How are your paid search ads performing? If your answer is, “Not so great,” you could be due for a re-haul of your campaigns. (If you don’t know the answer to that at all, we should talk.) First stop on the train to Conversion-ville: Your landing pages. If your ads are seeing great click through rates, but very few leads, chances are the problem isn’t with your ads. Here are five tips for making your landing pages conversion-friendly:
1. Give Them (Exactly) What They Want.
Imagine you go to a brick-and-mortar department store for a pair of shoes. You walk in the front door and a sales rep asks you what you’re looking for. You tell the rep you’re in search of shoes and they lead you all around the store and show you their handbag sale, even if that’s not what you were looking for. The shoe section of the store is still out of sight. You are no closer to buying shoes than you were when you walked in. Would you leave the store or wander around looking for the shoe section again?
This is what it’s like for online shoppers that go to a landing page that doesn’t answer their search. Potential buyers looking for specific services or products expect to be sent to the exact web page that addresses their needs. Don’t make them search more!
2. Everyone Look This Way!
Your landing page creative should draw attention to lead forms or action buttons. Use brand assets, like a mascot or spokesperson, to emphasize the action you want the user to take: read an article, fill out a form, etc. For example, the Geico gecko is looking at the headline, “Get a quote” on this form:
3. Test For Headlines That Make the Best First Impression.
I cannot emphasize the importance of testing enough. Not only does your ad have to have a great call-to-action to get someone to click on it, your landing page has to as well. In a lot of ways the page is the expanded version of your ad. Use an A/B split test of two different headlines to determine which is better at capturing your prospect’s attention when they land on your page. You only have seconds to impress them enough to keep reading, so your headline is one of the most important aspects to a conversion-friendly landing page.
Important reminder: test only one variable at a time! Too many variables in your tests can end up creating more confusion than clarity.
4. It’s a Lead Form, Not an Interview.
What’s going to scare off potential buyers quickly? Asking too much information! They just met you, so don’t be pushy.
Make your lead form simple. Think about what information you need to know to get them into the next phase of the buying cycle. Only ask for actionable information that you absolutely need.
Check out this Quicken Loans landing page:
Quicken Loans asks three questions to get you on your merry way to being a home owner. They don’t scare you off with the four pages of pre-qualifying questions right out of the gate. Eventually they will submit all that information if they end up becoming a client, but it’s too much for the first ask.
So they put first things first: What kind of mortgage? How much do you want to borrow? How much is your home worth?
Anyone who has filled out a mortgage application knows this is a long, sometimes tedious process. But once you make it easy to commit to the process, your conversions will improve. Break down the process step-by-step, find out what you need to know vs. what you want to know, and make it as simple as possible for the user to commit to that first step.
5. Can I Have Your Number?
Yes. Yes, you can! Your prospect may be ready to talk to someone or even buy right now. Be sure to place a phone number on your landing page for those who may not feel comfortable filling out a lead form or want to speak to a human. This is optimal for the customer and your business.
Bonus: make the phone number “clickable” – meaning it should be all 10 numerals and should be in text, not an image, so that prospects can click on it to call if they’re browsing on their mobile phone.
Landing pages can be tricky to optimize, even for the most advanced marketers. The best way to improve your results is to keep testing and learning what performs best for your company.
Want some help testing out – or setting up – your landing pages for best conversion? Email expert@emfluence.com or call us to get started: 877-813-6245.
