You'll be Eaten Alive Without Landing Page Optimisation!
Posted by Patrick Murphy on Tue, Oct 04, 2011
Rather than give you a large introduction, we're going to just go straight into it. Follow these tips towards landing page optimisation.
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Define Your Conversion
Before you start to design your landing page, define that page’s conversion activity. Make sure to have it clearly defined to insure that the potential customer knows what they are getting. If a customer has doubts, they will leave.
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Do a Little Research
Demographic research goes a long way but you don't have to too much. Figure out what your visitor is looking for and what offers work. Build a profile of your ideal visitor. Keep this person in mind when creating your landing page. Do not construct the page for anyone else.
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Take out the Unnecessary
Distractions kill conversations with customers as they are not on the page long enough to point to where you need them to go. Strip any unneeded elements from the page. This is not your home page. Anyone who comes to your landing page has already been screened by your ad. They expect a very specific message.
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Avoid Too Much Self Promotion
Avoid the urge to promote or link to other areas of your site. The point of the landing page is to prevent your visitor from wandering. You want them converting, not clicking around to other parts of your site and marvelling at your Flash animations.
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Use the "Fold" Properly
Pay attention to the virtual fold (the bottom of the screen before scrolling). Place enough content above the fold to allow your visitor to make a decision about continuing on the site. If a visitor has to click or scroll to figure out what your site is about, the only thing they’ll click is the back button.
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Lead the Eye
Use different fonts and colour to your advantage. Lead the potential customer's eye along the page towards the conversion exit. Thoughtful use of whitespace, large copy and graphics can make a long page seem much shorter than it really is.
Place the important stuff (whether it’s your copy or your image) close to the middle, and never distract your user from that main point of the page. Avoid putting interesting material in sidebars. This pulls the eye away from the main body. If it’s interesting and valuable, keep it close to the centre and use it to direct the eye.
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Fix Your Forms
Optimize your forms. Make the input cursor hop to the next field after a user finishes the current field. Allow the user to tab around fields. Auto-populate any fields you can. Remove all unneeded fields. Don't ask for city/state/province if you ask for a Zip or postal code. Focus on the essentials.
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Test Yourself
After you have finished the design of your landing page, test it with a small user group. Go over a checklist i.e. Does the message match the advertisement? Have you reduced all distractions? ect
Check out this FREE 'Guide to Landing Page Optimisation' for more help!
