What is a Pre-landing Page?
A pre-landing page (prelander) sits between the ad click and the main landing page or offer. It warms the user, handles objections, and raises conversion odds: news-style layout, review, quiz, before/after story, or simulated comments.
In affiliate marketing, prelanders are common when sending ad traffic straight to an aggressive landing yields low CR or fails traffic source moderation. The prelander softens the pitch; the final landing or offer can use a harder sell.
Common formats
- News / blog style — article with a media-like headline; “learn more” moves users down the funnel.
- Advertorial — editorial-style product review (subject to disclosure rules).
- Quiz — question series with a personalized result on the last step.
- Comparison / ranking — “top 5 supplements”, “best casinos” — typical in nutra and gambling.
- Video prelander — VSL (video sales letter) before the order form.
Position in the funnel
Typical chain: ad creative → prelander → landing → offer. In a tracker, prelander and landing are separate flow steps; the click is recorded at funnel entry, then redirects preserve subid.
For moderation, some funnels show a soft prelander (safe page) while sending real users to a money page — practices tied to cloaking and platform policy violations.
Metrics and testing
Teams measure click-through from prelander to the next step, time on page, bounce rate, and final CR/EPC of the full stack. A weak prelander raises effective CPC per conversion even when ad CTR is strong.
GEO localization (language, currency, cultural cues) is critical; one template rarely performs the same in Tier-1 and Tier-3 markets.