Increase Your Web Page (and Landing Page) Conversion with Conversion Rate Optimization
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Matt Hockin September 07, 2006
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Matt Hockin |
Matt Hockin is President of Interactive Marketing, Inc., an Internet
marketing company specializing in helping businesses increase sales by
maximizing website search engine visibility and website conversions
through the process of web site optimization http://www.interactivemarketinginc.com |
Matt Hockin
has written 1 articles for WebKnowHow. |
View all articles by Matt Hockin... |
If you’re looking for an easy and low risk way to increase your
landing page conversion rates, then use the conversion rate
optimization strategies outlined in this online guide.
About Conversion Rate Optimization:
Conversion
Rate Optimization is the continual process of making your Web Site and
landing pages generate better results from your visitor traffic. For
example, more leads, opt-ins, and more sales.
Conversion Rate
Optimization is also the fastest and easiest strategy to increase your
sales without spending more money on increasing your traffic.
In
fact, the most successful companies test everything. For example,
GoToMyPC.com increased their conversion rates by 400% by testing the
following…
- Headlines - Call to Action - Copy - Images - Graphics - Button Look - Button Text - Button Location - No Links - Press Quotes - Testimonials - Pricing - Flow Through Process - And more
Optimizing Your Landing Page’s "Conversion Funnel"
If
you review your web site statistics (called “log files”) you’ll notice
the following 4 things are happening on your landing pages…
The largest percentage of your visitors are bailing within 0-8 seconds after briefly viewing your landing page.
The second largest percentage of visitors bail when they decide your landing page does not prove compelling.
A
small percentage of visitors attempt to convert (buy or use a contact
form to become a lead) but fail. Many of these people will call.
A small percentage of visitors convert.
Conversion
rate optimization is the process of optimizing your landing pages to
minimize your "bail out rate" and maximize your "conversion rate" (CR).
The Top 6 Landing Page Components To Optimize for Maximizing Your Conversions
The following are the top 6 conversion components that should be tested and improved to boost your conversion rates…
Headline
- Since your headline is the first line that your visitors will read,
the headline of your web page offers the biggest opportunity (about 80%
of the opportunity) for improvements in conversion rate. Use headlines
that clearly state the biggest benefit(s) that your product offers.
Offer
- Since your offer is the “call to action” that asks your visitors to
act (purchase, sign up, opt-in), your offer accounts for the second the
biggest opportunity for improvements in conversion rate.
Lead
- The “lead” or first paragraph is the third biggest opportunity for
improvements in your conversion rate. Leads must be written with strong
benefits that capture your visitor’s attention and make them want to
read more.
Benefits - The “benefit bullets” (bullet-point
format) are the forth biggest opportunity for improvements in
conversion rate. List your benefits in the order of your product’s
“value hierarchy” to your target market. In other words, state your
product’s strongest benefit first, and its weakest benefit last.
Images
- The images you use have a big impact on your conversion rates. The
best practice is to use images that clearly portray the biggest benefit
your product offers your customer (rather than generic "feel good"
stuff like unknown logos and clip art). Studies show that product
images work best when placed to the left of your product description
(or lead paragraph) since it makes it easier to read your copy from
left to right. Plus, people like to reads “captions” under your images
almost as much as they read your headlines. So, add powerful captions
and make your images clickable to the order/sign up page.
"Look & Feel"
- According to a recent study by Stanford University, 46% of Web sales
are lost on web sites that lack the critical elements that build value
and trust with website visitors. The number one reason the people
indicated why they wouldn't buy from a web site was because it had an
unprofessional "look and feel" that lacked credibility and did not
"feel" trustworthy. Having a professional look, and trust building
tools (such as VeriSign and BBBOnline certifications) help convert
significantly more of your web site's qualified visitors into new
customers.
Other Important Conversion Elements to test:
- Buttons – Button text, color, look, etc. - Pricing - Formatting and placement of page elements, images and copy - Navigation links versus no navigation links - Press Quotes - Testimonials
Other Conversion Best Practices and Tips:
- Reduce your “bail out” rate
by optimizing your web pages to download within 5 seconds on a 56k
modem – Test your pages on Andy King’s "Web Page Analyzer"
websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/ - Add a 1-800-Number and Call to Action above the fold (top of the page) - Add a Logo and a powerful “Value Proposition” to the top left -
Instead of letting visitors click off your landing page, put all your
information on one page (This tactic alone increased the conversions of
a landing page by 55%) - Use colors that fit your target customer’s personality
Conclusion:
When you use “Conversion Rate Optimization” to test and improve your web pages and landing pages you can double your sales
(possibly even quadruple) when you add up all the performance
improvements. Of course it takes time and work but it's well worth the
effort.
If you’re truly serious about maximizing your results,
continuously test, track and improve the important elements of your web
site, landing pages (and your marketing materials).
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