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Landing pages increase the conversion rate of an ad. Landing pages offer a low cost means to increase the ROI (Return On Investment) of your ad campaigns. Even the simplest of landing pages, one that only takes a few minutes to put together that only echoes the message of your banner ad, can increase ROI. Therefore, taking the time to create a landing page is worth the investment.
In the first article of this series, we discussed the different pieces common to all landing pages. In this article we will discuss how to fit them together to create a landing page that will give results.
This project will require anywhere from 2 to 40 work hours, depending on your familiarity with the ad campaign, amount of ad copy needed to match the audience, and whether you will add graphical elements.
There are a number of rules that should be followed and a number of obstacles that should be avoided. Regardless of the type of landing page it is (transactional, reference, or opt-in), all of these rules apply. After the landing page is completed, analytics should be added to ensure proper tracking of activity and give you the information you need to improve the elements involved in the ad campaign (from the banner to the final transaction page).
Targeting Your Audience
Assuming you know who your target audience is, the next step is to understand your product. If your product is simple, with few features, your landing page can probably list all of your features along with some descriptive text, and a good "Call To Action" and be fine. But it your product has a lot of features and benefits, is more expensive, and relatively difficult to explain, your landing page will require you to think it through more carefully. A product with few bells and whistles does not need to be explained in as much thoroughness as a more fully developed product, or a product that offers more features. From the standpoint of features it is probably easier to sell a moped than a Lamborghini. Both require the same compelling argument and commitment from the advertiser, but the simpler product will probably require less work on your part.
For instance, what if your company needed to sell a fully equipped datacenter? A datacenter is a high-risk sale with a very high price tag and a long commitment on part of the buyer, and it is very difficult to judge the value of the building based on a one-page ad. In this case, the product dictates that a reference, or opt-in landing page is in order (note that a transactional type landing page is not the best kind of landing page to use for products that require in depth contracts and negotiations.). A reference page would be a brochure describing the data center while an opt-in landing page would capture potential customer information for setting up tours of the facilities. Both the reference and the opt-in landing pages would do well to include solid descriptive text, along with features and benefits, pictures, charts, and perhaps even include a list of the data center clients, to provide more background for the customer to formulate a positive response.
Echoing Your Original Ad
It is hard to say how much text you need to explain your product. Until you know what your most important selling points are you will not know how much written ad copy you will need.
Concise brevity is usually a good rule to follow, and it will probably be easier for the customer to remember as well. So a good way to start is to list all of the things that you want the visitor to your landing page to know. Its is best to take the same selling points you used in the ad they clicked on to get to your landing page in the first place. Once you have your list you can begin to write the actual text for your landing page.
Examples of written copy might include a small paragraph or simple bullet points. The choice between the two depends on the audience, however bullet points are a good way to start. Even if you find that a paragraph format works better, the bullet points can still aid you by providing an outline of what you are trying to get across to your potential customers. Studies show that readers will remember bullet points for a longer period of time than whole paragraphs of text.
If there are three things to take away from this series of articles it is (1) that you need landing pages for your ads. (2) you need to ensure the writing is minimalistic and focused, and (3) you need to make sure that the content of the landing page echoes the original ad. If you are just putting together a quick landing page, take all the words from the ad and arrange it so it makes sense in the format you have chosen for your landing page. For instance:
Sample Showcase Ad:
Pain Free PHP Hosting
HostersRUs.com: The pain-free web hosting company. 24/7/365 Live Support Free 30 day Trial. Plans starting at $4.95 a month!
If you breakdown the ad copy of the showcase ad you will find the following important selling points:
"Pain Free Web Hosting"
"24/7/365 Live Support"
"Free 30 day Trial"
"$4.95 a month"
With the HostersRUs.com name and logo as the page header for our landing page, the selling points from our Showcase ad naturally lend themselves to bullet points on the landing page as follows:
PAIN FREE PHP HOSTING
- 24/7/365 Live Support
- 30 Day Free Trial
- For only $4.95 a month
As you can see, we used pretty much the same text we had in the showcase ad. The use of emphasized text (such as the bold text above) will draw the reader's eyes to that part of your as copy, so use it wisely. If you want their eyes to spot and important point, think of the best way to emphasize that point without taking their mind off of your overall message.
When someone clicks on your ad you can assume that something they read in the original ad is what caused them to click through to your landing page hence we should try to keep the elements from the original ad. Based on the audience, they either clicked to learn more before buying or they actually clicked to buy. If you know they clicked to simply purchase than the above text is fine as is. Just slap a Get Started Today button on it and send them off to the purchase processing steps.
If you think the audience will need a little more explanation before purchasing then you could change the above sales copy to something like:
PAIN FREE PHP HOSTING
HostersRUs.com's PHP-centric solutions start with our Always-On Technology your site will be online 100% of the time or your month is free. HostersRUs.com provides more than 200 PHP components tested by our staff for their ease of use. Our support staff provides technical support for all components and software that comes with ALL of our hosting solutions.
- 24/7/365 Live Support
- 30 Day Free Trial
- For only $4.95 a month
If you have been counting, the above statement is less than 80 words and gives you several reasons to buy the plan. Again the landing page needs to echo the original sales copy and stay focused. If the original sales copy only sells one product then the landing page sells only one product. If the original ad was for a weekend blowout sale, then the landing page would be for that weekend blowout sale and of course include more than one product. In every instance, the original ad and the landing page must be in sync.
Keep Marketing and Sales Jargon to a Minimum
You only have so many words to use. To waste them on unnecessary words that our jaded minds already censor out would be an overload of information when the point here is to be as concise as possible. Studies have shown that the average Internet user is far more discriminating when it comes to buying and many skim over messages with marketing hype in them. In fact, this would be considered a trust issue. Marketing hype is for quick sells, but not for building lasting business relationships, and within the Web Hosting marketplace lasting relationships mean much more than a sale that will only last a couple of months at most.
The Length of Your Sales Copy is Greatly Determined by Risk, Commitment, and Value
A good way to figure out precisely how long the sales copy should be is to make multiple landing pages for each ad you have. Run each landing page for a pre-determined amount of time. The landing page with the highest conversion rate wins. However, we will talk more on running multiple landing pages in the next installment.
Industry Awards From Credible Sources Provide Instant Credibility
Awards, credibility credentials, and testimonials can be great ways to offer a fast means of converting visitors to customers. Things such as the BBB and VeriSign badges should be placed somewhere on the sidebars of your landing page. Some credibility credentials such as BBB and VeriSign are the types of things that are noticed if they are not there.
Awards are interesting things. Awards from industry leaders should always be included on your landing page. But more so if the referrer came from one of those sites. For instance, if your visitor came from Web Host Magazine and you have an award or a testimonial from Web Host Magazine then it should be prominently at the beginning for your award and testimonials. It should be noted that sites that sell awards or use affiliate marketing schemes lend no credibility to your ad, and in fact, that kind of endorsement will most likely dissuade the discriminating buyer from responding positively to your product.
Awards From Referring Site Should be Prominently Displayed
Why? Well the visitor not only came from that site, but clicked on a banner from them. The visitor already has trust with that company so by putting an award or testimonial from them on your landing page you transfer a bit of that trust to your service.
Problems Areas to Avoid
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A successful landing page incorporates the above rules and stays mindful of the many pitfalls and traps that plague proper landing page building. I have included a list of the main problem areas for most landing pages. Though this is not an exhaustive list, it will help you identify key problems on current landing pages and will keep you from making mistakes on new landing pages.
- No Landing Page: The main problem that most companies have is not including a landing page. The only instance where a landing page should never be used is a text link that is designed for SEO purposes. SEO links are intended to raise the page rank and authority of a target page therefore sending the link through a portal or to a landing page is counterproductive. Otherwise, every ad should have a landing page. Also you may want to make landing pages for things like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and forum links for tracking purposes.
- The Wall of Text: The second greatest offense as far as landing pages go is the "wall of text." The wall of text is when you over discuss topics on your landing page. A landing page is not meant to change the opinion of someone from one extreme to another. It is meant to sway someone sitting on the fence to buy your product as well as a place to purchase a product for those who already desire to buy. Therefore, it is not only unnecessary to write hundreds and hundreds of words of ad copy, it is detrimental to your message.
- Improper Tracking: Improper tracking comes from the mismanagement of your tracking URLs. This throws off your actual conversion rates as well as the real traffic statistics traffic generated by your ads to your landing page. The landing page might still be converting, but without proper statistical information, you will be hard pressed to understand how to improve your landing page. There are a number of statistical products on the market that link advertising traffic to the landing page and from the landing page to the final purchasing action. Learn them. Use them.
- Outdated Landing Pages: Some advertisers update their advertisements often. This is a great thing to do and should be applauded. However, when updating ads it's easy to forget the landing pages that are associated with them. Perhaps you swapped out the normal ad for a seasonal promotion? If so, don't forget to make the landing page reflect the seasonal promotion. Failure to do so can mean a large loss in revenue. Be sure to keep accurate records of which landing pages go with which ads. Many people use spreadsheets to keep track of all the details.
- Landing Pages Aren't Fine Tuned: Building a landing page is the first step towards greater conversion rates ut that is not enough. True, you can simply build a landing page and do fine, however, by testing multiple landing pages you can increase the effectiveness of your advertisements and thus increasing your ROI. Always use your landing pages to maximize your maximum conversions.
- Weak Call To Action: The Call To Action is the point on the ad where you tell the reader to do something. For instance, "Call Today!" or "Buy Now!" or "Click here!" are classic call to action lines in ads you have no doubt come across. Your call to action must be prominent and visible at all times. When the page first loads your call to action button or text must be in a prominent position. If the landing page is long and requires the reader to scroll down, the Call to Action should be located more than once on your landing page in logical and strategic locations so that when the reader wants to respond in a positive way to your ad, they can immediately move on to the next step.
Some might think their target audience is smart enough to scroll back up the page and find your Call to Action to click on it but you can't assume that. Call to Action placement is not about intelligence, or laziness, it is about converting those who have a positive response to your ad message. You do not want them to lose interest when they are ready to buy. Think of it as another form of "impulse buying" response. That kind of response is how many of our own purchases are made. When they are ready to respond, make sure your Call to Action is handy.
- Incoherent Sales Pitch: A customer will not buy if they are unsure what it is they are buying. Therefore the sales pitch needs to be clear and concise. If you are not sure that your landing page sales pitch is clear, have multiple people look at it and and tell you what the page is selling. If their answers don't line up with your message ask them how they would explain your product or service and use that to craft a better pitch.
- Requires Additional Reader Response: It is not good if your landing page requires additonal customer feedback to conclude the conversion. As you have read so far, landing pages are very simplistic. If the goal is to get a visitor to buy a product or service then the page should direct them straight to a "buy" page. A failed landing page is any landing page that fails to move a customer directly to a purchase. Remember, you are trying to sell something! Nothing else matters! If the page makes the customer meander around looking for what to do next and jump through hoops it defeats its purpose. Direct action will net you higher conversion rates, every time.
This article is a good start, but we are by no means done. Landing pages are a good start in your efforts to increase your sales, but if you want to make your marketing efforts REALLY pay off then you must continue to test and improve your pages. The question then becomes whether or not spending a few extra hours of effort to increase your conversion rates by 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, maybe even 2% would it be worth it? If so be sure to read the next and final article in this series: Anatomy of a Landing Page - Part 3: The Fun Never Ends.
About The Author: David Dunlap
Click to contact the author
Over the past ten years David has been a prolific author of hundreds of articles, blogs, commentaries, and reviews. David manages the daily operations at both Web Host Magazine & Buyer's Guide and Web Host Blog, and as the Editor in Chief, David uses his unique analytical skills to ensure that both sites maintain their integrity and tough, but fair minded, reputations. Along with his journalism career, David has provided marketing and SEO consulting for companies both inside and outside of the Web Host industry. Prior to his work at Web Host Magazine & Buyer's guide, David specialized in networking security and communications for the U.S. government.
Visit the author's website at:
http://www.webhostmagazine.com
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