By Brian Lewis, Vice President, Engine Ready, Inc
Instead of thinking of your landing page as a “page,” think of it as a group of individual elements that your visitors will see. Your best chance of getting your visitor to convert is to carefully guide them through those elements in a logical way that convinces them to buy or fill out your lead form.
A great way to improve your conversions is to treat your visitors like untrained dogs.
Think about it. If you want an untrained dog to follow a specific path, you need to put them on a leash and guide them.
They also need very clear and reinforcing guidance to get them to do what you want.
To get the most out of new visitors you need to guide them in the same way through your page to complete the desired action. Just like an author who tells his story in a sequence of ordered chapters, you want to tell the story of your product or service offerings in a pre-determined order of page elements. The more control you have over the visitor’s experience, the more control you have over your conversion rate.
Without this guidance, your visitor will act like an untrained dog running in every direction and ultimately running away.
How many times have you visited a web page, been overwhelmed by multiple headlines, scattered boxes of long copy, and numerous images and not had a clue where to start reading on the page? How long before you lost your patience and decided to move on to a competitor’s site?
Examples of Winning Landing Pages
Want to see landing pages that convert? You can start by searching the sponsored listings for popular (and therefore very expensive) keyword phrases such as “refinance,” “debt consolidation” and “antivirus.”
Click on the top three ads and look for commonality in page layout and use of web page elements. Due to the high cost of these phrases, top placement is generally a pretty good indication that these pages have been well tested and are converting.
An easy way to remember how to design a high converting landing page to get MORE conversions is with the acronym MORE:
• Marketing Effectiveness:
o Your copy should focus more on selling the benefits versus the features of the product or service and focus on the visitor, not your company
o Be sure that your unique selling proposition (USP) is clearly communicated
o Place a persuasive message above the call to action
o Have a dominant “what’s-in-it-for-me” headline
o Prominently display all available ways the visitor can contact you
o Be sure that your privacy policy, and/or return policy are prominently displayed
• Offer Clarity:
o Have a strong and compelling incentive for the prospect to take action
o Avoid multiple different calls-to-action
o Articulate the details of the offer including answers to when, how and what the prospect is entitled to in a clear manner
o Position the main call-to-action above the fold, and if your copy continues below the fold, repeat the call-to-action also below the fold
o Create a sense of urgency with terms such as “Start now” and “Apply now”
• Readability of Page:
o Your copy/ information should be displayed in a summary format using short paragraphs or bulleted text for quick absorption, with options for the visitor to drill down for more information if desired
o Use a clean uncluttered background, and dark text on a light background with a moderate use of white space to aid in the readability of the page
o Use no more than 3 to 4 fonts
o Be sure the lengths of your lines of copy are less than 60 characters to promote easier reading
o Use bold text, exclamation points & colors sparingly, for emphasis only
o The use of an arrow to your call-to-action has increased conversion rates in many cases
o Usage of attention-attracting features such as animations, video and audio should not distract the visitor from your main selling points
o Keep your copy left justified and use no more than 3 columns of text on the page
• Engagement with Visitor:
o The headline on the page should follow the same theme as the keyword phrase and ad creative
o If you have a form, it should require only the absolute minimum amount of information
o All data entry fields should be clearly labeled with examples if necessary (555-123-4567) and contain format validation with appropriate feedback
o Tell your visitor exactly what you want them to do
o Minimize the number of clicks needed to complete the desired action
o Include credibility/trust/security logos near the submit/order button
o The action button should stand out and call attention to itself
o Your action button should reinforce the benefit, e.g., “Download Whitepaper,” or “Get Quote Now,” instead of saying “Submit.”
Finally, don’t forget about the critical importance of testing and metrics – at a minimum, measure conversion rates, average order values, and bounce rates of your various landing pages.
Don’t assume your visitors are already trained to convert on your landing page. Keep them from running away by taking control of their visit experience. Walk them through your page, and increase conversion by appropriately using web page elements supported by a MORE conversion methodology.
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Brian Lewis is Vice President at Engine Ready, Inc. A speaker at many industry conferences, and noted author, Lewis has over 20 years experience bringing businesses profitable results through digital and direct marketing.
Mr. Lewis earned his B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego and his M.B.A. in Finance from the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, graduating both schools with honors.
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