Landing Page - Seeking Import from URL Feature

[Anonymous]

Coming over from Pardot, I was told that Marketo has an easy import (like Pardot) where you can paste a URL in, and it copies the page usually 100% accurate into a landing page.

But I was just told that it only imports the images. Very unhelpful and disappointing.

How do you all import a complicated web site and use it to create a landing page?

What I want to import is this page I designed. It's not complete, but it's close.

http://riskassistlanding1.businesscatalyst.com/index.html

I was told to import the images, java, scripts, css and form info and then change the URL. I did that but it looks like a big mess. Outside some of the images appearing, it's maybe the worse looking web site ever.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of anyone discussing this import "feature" - and I can see a lot of reasons why it would be very difficult (or impossible) to implement on any platform. 

When you copy over your original HTML document, are you changing the CSS stylesheet pointers to reflect the new directory that the landing page is living in? E.g. changing from relative to an absolute reference since your Marketo instance normally creates landing pages on a subdomain instead of in your home directory.

Most of us don't actually create complicated landing pages just for the sake of complexity - simple landing pages are better for lead capture since the call to action is the only "place" for the lead to go - and you can do your sales pitch with the pre-landing-page content that the lead sees as they navigate through your site, or with the follow-up after the initial touch. 

The problem with super complex pages like the one that you are referencing is that they are really hard to duplicate/modify en masse - and not really suitable for tokenization and hand-off to non-technical content creators on your team.

[Anonymous]

Pardot has had it for about 4 years. It's awesome. Imagine going to Yahoo.com and in 5 seconds you have the page copied where you can change and update any test, images, forms, etc. I was able to design amazing sites that just aren't possible in Pardot or Marketo's simple interface.

Pardot created it for people who want to copy a page on their company's web site and use that look and feel as a landing page with little effort. And it would also bring over complicated sliders, forms, video, etc.

And when I switched companies, and I had the chance to shop Marketo again, I asked. And was told this feature was available. Sadly, it actually is not.

Yes, I changed the CSS, images, java, forms. I was told from a Marketo designer that I could change it to a new relative. The images appear, so it appears to work. Maybe I'll just make it all absolute.

I am just disappointing that a month in, Marketo has revealed that one of the big selling features to our company is actually not available. I think they were referencing how they can capture the images from a site. Which is totally not what I want or need. I have the images already because I designed the site.

The only way I can find this to work is to NOT import it into Marketo and host it like a GoDaddy.com site and buy a unique URL. Maybe you forward the pages.

But that isn't ideal and totally ruins the point.

Thanks for the feedback. I wish Marketo had this feature.

[Josh_Hill13]

That's right, there is no such feature.

It's best to build your own LP template using the Guided Landing Page editor or the older template model. There are examples at template.marketo.com or docs.marketo.com.

Another method is to embed a marketo form on one of your actual website pages. Some find this works better with the design issues.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, like if our company is HorizonInvestments.com. Maybe we buy a similar URL to host these graphically pleasing landing pages I am building and then build www.HorizonInvestments.com/landingpage1 to forward.

I appreciate the Marketo editor, but the editor is too simple to me. They create sites that look 10 years old.

I am able to design something special and wish I could easily implement it.

Thanks for the feedback, though.

[Grant_Booth · Accepted solution]

Hi Chris,

It sounds like you know your way around HTML and CSS alright - have you tried just viewing the source code of the page, then copying and pasting it into a landing page template in Marketo? Once you've done that, you just need to change relative paths to be absolute (CTRL F to search, then copy/paste), decide which sections are editable, etc. I haven't tried Pardot's editor (and since I work in Support, this is my technical opinion rather than a sales pitch), but my experience with features which sound similar to what you've described is that they're more intended for a sales pitch power-point presentation of "look how easy it is" and don't actually make the process significantly easier. I hold this opinion about a number of features in many different platforms.

I highly recommend you try pasting the code into Marketo's guided-mode landing page editor, and then modifying it to function as a template. Once it's set up as a template, you can create as many similar pages as you want and easily switch out forms, images, etc. Our documentation on the editor can be found here:

Create a Guided Landing Page Template - Marketo Docs - Product Docs

Guided Mode (Easy) - Marketo Docs - Product Docs

Grant

[Anonymous]

Let me ask one question:

If I added the munchkin, is there any disadvantage of using a Landing Page hosted outside Marketo vs. one inside?

[Grant_Booth]

For landing pages outside Marketo, form prefill and progressive profiling are disabled for security reasons, although with developer knowledge one can use the SOAP or REST APIs to create a similar affect.

[Anonymous]

Okay, not huge, but helpful.

Thanks for all your help.