Increase Conversion rates with an Optimized Landing Page
In a recent telephone consultation with a skincare company Internet marketer Vishen Lakhiani reviewed and tested their landing page and indicated how to improve it to better convert. . .
Well, here’s their landing page:
Creating a killer landing page can have an absolutely remarkable effect on your conversion rate as long as it delivers certain key benefits and doesn’t fall into the common pitfalls that can can fall way wide of the mark. Before I share these take a look at the format of their landing page below and make up your mind on it.
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5 Qualities of a Killer Landing Page
1. The headline and copy correspond to the ad that triggered the page.
If your ad is targeted to people looking for golf attire, your landing page should focus on golf attire, and not on other items that could distract from the main focus, such as golf clubs.
2. The focus is on getting visitors to take one specific action.
The landing page works on the basis of a most wanted response (MWR). It is designed to get the target audience to take ONE specific action, such as making a purchase or subscribing to a newsletter.
3. There are no distracting navigational links.
Unlike the homepage, the purpose of the landing page is not to get the users to browse the site, but to stay on the page and carry out the MWR. Tests have shown that landing pages with too many navigational links consistently under-perform. Just stick to the basics: a company logo or header for recognition along with a link to the homepage are sufficient. Avoid having any links that distract from carrying out the MWR.
4. The copy is short.
The copy on the landing page is usually shorter and more straightforward than the copy on your homepage. Remember to keep the look and feel of your landing page consistent with the rest of your website.
5. There is a prominent subscription form or checkout option.
The action you want the user to take should be available on the landing page itself; the user should not have to click to another page.
5 Qualities – How did the Skincare Company Fare?
I really don’t know what you thought of the landing page – whether you were engaged by it, BUT. . .
Here’s my take – to be honest with you I don’t think it fulfilled a single one of the criteria I outlined above. Let’s take a look:
1. The headline and copy correspond to the ad that triggered the page
’Skinny Truths’ is a headline that doesn’t really convey any great message and it certainly doesn’t correspond to the keywords of the ad that triggered the page. It has no mention of the key benefits of the offering – it doesn’t mention skincare treatments.
2. The focus is on getting visitors to take one specific action.
Although the focus of the copy is to try and get browsers to carry out the most wanted response (MWR), to get them to download a free whitepaper, it by no means focuses on this response. It’s just a long string of plain text with no real attention being drawn to the MWR.
Another thing is the way to communicate with people on the Internet is to engage them on personal level – this means NO CORPORATE TALK:
Does this language bore you?
“In an effort to serve and inform the general public, this FREE 4 page report clearly explains how & why the skincare process works and exposes the most common ‘skincare myths’ being sold. This effectively empowers consumers to make intelligent distinctions about the affordability and effectiveness of each product.”
This is like an academic report in style. Wake from your slumber! You see what I’m trying to share with you here. A comparison and good practice is on its way.
3. There are no distracting navigational links.
OK so there’s no actual distracting navigational links that will lead you directly away from their copy, HOWEVER there’s features on their copy that’ll have a massive negative impact on their landing page. You should never put large pictures, such as the ones on the right hand side bar, on your copy.
Loads of tests can back me up on this – eye tracking tests have proven that it’s detrimental to your copy.
- makes your design confusing
- increases the time it takes to load
- people are naturally drawn towards human faces, they are no longer focusing on the key benefits you’re trying to portray
4. The copy is short.
A long copy of plain text is not going to inspire your landing page. All the professionals use every trick of the trade to highlight and emphasize what the MWR is and smack you in the face with the key benefits of what they have to offer. Once again corporate talk is a big NO-NO!
5. There is a prominent subscription form or checkout option.
Even though you can’t see it there’s a subscription box right at the bottom of the landing page. That’s where the problem lies – it should be the most prominent thing on the page, above the fold, as it’s the means to the MWR.
It appears their landing page has been absolutely pulled to pieces and let’s face it – it has. But these are easy things to put right and in no time at all they can have a landing page that converts.
Let’s get some inspiration from some best practice examples:)
5 Qualities of a Killer Landing Page – Best Practice
Here’s a major contrast that I’m sure you’ll notice. Go from the landing page that Vishen reviewed over the phone to 2 best practice landing pages and the difference is stark.
Check out these landing pages and identify the key factors that create a powerful landing page:
A) – The Silva UltraMind System
B)- Ask Database from Alex Mandossian
1. The headline and copy correspond to the ad that triggered the page
Let’s compare headlines:
A)
“Experience Deep Meditation with the Free Silva Audio Training”
B)
“Modern Research Into 2,437 Year-Old Marketing Technology Reveals The Secret To Increase Your Sales, Uncover Quick-Profit Niches And Helps You Uncover What Your Prospects And Customers Want To Buy Most!”
T est)
“Skinny Truths”
It’s so easy to see which headline is the amateurish one. Headlines A and B hook the browser in completely and correspond directly to the ad keyword that triggered the page. ‘Skinny Truths” is so ambiguous and is not related to the keyword that led the browser to their page.
2. The focus is on getting visitors to take one specific action.
4 or 5 key benefits versus a long copy of plain text?
There’s only one winner in this competition. The 2 best practices landing pages outline the four or five key benefits of what they have to offer and don’t share any further information whatsoever. This means that a browser isn’t going to get lost in plain text and not carry out the MWR.
3. There are no distracting navigational links.
simplicity versus over-engineered design?
The use of highlighting and bullet points on the 2 best practice landing pages means that a browser is drawn towards the copy and not towards anything distracting like pictures.
4. The copy is short.
Concise focused copy versus long copy?
Somehow the message is completely lost in the long copy of the test’s landing page. Short, concise copy ensures that the message is clearly conveyed, only information that is beneficial to the cause is shared. Unnecessary information simply dilutes your message.
5. There is a prominent subscription form or checkout option.
Both best practices examples have an extremely prominent sign up box that spans a third of the copy. It’s a simple box with two boxes to fill in – First Name and Email. The test’s sign up form isn’t even above the fold, you’re not immediately drawn to the box and you have to scroll right down to the bottom to see it. It also has unnecessary information field boxes to fill in.
Why would you ever need to know a person’s last name and where they heard about the site from?
The more hassle you give a browser the less likely they are to sign up. The sign up button should also use language such as free instant access or ‘I want my free report’ rather than unattractive language like submit.
We’ve analyzed and frankly criticized the original ‘Skinny Truths’ landing page. . . SO What’s the solution?
Vishen presented 5 recommendations that will dramatically boost the performance of the page; here’s an idea of what it should look like.
The New Landing Page
Vishen’s 5 Recommendations To Create The New Killer Landing Page
1. A killer title that corresponds to the ad that triggered the landing page. In this case the keyword that would trigger this page is ’Skincare’. Both the new title and subtitle deliver a hook to the reader and express the key benefit with the MWR staring you in the face.
2. Display the founder’s image and establish them as an authority on tooth whitening. This has been tested a lot and proven to dramatically increase results. It eliminates the need for long copy and develops integrity in such a simple way.
For example…
” This is Joe Bloggs, Vice President of Company X, the last 5 years of my life have been dedicated to studying the field of skincare and dermatology and there’s nothing I don’t know about the US market . . . As a service to you I’m delivering the most comprehensive whitepaper on the skincare environment. . .”
3. Short, targeted, benefit laden copy with a Most Wanted Response smacking the browser in the face. In this case it’s achieved by having the four key learning points outlined in distinct bullet points. The sentence below the key benefits spells out the MWR for the browser.
4. A Prominent sign up box that works. The new sign up box should definitely be above the fold and ideally on the right hand side of the landing page. There should only be two fields to fill in and an inviting opt in button reading “YES Joe Bloggs! I WANT MY FREE REPORT TODAY”.
These four recommendations have been illustrated by the new template for the landing page above. BUT there’s another tactic which is vital – you need to customize your copy so that it’s specific for the individual AdWords groups.
5. Use PHP To Customize Specific AdWord Keyword Groups. Using PHP you can easily change your headline to be specific to the keyword which the browser searched for. For example if someone types in ‘facial skincare’ the headline should read ‘Facial Skincare Myths Exposed’ AND if someone searches for ‘Body Skincare’ the headline should read ‘Body Skincare Myths Exposed’.
Don’t Forget to do Split Testing
For testing sign up rates on landing pages ClickMuse can be an essential tool. It also has the effect of customizing your keywords. In previous articles we’ve shown how the smallest of tweaks of your copy can have an enormous effect on the results of your landing page.
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