| If you’re looking for an easy and low
risk way to increase your landing page conversion rates, then use the conversion rate
optimization strategies outlined in this online guide.
About Conversion Rate Optimization:
Conversion Rate Optimization is the continual process of
making your Web Site and landing pages generate better results from your visitor traffic.
For example, more leads, opt-ins, and more sales.
Conversion Rate Optimization is also the fastest and
easiest strategy to increase your sales without spending more money on increasing your
traffic.
In fact, the most successful companies test everything. For
example, www.GoToMyPC.com increased their conversion
rates by 400% by testing the following…
- Headlines
- Call to Action
- Copy
- Images
- Graphics
- Button Look
- Button Text
- Button Location
- No Links
- Press Quotes
- Testimonials
- Pricing
- Flow Through Process
- And more
Optimizing Your Landing Page’s "Conversion
Funnel"
If you review your web site statistics (called “log
files”) you’ll notice the following 4 things are happening on your landing
pages…
The largest percentage of your visitors are bailing within
0-8 seconds after briefly viewing your landing page.
The second largest percentage of visitors bail when they
decide your landing page does not prove compelling.
A small percentage of visitors attempt to convert (buy or
use a contact form to become a lead) but fail. Many of these people will call.
A small percentage of visitors convert.
Conversion rate optimization is the process of optimizing
your landing pages to minimize your "bail out rate" and maximize your
"conversion rate" (CR).
The Top 6 Landing Page Components to Optimize for
Maximizing Your Conversions
The following are the top 6 conversion components that
should be tested and improved to boost your conversion rates…
Headline - Since your headline is the first line that your
visitors will read, the headline of your web page offers the biggest opportunity (about
80% of the opportunity) for improvements in conversion rate. Use headlines that clearly
state the biggest benefit(s) that your product offers.
Offer - Since your offer is the “call to action”
that asks your visitors to act (purchase, sign up, opt-in), your offer accounts for the
second the biggest opportunity for improvements in conversion rate.
Lead - The “lead” or first paragraph is the third
biggest opportunity for improvements in your conversion rate. Leads must be written with
strong benefits that capture your visitor’s attention and make them want to read
more.
Benefits - The “benefit bullets” (bullet-point
format) are the forth biggest opportunity for improvements in conversion rate. List your
benefits in the order of your product’s “value hierarchy” to your target
market. In other words, state your product’s strongest benefit first, and its weakest
benefit last.
Images - The images you use have a big impact on your
conversion rates. The best practice is to use images that clearly portray the biggest
benefit your product offers your customer (rather than generic "feel good" stuff
like unknown logos and clip art). Studies show that product images work best when placed
to the left of your product description (or lead paragraph) since it makes it easier to
read your copy from left to right. Plus, people like to reads “captions” under
your images almost as much as they read your headlines. So, add powerful captions and make
your images clickable to the order/sign up page.
"Look & Feel" - According to a recent study
by Stanford University, 46% of Web sales are lost on web sites that lack the critical
elements that build value and trust with website visitors. The number one reason the
people indicated why they wouldn't buy from a web site was because it had an
unprofessional "look and feel" that lacked credibility and did not
"feel" trustworthy. Having a professional look, and trust building tools (such
as VeriSign and BBBOnline certifications) help convert significantly more of your web
site's qualified visitors into new customers.
Other Important Conversion Elements to test:
- Buttons
- Button text, color, look, etc.
- Pricing
- Formatting and placement of page elements, images and copy
- Navigation links versus no navigation links
- Press Quotes
- Testimonials
Other Conversion Best Practices and Tips:
- Reduce your “bail out” rate by optimizing your web
pages to download within 5 seconds on a 56k modem
- Test your pages on Andy King’s "Web Page
Analyzer" http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
- Add a 1-800-Number and Call to Action above the fold (top of
the page)
- Add a Logo and a powerful “Value Proposition” to
the top left
- Instead of letting visitors click off your landing page, put
all your information on one page (This tactic alone increased the conversions of a landing
page by 55%)
- Use colors that fit your target customer’s personality
Conclusion:
When you use “Conversion Rate Optimization” to
test and improve your web pages and landing pages you can double your sales (possibly even
quadruple) when you add up all the performance improvements. Of course it takes time and
work but it's well worth the effort.
If you’re truly serious about maximizing your results,
continuously test, track and improve the important elements of your web site, landing
pages (and your marketing materials). |
