader follows your advice or method, or uses your product in the correct way, what will happen? If they use X and do Y what will they get?

      You should make a stand on the results that your reader can expect if they take action on your offer. Imagine they did everything right and it all went to plan, what will they now be able to achieve or what will they now have where they didn’t before?

      Try to go into as much detail as possible to get a very clear picture of their results.

      5. What makes you / your product unique or different

      You’ll want to highlight what makes your service or product different from everything else out there on the market.  Do you shorten the amount of time it takes to get results? Do you have a unique method for providing results? Does your product use a unique ingredient or material? 

      These questions are for you to dig into to see how you can position yourself uniquely in your market place by going above and beyond what others are doing.

      Differentiators could be: price, availability, method, ingredients, material, time frame, combined results, or ultra-specific solution.

      6. Proof

      You want to make sure that you can prove your service or product does what you say it does.

      The best way to showcase this is to provide statistics and data around the results and include testimonials or case studies from past clients or customers. 

      7. What they should do next

      This is where you provide your reader with a call to action to take the next step in their journey with you. Everything you’ve detailed before this should all be in support of your reader taking the action you want and thereby fulfilling the purpose of the landing page (which is the goal you set before creating your page).

      Bonus: Make it emotionally compelling

      Throughout all of these elements you’ll want to appeal to your reader’s emotions by… adding in a picture of what’s possible for them, giving them hope of a better solution or better future, giving them permission to forgive themselves for past failures, stirring a desire to achieve their goal. 

      This is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to truly understanding your prospect and using persuasive language to motivate them to take action. People make decisions based on emotion and they use logic to back it up, so if you can get a little emotional in your copy, you’ll be winning when it comes to connecting with your reader.

      Download the Landing Page Copy Guide & checklist

      Want to make sure you have everything included on your landing page to make sure it’s a conversion machine for your business? Download the main takeaways from this post complete with a checklist to make sure you’ve got all the right elements in place.

         
        Sarah Henson

        Email Copywriter

        https://sarahhenson.co.uk
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