10 Tips for Creating Landing Pages in Marketo

Over the years I’ve created hundreds, if not thousands of Marketo landing pages. It seems like every time I create a landing page I learn something new. Sometimes it’s a new feature Marketo released that makes my life easier, or sometimes it’s a new trick for creating better landing pages. Here are my top 10 tips for creating landing pages in Marketo.

1. Upload all CSS files to Marketo

Have you ever run into the issue where the styling for your Marketo landing page doesn’t display properly in the editor? This is most likely because your landing page template references an external CSS file and the editor is not pulling it in. To fix the issue, you can download the CSS file and upload it under Design Studio > Images & Files and update the landing page template to use the Marketo hosted file.

2. Guided Templates vs Free Form Templates

In May 2015 Marketo released fully responsive landing pages, also called guided landing pages. Unlike the free-form (drag & drop) landing page editor the new guided landing page editor provides structured editing for fully responsive landing pages. Learn how to create fully-responsive, guided landing pages in my tutorial.

3. Name the page elements

When you drag and drop an element on a landing page, it will have a default name that is not descriptive (ex. “HTML 1” or “Rich Text 1”). Rename these areas by double clicking the name in the sidebar under page elements. Not only will this keep your landing page organized, but if you add any custom styles to the page, the names become the IDs of the elements.

marketo-name-landing-page-elements

4. Generate an external preview link

Share your landing page draft with anyone, even if they don’t have access to Marketo, by generating a preview link. Preview links can be generated by navigating to landing page actions > generate preview URL. This is a great feature for anyone who wants to share their landing page with stakeholders but doesn’t want to approve it in Marketo and have it publicly available yet.

Marketo-generate-preview-url

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5. Activate the mobile version

If you are using a free from landing page template you will see an option in the landing page editor to activate the mobile verison. Activating this will allow you to switch out the content and images for a mobile friendly version.

marketo-landing-page-mobile-version

Note: Activating the mobile version will strip out any header and footer content that is defined within your landing page template.

6. Add page meta tags

Adding meta tags to Marketo landing pages are usually overlooked. You can add them in the landing page editor under landing page actions > edit page meta tags.

marketo-add-mobile-tags-for-seo

7. Change the URL

By default, Marketo will use the name of your program and the landing page name to create the URL for the page. This can mean that the URL is not easy to remember and not SEO friendly. Update your landing page URL by navigating to landing page actions > edit URL settings.

marketo-edit-landing-page-url

8. Stop the WYSIWYG editor from adding in paragraph and DIV tags

Have you ever experienced an issue with the WYSIWYG editor adding unwanted paragraph tags or DIV tags to your landing page? Turn this feature off by navigating to Admin > Email > Editor Settings and change the landing page editor root block elements to none.

Marketo-root-editor-settings

9. Make your images responsive too

Marketo automatically sets a width and a height for all images that are added in the landing page editor. To make the image responsive, select the image and click on the image icon in the WYSIWYG editor and set the width to 100% and the height to auto.

Marketo-change-image-size

10. Change the height of the elements

If you are seeing some whitespace at the bottom of your landing page, or some of the landing page elements are not showing up when you view the page, try adjusting the height of the template elements. This can be done by clicking on the element in the sidebar and then adjusting the height in the property sheet.

Marketo-template-elements

Marketo-template-elements-change-height

Have some Marketo questions?

Send them to me by emailing me, sending me a tweet @jennamolby or by leaving a comment