Landing Pages That Convert

Posted: May 20th, 2009 | Author: | Filed under: Copywriting, Marketing Strategy, Search Marketing | Tags: , , | 23 Comments »

Hey- if you’re interested in learning about how to get your online business off the ground and convert visitors to your site into customers, then you need to check out a video interview I did with Andrew Warner over at Mixergy on How To Ensure Success Before You Launch.

Now, I also want to share some things I didn’t share on the call- one of which is an easy Landing Page Formula. With the theory and insights and tips I gave about Positioning your business, finding your market online and “framing” your product to a hungry crowd… when it comes to actually sitting down and deciding what’s on your landing page, it can be a challenge knowing where to start.

Before I show you where to start, you should remember what I said in the interview-

Creating a great landing page (given time) is not all about being a great copywriter or designer. It’s also a function of being a great tester. (Although talent and experience are the ultimate time savers and leverage – considering time and expense)

So… with that, here’s a quick formula to follow as you’re developing your landing page and the elements to include and test within:

Element #1: Lead With “Finished Story” Benefits

Every page needs a place where the visitors eyes are initially drawn that focuses their attention. Traditionally this is a headline, image or tag line. Make sure that you have this initial element be an attention grabber that let’s your visitor know what they’re going to get out of staying and engaging with you. Remember, you only have a few seconds for a user to decide if your page (and your site/service/product) is or isn’t for them.

The way to make sure that this initial attention element has the result of making your visitor stay and then convert is to talk about what I call “Finished Story” Benefits. These are benefits about what the finished story will be for the visitor after they engage and/or take the action you’re suggesting with your product.

Making your visitor visualize and imagine what they will get and how they will feel after using your product is your goal.

Again, on our call I talked about the company I helped with their business plan template marketing. The “finished story” here wasn’t the obvious – a finished business plan. It was farther removed than that. It was having raised money successfully with the polished and professional business plan.

Long story short, make sure you’re not talking about all the work that might go into your visitor getting the result they’re after. Make sure you’re getting them to connect then ultimate end goal – the finished result and REWARD.

Do this well, and you end up tying the purchase of your product directly to their desire for that end result. Once this happens, most resistance and objections from your visitor will have been removed.

Element #2: Social Proof

I’ll run through these quickly. There are LOTS of examples out on the web of each of these you can find if you just do some Google searched and click on the Paid Adwords ads and see the landing pages there.

  • “As Seen On” – get your product or service talked about or reviewed on trusted sources and piggy back on the trust and credibility these sources already have with the masses. Present the image of these sources (CNN, Newsweek, etc.) early on and prominently on your landing page. And the images don’t need to be big. Just there next to the language “As Seen On.”
  • Testimonials- these are the tried and true workhorses of the direct marketing and copywriting world. Use them. Don’t get generic ones. Get specific ones of your customers talking about actual steps or tips or action taken from your product or material and the end result (finished story).
  • User Count or Comments – it’s amazing, but simply displaying how many other people are using or have signed in or commented on your site or business raises the perceived value and credibility.

    Element #3: Credibility

    If you didn’t know, most people online are very very hesitant to click on links that they don’t know where they’re being taken… and they’re even more hesitant to share their email.

    When it comes to buying and pulling out their credit card number, it’s a whole other ballgame.

    As I’ve talked about before, for a visitor to your site, everything you want to ask them to do represents something very “risky” to them. For more on this check out some of what I wrote about removing risk in online marketing , along with some thoughts about how this applies to the current state of marketing music online.

    Anyways, how can you reduce this risk? In short, start by demonstrating your Crediblity (building Trust)

    There are a few simple ways I’ve tested, and that lots of other people have tested to this end.

    An easy thing you can do and test along these lines that are likely to increase your clicks, signins, and sales is getting approved by some of the institutions that protect consumers and make users feel safe.

    Examples:

  • Sign up with the Better Business Bureau and add the “BBB” approved logo
  • Get on one of the verified Safe Sender programs if you’re driving emails subs and sending emails… and display this programs logo close to your email sign up form
  • Simply tell your visitor that you’ll never spam them or share their email (and mean it!)

    • Bottom line- new visitors to your site don’t know who you are. Make it easier for them to take the risky move of sharing something with you and inviting you into their world.

    Element #4: Offer/Value

    You can write great copy on your landing page, and design a great layout… but if what you’re asking for and offering on your landing page doesn’t boil down to a great offer then you’re wasting your time.

    A lot of people these days are trying to build their list, or build their social friendships or “followers.” If you’re asking for anything like this, let alone asking for a sale, on your landing page, you better make you’re visitor feel like they’re getting the better end of the deal.

    So what do I mean by a great offer, and what does one look like?

    A bad offer, if you’re looking to drive email signups from your page, is essentially offering nothing but the chance to “sign up” in exchange for the visitor giving up their precious email and expose their inbox to you.

    Arguably, that’s not an “offer” at all. But the crazy thing is, most people’s email sign up forms on their landing pages are framed in this manner.

    Instead, what can you create and provide in exchange for a user putting in their email? And how can you tie this directly into their “finished story.”

    This question is exactly what I love the “free report” give away or white paper type free line content. It creates an instant “offer” that makes a visitor feel like simply sharing their email address in exchange for this information is giving them the better end of the deal.

    Element #5: Call To Action

    This is what inexperienced copywriters and marketers have the most problems with. They either don’t even use a call to action, or they make it so weak and passive that they might as well not have one.

    A great call to action does the following:

    Gives specific instructions on exactly what action you want the visitor to take
    Tells the visitor exactly how to do this
    Uses the already “anchored” benefits you’ve put in your visitors mind and reminds the visitor of what they’ll get by taking this action

    Here’s a bad call to action if you’re trying to drive email subscribers-

    “Sign Up Here And Get Our Emails.”

    Just what we all want, more email. No thanks!

    Ok, now go out and get on the web and look at 30 or more landing pages by doing all kinds of searches and clicking on paid ads. This will start to bring some of these 5 elements into your awareness and give you ideas on how to go about writing and designing your landing page.

    And don’t forget to test, test, test.

    Let me know how it goes.

    And here’s some Recommended Reading:

    To better understand how and where to “frame” and place your business in your market, read Position by Al Reis and Jack Trout.

    For a great overview of the psychological principles and operators to be aware of and use in your landing page copy and offer read Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini

    For design guidance and insights, go get Universal Principles of Design (design insights with the psychology behind them) by Lidwell, Holden & Butler.

    For your copywriting bootcamp, get all 3 of these books and study them regularly as you’re writing copy: Ogilvy On Advertising, Tested Advertising Methods and The Ultimate Sales Letter.

    • http://www.subvertmagazine.com Paul Magee

      Hey Chance, thanks for these, excellent interview the other day, very, very useful stuff.

      I’m going to be putting a lot of your tips into action this week. I know the above list is a “quick” run down, but it raised one question for me…

      In some resources, copywriters talk about Identifying the problem first, making sure the reader appreciates how truly bad their life is, before telling them how good it can be :)

      Does that fit into your method anywhere? Does it go between 1 and 2 or is your recommendation not to focus on the problem at all, just the visualization of the better future?

      Thank you in advance. I’m going to dig around and soak up some of your other articles now.
      Take care
      Paul

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    • http://www.chancebarnett.com Chance Barnett

      Paul- good question on copy.

      To grossly generalize, you can think of the copy you write or the “hooks” you use as either Positive or Negative.

      It’s important to identify gripping and attention grabbing problems AND stories. This isn’t hard tested data, but in general my copy and headlines perform best with the presentation of an overarching Negative hook, then add in other Positive stories/visualizations.

      I didn’t go into the subtleties and nuances of finding and developing the strongest “hooks” possible. But I do find that thinking all the way down to the Positive END RESULT that your readers want/desire is very valuable and makes for strong compelling hot buttons and hooks.

      In short, yes… also try thinking all the way down to Negative END RESULTS and once you’ve found and pin-pointed those, they will make for very strong copy.

      But you’ll never know what works best (Positive or Negative, or including both) until you test your copy.

      The easiest way to get an idea of what works best is with your Headline. Try A/B versions of your landing page with a Positive Hook headline, and one with a Negative Hook headline.

    • http://www.coreyquinn.com Corey Quinn

      Hey Chance,

      Thank you for writing on this topic. It is very useful.

      Not too long ago, I came across an interesting model for increasing conversion through landing pages:

      C = 4M + 3V – 2(F-I) – 2A

      CONVERSION requires:

      MOTIVATED visitors to your site (or page) – qualified via keyword query and your SEM ad copy.

      A clearly defined VALUE proposition on your landing page, such as headlines that instantly state the benefit, and are closely tied to the SEM ad copy (that they responded to).

      The least FRICTION possible (page layout, color, ineffective copy, etc.)

      Balanced with an INCENTIVE (free whitepaper, risk free trial, special offers, etc.)

      The least amount of ANXIETY possible (filling out a form name, call to action buttons)

      The numbers in the ‘formula’ represent weighting or importance of the factor. I believe it came from a group called Marketing Experts.

      Keep the posts coming Chance!

      Corey

    • http://Lahaina.com Michael Neu

      Hey Chance,

      Thanks for the interview with mixergy, and the insights you provided both places. It’s good to see someone who really understands the paid search marketing model, and “marrying” it to the cool guy model.

      We are working on similar things with a few of our sites and it has been very helpful to hear what you have done, and with some real examples. Sounds like you are also in SM and enjoy surfing, so maybe we’ll cross paths in the water sometime…

    • http://www.upsidedownturn.co.uk landing page monkey

      Chance. I LOVED the Andrew Warner interview the 2nd 1/2 I listened too several times. It’s an area of my business that I’ve been focusing on for several months now, and my eyes are only just opening to the posibilities in increased conversion. Thanks. Also liked Corey’s formula. :)

    • http://www.videorhino.com Lynell Aaron

      Hi Chance,I watched your interview with Andrew. He said to submit our website for your critique. It’s a video classified ads website which is free to users. Eventually, we would like to charge businesses to advertise their business in format like the top 3 on main page. I welcome your advice on how to get this business off the ground. It’s been really tough and seems like it’s dying before it has even had a chance to live. Thank you so much, Lynell

    • RedBoy1

      A really great interview…. so much valuable information!!! I’ve since looked at the David Deangelo, Christian Carter and Growthink sites to see your method’s first hand. My questions are:

      1) What other sites have you been involved with? There was a marked difference between the approach for Grow Think and for David Deangelo / Christian Carter (which were practically identical in structure, just using different language). How do you explain the differences… obviously based on testing the responses of 2 very different consumer segments… but I would appreciate any insite into which segment reponds best to which stimuli.

      2) The Christian Carter products seem to use multiple urls to promote the same content. Is this purely down to testing which language is most effective for converting customers, or is it an ongoing effort which has been tested to target/convert different sub-groups most effectively… selling the same product, just with a different spin?

      I was very interested in seeing the youtube results for David Deangelo… is that purely a function of hits (and is that helped by embedding a youtube clip within marketing material).

      3) You spoke about developing trust with your customer in order to lessen purchase anxiety. The business model for both DavidD and ChristianC seems to involve a small initial purchase price c. $20 – $30 for a refundable e-book with a tie in to a recurring subscription and the possibility of purchasing more expensive expert material. I presume this aims to maximise customer lifetime value whilst minimising the perceived initial expense. Are these assertions correct?

      4) What different strategies would you employ when you’re selling an ongoing relationship product e.g. dating advice vs. shorter term / one-shot sales?

      5) Why don’t you advertise on your sites? Does that take consumers away from your product.

      Thanks again for a really eye opening discussion

    • http://www.emson.co.uk emson

      Really enjoyed your interview on Mixergy.com – what wonderful insights, it was very inspirational.

      What are your gut feelings about over crowding in this area. You only need to look at Twitter to see how many people are Online Marketing / SEO experts. Have we missed the boat or is this just the start?
      Thanks again.

      Ben…

    • http://rexduffdixon.com/ RexDixon

      Do you recommend using a service to do your a/b testing or multivariate testing, and if so, what are some you have tried?

    • http://rexduffdixon.com/ RexDixon

      Hey two sites that might be useful are http://www.performable.com/ and http://www.abtests.com – Performable actually just announced a $3 million round from Charles River Ventures today on Boston.com!

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    • Hurpa

      Hello. I didn't bother reading your article, and yet I offer you advice on making it better :)

      The title of this article is too vague/broad. The title makes it seem that the article is targeted towards a small niche market of start-up people. The problem is that the start-up people already know the basics of the game of “landing pages that convert”.

      Or they might not even KNOW the basics, but they at least have their own ideas about it. That makes such a broad sounding title sound unattractive and uninteresting. The title doesn't promise any new views or angles to the subject that the reader already likes to think he understands. You should give more info in the title. Anything. Like “Landing Pages That Call To Action: Higher Conversion Rate!”.

    • we are cloud

      Thanks for this informative post. You might be interested in reading something similar here : http://tumblr.com/xkzhbsx95 (3 Ways to Design a Landing Page to be Conversion Focused)

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    • http://reachablehq.com Charles (ReachableHQ)

      One very important factor that should also be mentioned is matching the offer/value very closely to the reason why users are on the landing page is critical. Many of our users (http://reachablehq.com) use PPC advertising to direct traffic to their landing pages. They report that when the PPC ad’s offer closely matches the offer/value they see the highest conversion rate.
      Also, it turns out that changes to Google’s Adwords landing page quality score also gives an increased weight to how well the ad text matches the landing page itself. (See George Michie’s post on this topic - http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/landing-page-quality-score/24102011/)

    • Anonymous

      Charles- thanks for your comment.

      Your link to the landing page quality score post was broken – but I found it and am reposting for you. http://www.rimmkaufman.com/blog/landing-page-quality-score/24102011/

      You’re absolutely right about the importance of Ad Text in PPC ads as it relates to on page content/offer. There are a few ways to think about and approach this area of LP conversion optimization, and I’m glad you mentioned it.

      Your ad has the power to “prime” your reader. There are very subtle expectations created in a readers mind when they have read your ad copy and have clicked on it over to your landing page.

      As an exercise, you can think of a click on your ad as a user “agreeing” that whatever you stated about your product or about the user themselves in your ad, to be true.

      A quick example of a specific “priming” technique that also has another important potential benefit is include what is called a Negative Qualifier in your ad.

      Negative Qualifiers work like this: Do you want to pay for clicks that will never convert for you? If not, then you want to test negative qualifiers. These are basically ways to get people to self select in or out of your offer BEFORE they ever even get to your landing page.

      A simple example would be running ads for a product you’re marketing. You might include in your ad the words “For serious buyers only”. This can potentially accomplish 2 things:

      A) weed out “lookie Lou” clickers

      B) actually “prime” the people who do click so that they are slightly more open to paying for your product, as they have subtly agreed to the fact that they are a serious buy, and
      thus might be more likely to want to stay consistent with that self image

      There are lots of other devices to think about testing in your ad copy that can change user perception and behavior both on the Google SERP and on your landing page.

      Feel free to post any other specific devices you like. I’ll try and join back in later with a few more.

      Thanks.

    • Anonymous

      Thanks for linking to your post on Design as it related to landing pages. 

      Do you have any specific examples of well designed landing pages that have been tested to convert well?

      There are a few threads on this with linked examples over at Quora – but a lot of those are tech service and app focused landing pages… so they include the standard screen shots, logo, social proof/reviews, and are actually not that optimized for conversion. 

      They just look “shinier” and try and paint whatever application they are marketing as high perceived value and “cool.”

      After testing and using landing pages with very very little slick design included, and beating some of the most fancy styled pages, I don’t believe design is the most important factor. At least as most people understand the word “design” to mean – lots of fancy graphics, shiny look and feel, etc.

      I believe LAYOUT in order to FOCUS the users attention, both of which of course are parts of design, are the key elements that weigh most heavily on conversion. But you don’t need anything fancy to accomplish these. 

      You spelled out some of the key elements in your post which are some the items that I include and spend a lot of time adjusting the layout of in order to “sculpt” how and where I want my readers attention to go.

      Again, thanks for the comment and if you have any specific LP’s that have tested well…. please post here. 

      A picture is worth a thousand words. *unless it distracts from the focus and your conversion goals ;)  

    • http://reachablehq.com Charles (ReachableHQ)

      Thanks, I’ve updated my comment so the link is now working.

      I am totally on the same page about the “agreeing” when clicking on a PPC ad. That same concept flows through to the landing page. Whatever they have agreed to in the ad, they are then just reconfirming it on the landing page. 
      If you are up front with your users (like in your ”For serious buyers only” example) the chances are you will save a lot of money on your PPC campaign. The only users that should/will be clicking are the ones who will be excited about what your landing page has to offer.

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    • tessa

      Excellent Landing Page Article.