Last month, in part 1 of our 3 part series, I discussed the most effective and efficient way to attract more and better quality leads to your landing page and website. (You can read it here).
This month, we’ll talk about how to convert more of those leads.
“So, if I gave you a million dollars to take away any problem or issue in your business today, how would you use that money?”
That was the question I was recently asked by a vendor. The only stipulation the vendor gave me is that I couldn’t use the money to pay off any debt.
After thinking about it for some time, I decided the first thing I would spend money on is developing and testing landing pages. (A landing page is a stand-alone webpage designed with the single objective of receiving campaign visitors, starting a conversation and closing a deal.)
Why?
Because a high converting landing page is the foundation of a successful online business and the key to making money in your online campaigns.
I know what you’re thinking…developing out and testing new landing pages on a frequent basis can be expensive, time-consuming and frustrating.
However, all it takes is one high-converting landing page to bring in the big bucks. And when your landing page converts well—you can buy traffic and predict what you will make. Which completely makes it worth the time, money and effort.
Plus, if you are driving your traffic to destinations that don’t entice customers into your sales funnel, then you are wasting your time and money.
Not long ago, a conversation with an entrepreneur who sells advertising revealed that one of his customers was getting a lot of leads from advertising his product. In fact, 20 solid leads in the first week the ad appeared. But not one lead closed.
This is not a result of the advertising, but rather something broken in the sales process.
Similarly, if you are getting traffic to your landing page and it’s not converting…that is not a symptom of the campaign driving the traffic but rather a sign that there is a problem with your landing page.
Unfortunately there is no “one-size-fits-all” instruction manual for creating the perfect landing page.
However, here are some of the areas that high-converting landing pages have in common that are worth examining and testing:
Your Headline — Your headline and the quality of your visitor are said to make up 80% of the success of your landing page. A killer headline hooks your reader –grabbing their interest, attention, and understanding. It makes them want to read more.
Messaging — You can use your landing page for almost any purpose such as capturing leads, selling a product, inviting people to an event or webinar, or offering a discount. However you have to remember that your message needs to be:
– Clearly communicated. The purpose of your landing page needs to be communicated clearly and linked to a specific call-to-action. For example, “Save 50% at the restaurants in Colorado when you sign up now.”
– Specifically targeted. Motives are different for why people respond to messages. More than ever, you can inexpensively target very specifically–yet businesses still use very generic messaging. Instead of having one landing page with generic messaging, test having multiple landing pages with different messaging specifically targeting different audiences. For example, a fitness business could create four different messages for four separate landing pages. Each landing page would target a different audience: One to people who want to lose weight. Another to people who want to tone and build muscle. Another for people who are looking for group classes. And a forth for people who are training for a specific sport they participate in.
– Benefit-oriented. Messaging should be clearly focused on the user instead of company-centric. You want to show the reader what’s in it for them. For example, instead of saying, “We’ve been in business for 25 years and offer financial planning products and services that have helped thousands of customers to retire in style,” say… “You can afford to retire! Discover the 3 questions you must answer now to ensure you enjoy the retirement lifestyle you’ve imagined for yourself.”
– Logical flow. The logical flow of a landing page is important. An engaged reader will follow the thought process when you use a compelling message that logically leads them through the process and persuades them every step of the way to take the action you want them to take. Start with your headline, then a clear message and explanation with benefits, include testimonials and end with a call to action.
Trust Elements — Logos, images, graphics and videos can attract your visitors and persuade them emotionally to take action. In fact, images are processed 60,000 times faster than text. Use elements relevant to your product or service. For example, include a money-back guarantee badge, client logos (shows you have experience), payment logos, and a better business bureau logo. A picture of your face can also add a personal touch and go a long way in building trust.
Testimonials also help readers trust your product or service. Seeing a sincere and real quote from a current client can be the push someone needs to take action. Testimonials are strongest when you include a full name, picture, city and state, and when appropriate name of company or title such as CEO or Doctor.
A Guarantee — Guarantees help readers feel reassured and improves the likelihood of conversion. For example, “Try our product for 60 days. If you aren’t completely satisfied for any reason, return it and we’ll give you every single cent back. We’ll even cover the cost of return shipping.”
The Call to Action (CTA) — A powerful Call-to-Action is one of the most significant pieces of your landing page.
In general:
– Make your CTA larger so it stands out.
– Make your CTA compelling. Don’t use the word “submit.” Instead use more exciting and explosive language. For example, “Getting started takes less than 5 minutes. Try it FREE now.”
– Use a button. Users have been trained to expect the CTA to be a button. Stick with the tried and true so people know what to do.
– Use a contrasting color. Your landing page has a color scheme. Now, whatever color you use on your CTA, make it different. At the most basic level, your CTA button needs to possess color. And, to make it stand out, that color needs to contrast from the other colors on the screen. Contrasting colors help to attract the eye, and compel the click. For example, if the font is blue and black on your landing page, then you might choose a green button.
There are a lot of small changes that can increase your conversion rate. As mentioned, small tweaks such as the button color, font type, and spacing can all increase your results. However, I’ve found that the biggest increases come from testing bigger things such as headlines, the flow, messaging, guarantee and Call-to-Action.
If you want to make more money in 2016, then looking at ways to test your landing page might just be the ticket.
