Hate The Grind

Whether you are selling a product or service, or if you are trying to build up an e-mail database, the key to success is an effective landing page. A landing page is exactly as it sounds, a page where external traffic arrives at when coming to your website. Landing pages allow you to provide your visitor with all the information that you want them to see, and then convert them quickly into an active lead. Without a landing page, you would have traffic arrive at your home page and left to sit there and figure out where to go. Some may click around, while most end up leaving your website because they don’t see what they are looking for quickly enough.

Landing Pages as Optimization
Landing pages are not only effective in converting visitors to your websites into leads. Google constantly reminds advertisers to build high quality landing pages when using AdWords. If Google feels that the landing page you are sending traffic to is highly relevant to the keywords you are bidding for, then your average Cost Per Click (CPC) will drop. This alone should provide you enough motivation to build a high quality, effective landing page.

It is far easier to design a single page that is tailored to someone clicking on an ad, than to change an existing page on your website so you can point an ad to that page on your website. Things get even more complicated once you start bidding for an even wider collection of keywords.

While building landing pages is typically for paid advertisement of some sort, I have built landing pages that were designed for organic traffic as well and they did their job just like any other landing pages. So, whats the essential ingredients for a great landing page? Read on…

1. Inform Visitor on What You are Selling - If you are selling widgets, and your ad says to click here for widgets, then your landing page better talk about widgets or you’re going to drain your advertising budget only to have people click on the ad, see a landing page that is about something else, and then leave. Sorry, Google is not going to issue a refund to your AdWords account. Write about what you are selling, describe the product or service in detail as that is what the visitors to the page are looking for. I have argued with people who claim that people want to just skim the page and you have to sell them in 15 seconds. That is just plain WRONG. However, don’t go the other extreme and expect visitors to read an essay while on your landing page. After reading your landing page I should know what product your are selling, and I should at least be comfortable with who I am dealing with which leads me to my next point.

2. Credibility - The landing page is where you will need to build some credibility. You do not need to over-do this step. It would be nice if the visitor can see what organizations your company belongs to, or if its received awards in the past for what it does, etc. Many software sites will include awards the software has won. Certification logos are also common on landing pages. As a visitor, I just simply want to know if you’ve been in business and that you aren’t out to rip me off. If you absolutely cannot think of anything, even putting a copyright date that is prior to the current year can provide some level of credibility. If its 2007, and the site says (c) Copyright 2005-2007 some users will trust it more as it is established in their eyes.

3. Testimonials - These work. Just look at how all those weight loss pills are sold without any medical research findings. They get someone famous to provide a testimonial, and the product sells like hot cakes. Same thing with any industry. Have some customers listed with testimonials, or if you are a brand new start up, make something up. Replace it with a referenceable testimonial as soon as you can. Keep the testimonial to the point, and don’t be afraid to slice and dice testimonials so they read better.

4. Show what you are selling - Many people are after visuals of some sort. Whether you show a product box, or actual screenshots of your product or service, they want to see something. Sifting through detailed feature lists may be enjoyable by some, but for most people looking around for products/services they want to see how it works and fast. Even if what you are selling is not a physical object, you can have product pictures. An excellent example would be Aaron Walls, SEO Book. It is a pdf file you are purchasing, but on the product pages there is an image of a nice looking book. Visitors like to see this!

5. Value / Offer - The visitor needs to see value in what you are offering, or they will leave. This can be done in countless ways, including discounting your product, throwing in bonus items with it, offering it for free (but charge for something else), etc. All of these will create some sort of value in your offering. A visitor that sees value will continue to be herded like a sheep by your landing page. Once a user sees value, you can pretty much steer them in any direction and they will comply. A time limited offer will not only create a sense of urgency but it will actually provide value. If you don’t believe me, have you ever gone shopping with friends who see the “sale ends today” signs? The book or game they are holding all of a sudden has some sort of value due to a time limited offer. If there had been no time limited offer, they might not have even stopped to look at the book or game.

So now, your visitors know what you are selling, and who you are. They see testimonials recommending your company and products and they see some sort of value in what you are offering. It may seem like all the essential elements of an effective landing page are there, but the main goal of the landing page is still missing. In the next part of this two part series, I will cover the remaining elements that you must have on a successful landing page and I will include some examples of some excellent landing pages that do exactly what they were designed for.

If you have not already done so, this would be a good time to bookmark my blog so you can come back to read Part II of this article. If you use a news reader, Subscribe to my RSS Feed and keep up with the latest articles.

Other posts you may be interested in:

Lower Your Ad’s CPC and Still Rank Higher!

How To Create Effective Landing Pages: Part II

Lots Of Changes At Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft

Make Money On Member Only Pages

5 Easy Ways to Optimize PPC Campaigns