DTC Podcast – Ep 573: Where Should That Click Go? Landing Pages, Homepages, and PDPs (TWBERP)

Date: January 2, 2026
Host: Jordan Gordon
Guest: Taylor Cain (Ecomm Strategist, Pilothouse)

Overview

This episode dives deep into one of the most critical, yet often overlooked, aspects of DTC (direct-to-consumer) marketing: deciding the best destination for your ad traffic—homepage, landing page, or product detail page (PDP). Host Jordan Gordon and guest Taylor Cain discuss the strategies behind choosing where a click from your ad should land, drawing from extensive experience in performance marketing, CRO, and ecomm. The conversation is packed with actionable insights for brand owners and marketers looking to optimize conversion rates and scale efficiently.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Landing Pages? (06:09)

• Landing pages let marketers refine the first impression and tailor messaging after the ad click—especially important for new prospects.
• "A landing page...really refine[s] the first impression and the message you want someone to walk away with after that click off your ad." – Taylor (06:17)

When to Prefer Landing Pages

• High consideration products: More explanation needed before purchase.
• Disruptive ad journeys: When you're breaking someone’s browsing flow, a focused landing page helps tell your story.

When To Stick to Standard Site Experience

• Low-consideration, quick-buy products.
• When brand identity and exploration are more important than driving to a single SKU.

2. Homepages: Purpose & Limitations (09:07)

• Homepage functions:

  • Above the fold – Showcase key product, prompt PDP.
  • Below the fold – Brand promise and lifestyle, drive to category.

• Shortcomings: Limited real estate for direct testing, hard to radically pivot messaging without disrupting the brand presence.

  "There's not a lot of real estate. That’s where you want your core brand message to be...Landing pages are a really nice intermediary." – Taylor (11:02)

3. Using and Testing PDPs (12:05)

• PDP modification = Landing page: Sometimes, changing the PDP (e.g., hiding price before value is established) functions as a landing page.

• Psychological insight: Introducing upsells/cross-sells and value messaging before revealing the price increases conversion.

  "There was more power in the message when we told them how the product worked...before [they saw] the cost." – Taylor (13:00)

• Simple PDP vs. Pricing PDP A/B: Removing price initially can reduce sticker shock and leverage anchoring bias.

4. Iterative Testing & Framework (15:55)

• No blanket answers; everything must be tested in context.

• Many "best practices" are context-dependent; avoid treating "twitter wisdom" as gospel.

• Use tools that integrate seamlessly with your ecomm backend (Shopify, etc.) for fast iteration.

  "Only when you run it do you know." – Jordan (01:40; 15:55)

• Suggested landing page formula: "3 Reasons Why" page, directly adapted from successful UGC or high-performing emails.

5. Scrappy Tactics & Quick Wins (20:45)

• Repurpose high-performing emails as landing pages.
• Always include effective popups / email signups on landing pages—low-hanging fruit for lead generation and measuring ad impact.
• Landing page builders: Prioritize easy Shopify integration and fast setup.

6. Funnels and Traffic Analysis (22:28; 24:45)

• Map out principal site funnels:

  1. Homepage → Best-selling PDP
  2. Homepage → Top category → PDP
  3. Problem-unaware landing page → Category
  4. Solution-aware landing page → PDP
  5. Standard PDP → Cart

• Quantify what share of overall traffic uses these flows to prioritize optimization.

• When core funnels aren't significant, reprioritize and investigate deeper metrics.

  "I’m a big fan of setting expected [outcomes] and then measuring against that…anchoring in risk reduction as you go up." – Taylor (24:47)

• Landing pages can shield your main site’s analytics/SEO when testing new, "risky" acquisition sources.

7. Attribution & Analytics Quirks (27:05)

• Use Shopify’s referral/UTM breakdowns for quick attribution checks, but accept their limitations.
• Sometimes, significant site revenue is missing from breakdowns due to technical quirks (theme issues, missing UTMs); in these cases, shift to other tools (GA, platform-level, or third-party like Triple Whale).

8. Winning Landing Page Examples (29:45)

• High-conversion formula:

  • Eye-catching image + concise offer/message.
  • Clear, sequential benefit messaging.
  • Immediate, shoppable collection below—shop and story all in one.

• Iteratively update with new creative/lifestyle imagery for big conversion lifts.

  "[It] starts with an image...concise messaging to the offer, moves you through core benefits, and then gives you the ability to shop the collection underneath." – Taylor (30:06)

9. Copy, Friction, and Simplicity (31:34; 32:17)

• Headline is king, subheads are skimmed, paragraphs often skipped—but their presence imparts trust and completeness.

• Brands—especially single SKU—often go overboard. Less is more: Prune excess copy and sections; simplicity outperforms clutter.

  "It’s much easier to remove something than to add something new…look for the stuff to take out. It’s so quick." – Jordan (32:30)

10. Choke Points & Heatmapping (33:20)

• Primary choke point: Action user must take to progress (e.g., Add to Cart).
• Secondary choke point: Most-clicked/engaged non-primary section; can reveal hidden distractions or conversion roadblocks.
• Use A/B testing and heatmaps to remove friction and assess what content genuinely supports decision-making.

11. Depth vs. Simplicity

• Not everyone reads below the fold, but some high-intent shoppers do. Balance quick reasons-to-buy above with depth and company legitimacy below.
• The "performative" side—extra copy—can lend legitimacy even if only a fraction reads it, but beware AI-generated content that erodes authenticity.

Memorable Quotes

• On landing pages:

  "A landing page is a chance to really refine the first impression and the message you want someone to walk away with after that click off your ad." – Taylor (06:17)

• On testing theories:

  "We have all these theories and hypotheses, but only when you run it do you know." – Jordan (01:40; 15:55)

• On simplicity:

  "Less is often more...look for the stuff to take out." – Jordan (32:30)

• On user behavior:

  "Headlines get read, subheads get skimmed, and paragraphs get skipped." – Taylor (31:38)

Notable Timestamps

• 06:09 – Why and when to build a landing page
• 09:07 – The double-duty of homepages and their constraints
• 12:05–15:43 – Using landing pages/PDP hybrids for pricing strategy and conversion
• 15:55–18:39 – Iteration, frameworks, and scrappy, high-speed testing
• 20:45 – Repurposing top-performing emails as landing pages and other quick wins
• 22:28 – Mapping out core ecommerce funnels; when and how to optimize them
• 24:45 – Prioritizing optimizations, dealing with traffic splits and data silos
• 27:05 – Attribution challenges and working around them
• 29:45–31:19 – Specific landing page examples and what made them work
• 31:34–33:20 – Copy hierarchy, site simplicity, and conversion optimization
• 33:20–36:42 – Using heatmaps, understanding user reading patterns, "performative" elements on landing pages

Final Thought

This episode provides a highly practical framework for deciding between landing pages, homepages, and PDPs, stressing the importance of rigorous testing, data-informed iteration, and keeping the user journey as frictionless as possible—all while embracing the messiness and surprises inherent in ecommerce.

"In theory, one thing. In practice, another. Be ready to drive around some weird things on that path." – Jordan (20:01)

If you want cutting-edge, practical DTC marketing thinking, add this episode to your must-listen list, and subscribe to the DTC Newsletter at directtoconsumer.co.