Search Marketing InsiderPay Per Click, Social Media and SEO Strategies – An Internet Marketing Institute Publication

By Mary Huffman, Ionic Media

Every click from a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) search ad costs you money.  Now, that click may only cost $0.05, but over time those nickels can add up…if you are not getting the most value from those clicks once they arrive at your site.  Strive to make your site as “convertible” as possible.

In this article, we discuss how to maximize your conversion rate on your lead generation site.  In our years spent driving traffic to lead generation sites using PPC, search engine optimization (SEO), banners and other tactics, we have found that the website is generally an after-thought for most companies.  We want to change this attitude.  Make every click count.  Turn every visitor into a lead by following proven conversion improvement strategies.

In short, you want to communicate the right message in the right way so the user has an understanding and active interest in the “payoff.”

Before we discuss the website changes you may want to make to improve your conversion rate, let’s look at the end of the process…What is the payoff for a user giving you his contact information?  When we talk about the “payoff,” we mean the incentive you will give them to provide their personal details.
     * Can they download a white paper? 
     * Are you giving them a free trial? 
     * Will they get an exclusive coupon? 

You want them to happily give you their contact information.  Too many times, a marketer says, “My product description is enough to make them want to get more information.”  But if the process is not fully disclosed (e.g., “A salesperson will call you within 4 hours.”), the user can be fearful about how their information will be treated and whether a cadre of very persistent telemarketers will begin hounding them.  Make it worth their effort by offering a payoff and clearly describing the follow-up and usage of their contact information.

Now onto improving the website and making it a super-converter…

1.  Know your target and think carefully about the 2-3 messages you want them to understand about your company.
*Ensure you understand your target market and what they need from your product.
*Articulate the 2-3 messages you want them to understand about your company.  Make them compelling and   clear.   Most people cannot keep a laundry list of benefits straight.  Keep it simple – focus on the main points that set you apart.

2. Reduce your entrance bounce rate by making the content on your site directly relevant to what they need from you at that moment.
*Help the first-time visitor see immediately that you have what they need.  Have different landing pages for different buckets of search terms.  For instance:
   - The user coming from the keyword “copper re-pipe” is led to a page that focuses on copper re-piping.
   - The user coming from “chicago re-pipe discount” is led to a page which emphasizes the discounts offered by your business and your geographic coverage within Chicago.
*You only a have a few seconds to convince someone they are in the right place.  Think about how you will convince them so they will look around for a bit more time.

3.  Make the site design and copywriting invisible (in a good way).
*The last thing you want is for a user to notice a spelling error on your site or be distracted by a rainbow of colors.
*Instead, you want to make the copy readable and the structure clearly marked so there is a clear path to the action you want them to take.  It should be perfectly obvious what you want the visitor to do on any page of your site. 
*Here are some tips to improve usability and readability:
   o All text should be 10 point or larger
   o No paragraph should be longer than 4-5 lines
   o The widest text column should be a fixed column, set for no more than 60 characters
   o Ensure all text links are easy to see (color contrast with surrounding copy) and that the color noticeably changes after the link has been clicked.
   o Get users to their destination quickly (in two clicks or less)
   o Ensure global navigation is clear, consistent and helpful

4. Include several ways for them to contact you.
*Maximize the number of leads you receive by offering a variety of easy-to-understand ways for them to contact you.  Some people will prefer email while others will prefer a phone conversation
*Include an easy to see form on the first page they see (and possibly every page they see)
*Keep your form short and simple.  Test a long form against a short form and see the difference.  Sometimes it is worth it to get less info on each lead but get a bunch more leads coming in!

5. Run at least one test per month so you continuously improve your conversion rate.
*Tweak your site regularly and measure results continuously.
*Test the most likely culprits first (e.g., headline, columns, call to action, copy, button, hero shot)
*But don’t forget that more obscure changes can sometimes make a big difference (e.g., testimonial placement, testimonial with and without a photo, third-party security symbol placement, color palette on the page, color of the button)

We encourage you to always push for the most effective online site you can develop. 

A good rule of thumb for your website is to do a quarterly “stranger” review.  Find someone who is unfamiliar with your site and ask them to visit the site with you.  Ask open-ended, non-leading questions, such as, “Where does your eye go on this page when you first look at it?  Second?  Third?”, “What do you think you would do if you came to this page on your own looking for X?”, “Tell me what you know about this company without looking through the site.”  You want to proxy the experience that a user has at home (without the business owner sitting over their shoulder).

Make every visit count by tuning and testing your website so it can be a super-performer.

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Mary Kingsley Huffman is a co-founder and Executive Vice President at Ionic Media. Previously, she was Director of Marketing at Overture Services. Prior to Overture, Mary was an Engagement Manager in the London office of McKinsey & Company, specializing in marketing solutions. Mary has an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from UCLA.