Posts Tagged ‘Conversion optimization’

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More on Conversion Optimized Landing Pages

Posted by Brent on December 3rd, 2009

We have talked a lot about conversion optimization for websites and landing pages associated with any Internet marketing strategies.  Here is another great page used for paid search campaigns.  Each PPC campaign will have different conversion goals depending on the company’s needs.  The landing page below is designed to increase room bookings for the Tropicana in Las Vegas.  PPC will be used to drive the traffic. 

Trop Lander

Google Quality Score parameters are becoming much more strict.  Notice the amount of content on the page.  Landing pages now must have quality (and relevant) content in order to gain a good quality score and have a productive PPC campaign.  Many landers tied to new URLs with no history require even more content in order to meet Quality Score standards.  It can often now take time to build the score, so keep adding good content to your pages!

Don’t Forget to Use a Landing Page

Posted by Brent on November 23rd, 2009

Many companies using Internet marketing strategies out there drive most of the traffic to their home page or possibly another internal page of their website.  The optimization of any online marketing campaign should focus on both the traffic drivers as well as where the traffic is sent.  This is especially true when using search engine marketing strategies like Pay Per Click advertising in any search engine. 

It is now crucial to use a landing page for PPC advertising in Google because it wll have a direct impact on your Google Quality Score and conversion success.  The idea of consversion optimization is pretty simple but the purpose should be understood in order to execute it correctly for your webpages.  The main idea of course is to always be improving your ROI.  There is no point in spending tons of money in online or offline marketing if you are just planning to drive traffic to your home page (unless of course your home pages acts as a well optimized “landing page”).

Here is an example.  Jet Select Aviation (a premier private jet charter service) has performed various form of marketing (online and offline), including Yahoo PPC.  All the traffic was being channeled to their home page and results had been fairly dismal.  They were recieving about one or two leads a month.  Here is an example of the home page:

jetselect

Once the marketing campaign started, aggressive Googe PPC was added and four landing pages created.  The ad copy for the ads was written according to their direct business goals.  It is important to understand Google Quality Score guidelines in order to properly optimize your PPC campaign for the best possible results.  Here is an example of one of the landing pages created.  Notice the update in design, graphics, clear calls to action, simple booking engine right at the top of the page, and simple information (there is more content below the fold). 

jetselect lander

Landing pages can really be as simple or content heavy as you want (in my opinion).  What matters really is what is above the fold and how the call to action is designed.  Of course, this all depends on your conversion goals and what you plan to obtain from your landing pages.  Those goals should be defined first before designing the page or launching any marketing. 

The initial result of the properly optimized PPC campaigns and well designed landing pages was going from one or two poor quality leads per month to five to eight high quality leads per day.  The results will of course vary depending on your business, industry, and specific goals. 

Either way, you must use landing pages with great content ands clear calls to action in order to get the most bang for your buck from your Internet marketing strategies. 

8 Seconds: Turning Visitors to Customers

Posted by Brent on September 4th, 2009

You just can’t by with an “old school” website anymore.  And yes, your company/brand will be judged on the appearance of your website.  You also can’t get by anymore by just having a site that serves the purpose of being your “online business card”.  Every company, no matter what industry, no matter what size, should have a website with clear goals.  Conversion goals that is.

Conversion optimization takes all aspects of your website into consideration starting with your core business objectives.  These need to be clearly defined and your website should be designed (or redesigned) to support these goals.  You should also have a solid understanding of your analytics so you can set some benchmarks:

  • Where does our traffic come from?
  • What are our bounce rates?
  • How long do people stay and what pages do they go to, leave from?
  • Do visitors convert?

What happens in 8 seconds.  A “bounce” is defined as a user who comes to your site and leaves in under 8 seconds.  Therefore a bounce rate is the ratio of people who leave in under 8 seconds VS those that stay.  Anything under 50% is pretty good.  Conversion goals are different for every website but examples are capturing information like name, address, phone; a sale; a download; a phone call…you get the idea.  So let’s take a look at the various elements that need to be considered when building a website that converts.

THE INITIAL HOOK

You must have a clear call to action, or a few key action points.  E-commerce sites usually have promotions and offer things like FREE shipping.  Everybody likes and deal and wants to be incentivized.  If your goal is to get a user to download your whitepaper, tell them why its valuable and give them some incentive for doing so. 

DESIGN

Once you have defined your goals, the site needs to be designed so that the call to action is prominent and focused on encouraging the user to act.  Using larger fonts, bold colors, simple but compelling design concepts, less content, and plenty of open space usually fall under the best practices category.  It is usually recommended to use separate landing pages with clear calls to action to support online and offline marketing efforts.

Notice the example below has a very clear purpose (sorry the picture is kind of small).  This page is designed to bring people back to the site, capture their information, and offers an incentive to do so.

usmed_landing2 crunched

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SITE FUNCTIONALITY

This is very important because the more user friendly your site is the better your consversion rates will be.  Seems pretty obvious but can take a lot of focus to get it right for any specific site.  Many times bounce rates and lack of conversions are simply due to poor functionalty, poor design, and a “sales cycle” that is just too long.  Streamline the process, only capture the information you need, and keep the steps simple and fast. 

You can use technology and custom tools to enhance the experience and go beyond your competition.  Just remember, it all starts with defining clear goals first and then developing a plan.

Do You Have a Powerful Call to Action?

Posted by Brent on June 26th, 2009

Does your website perform they way it is supposed to?  Do your visitors see the content you want them to and take action?  Web design and conversion optimization is all about maximizing your website’s potential to convert traffic into some kind of attainable and measurable goal.  Whether the goal is to collect emails, registrations, downloads, or purchases all the same rules apply.

Make your message clear

Make it simple

Make it easy

Here are a few suggestions to enure your visitors take action and become customers! 

Use simple but compelling language to communicate your message and its value.  Then compliment that message with a large and noticeable “call to action” so the user understands what the next step is.  The image below shows a good example of this:

skype

 

The use of space, color, and page layout are very important.  Below is a great example of a good blend of color and space.  The more space you have around the call to action “buttons” the better.  Studies show that the more cluttered a page is the more likely the user is to get confused and not understand what you want them to do.

space

Notice how clean the page is and that a couple options are given.  The use of space is done purposefully to provide clarity and simplicity.

Other suggestions to improve conversions on websites and landing pages include:

  • Trust factors – let the user know it is safe to enter their information or download your product
  • Simple bullet pointed content – don’t make the user read to long paragraphs, keep them moving
  • Compelling design and images – the pages of course should look clean and compelling to keep bounce rates low
  • Large buttons – size does matter
  • 3 to 5 step process – using a simple “step” process helps clarify what the user needs to do to complete your “sales cycle”

buy now


From Retail to E-commerce: Focus on Customer Loyalty

Posted by Brent on May 11th, 2009

With so much information out there about Internet marketing and how to improve a company’s online brand exposure, there seems to have been a gradual removal of “customer loyalty” from that discussion.  One of the most important aspects to improving conversions for an e-commerce platform (or any website for that matter) is through enhanced customer experiences and loyalty focused programs.  The happier your curstomers are, the more they will by from you (or refer people to you).  The goal here is to increase the percent of your overall sales in the “repeat customer” category.  It is much easier to grow revenue from current customers that to spend more time and money attracting new ones (although this is very important as well).

Let’s back up for a minute and consider the dramatic shifts we are seeing in retail VS. online.  The current economic conditions have placed strains on traditional retailers and caused substantial increases in online spending.  The online consumer is now becoming more savvy and expects a lot from the service/product provider.  As more and more traditional retailers either move their business online or at least create an online store to sell their products, the focus needs to not only shift to Internet marketing strategies but also customer loyalty strategies.  So much emphasis has been on how to drive traffic to e-commerce sites that we have seen visits go up, but not  conversions. 

Conversion optimization involves getting the right kind of traffic as well as ensuring that a large portion of that traffic leads to a sale.  Some online companies out there are doing this quite well but not simply becauase their Internet marketing strategies are so good…it is because their database of happy customers keeps growing.  Let’s look for example at www.freshdirect.com.  This company has been providing online grocery shopping to the New York City area for over five years.  One of the main reasons their numbers keep growing is not because they are spending so much time and money driving traffic to their website.  It is beacuse each day, senior management meets to review analytics and customer transactions to see where things are working and where things need improvement…and then of course to discuss what is being done to improve the areas where they fall short.  They also conduct about 150 customer surveys each year.  This might seems excessive or even scary to some companies but over time it makes for happy customers.  Your critics can be your best source of constructive feedback!

More about conversion optimization:

The best way to ensure that your traffic is going to convert into business involves several key factors:

  • Understanding your customer base in great detail
  • Ensuring your traffic is targeted and you methods for driving traffic support that goal
  • Continually analyze your online platform through focus groups, A/B split testing, etc.
  • Konw where your conversions points occur and where people leave your site and why – then work to improve these areas
  • Always be improving your sales cycle and customer experience
  • Ask for feedback and make improvements based on realistic suggestions
  • If you are asking for feedback, get involved in these conversations with your customers
  • Test, Improve, then test again – use your analytics…the numbers won’t lie.


Related Blogs

Don’t Get Caught Off Guard

Posted by Brent on April 13th, 2009

Don’t get caught off guard by poor marketing efforts.  Companies in all kinds of industries are now realizing the importance of a cost effective and creative online marketing approach.  It is also important to note that an integrated approach based on conversions is the most powerful.  A poorly designed and executed marketing plan will catch you off guard.  Without a properly managed Internet marketing strategy, once you realize your efforts have not been optimal, it will be too late. 

art_polar_bear

Jumping in head first without a plan will result in a disappointing result!  (FYI…this woman from the Berlin zoo was rescued and is recovering).  It is recommended to hire a well rounded and experienced Internet marketing agency.  A good firm will review your business goals and help you formulate a plan that will ensure reaching and exceeding these goals.  This is much different than simply hiring and SEO firm and running a poorly managed PPC campaign to your home page.  Sending traffic to a site is useless until that traffic turns into conversion, sales, and positively affects the bottom line. 

What is a fully integrated online marketing approach?

Sounds more expensive right?  Sometimes it can be but we are really referring to ensuring that an existing or potential marketing plan has components that all compliment one another and that there is a consistent message.  This includes offline marketing channels too.  The entire plan should send the same message and have the same calls to action.  A combination of efforts such as conversion optimization, organic search engine optimization (improving volume and quality of traffic through the natural search engine placements), PPC advertising (with optimized landing pages), email marketing, and social media would be an example of an integrated approach.  This could also include offline efforts such as print and radio.  As long as the message is clear and landing pages are used properly to receive incoming traffic all efforts should compliment one another.  Monthly analysis of each component ensure seeing what areas are working and which ones need improvement.

All of this does not have to cost an arm and a leg.  A good Internet marketing company will help you pick and choose which elements are the most appropriate and that will produce the best ROI.

Related Blogs

Conversion Optimization Basics

Posted by Brent on April 10th, 2009

Conversion optimization was born out of the need of lead generation and e-commerce internet marketers to improve their website’s results. As competition grew on the web during the early 2000’s, Internet marketers had to become more measurable with their marketing tactics. They began experimenting with website design and content variations to determine the layouts, copy text, offers and images will improve their conversion rate. – Wikipedia

Conversion optimization is more important than ever as companies move more of their marketing budgets online seeking more cost effective ways to achieve their goals.  The approach has two angles.  The first starts with researching the industry and target markets of the company in need of improved conversions.  Once the data has been collected, a more targeted marketing message can be planned.  Secondly, comprehensive testing such as A/B testing is done to monitor results and make adjustments to continually improve the conversion rates. 

Conversion optimization is about achieving business goals and gaining the best possible ROI from the marketing efforts.  Here is a chart that outlines the basics:

conversion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The foundation behind conversion optimization is website design.  Once you have the marketing message put together and before you start running the campaign and testing results, you have to design the site and landing pages accordingly to achieve your goals.  Like anything esle there are some best pratices to follow when putting together a landing page.  The basics include the following:

  • Keep it simple and focus on the message
  • Message must be associated with ad campaign
  • Keyword association
  • Clear and obvious calls to action
  • Simple content (bullet points)
  • Trust factors
  • Short registration forms
  • Must be well designed and compelling

The bottom line is that a good Internet marketing company will first help you define your business goals, then help you assemble the message, and then put together the campaign, launch it and test results constantly.  Continually updating your landing pages will improve results dramatically which will lead to a well spent marketing budget!

Related Blogs

Testing for conversions

Posted by Ceci on March 23rd, 2009

Having a tracking and reporting tool installed to your website is a very important factor for conversion based websites and your SEO strategy. Make sure you have a tracking code on your site to track visitors and their behavior on your site. For example the bounce rate tells you how many people are coming to your website and leaving within 5 seconds this way you are able to identify which web pages are turning away the most visitors and which are making most conversions.

With today’s internet marketing technology you can run tests on different pages of your website and let your visitors decide the best version of that page. A – B testing serves the user 2 different versions of a particular page on a random basis. This way instead of just going with a gut feeling you will actually have the statistics from your users to prove usability.

The first step is to think of 2 variations of your page. The current one as the first and the second you can make a few small changes to the page. Maybe try changing photos or making links into buttons using large calls to action. Using tools like the Google website optimizer you can test your changes by randomly showing different visitors different versions of your site. These tools will then report back to you about the conversions and goals reached by each design. From these reports you can decide which design had the most valuable conversions dependant on the goals you set for your pages. These can be sales, links clicked, forms filled, etc.

Many think that there might be too many aspects of the website to change so why test at all? This is true there are many different components to each and every website but you can just start with your current most prevalent call to action on your page. Try changing simple links to buttons with calls to action. Try cleaning up the page to not be text heavy and insert some great images relevant to your business.
• Have a friend take a look! If you have a friend that doesn’t know your business very well have them take a look at your website. Give them 10 seconds to look and then ask them what you think the site is about?

• Give, Give, Give! Tell the user why they should stay on your website. Tell them the benefits of being your website: to look younger, to be healthier, to save money.

• Make your website relevant! Make sure that all of your client see your website as relevant starting with the content and pictures on the site! Make them personal and relevant to your website and your brand.

• Users love to shop and that is why they are on your website don’t make them search. Make it easy for the user to find what they want and make it even easier for the to convert. If you are basing your conversions on sales make the “buy Now” prominent if your conversations are tracked by sign ups make sure to have a quick and easy form on every page!


Why are Landing Pages so Important?

Posted by Brent on March 5th, 2009

We have talked a lot about conversion optimization and improving ROI for your marketing investments.  This of course has never been more important.  Most companies (though everyone is negotiating the waters of the rough economy) still undertsand they need to find cost effective and creative ways to market their products and services to their target audiences.  Understanding that marketing is essential is just the first step…spending your budget wisely is a whole new ball game.

There is no point is spending a a bunch of time and money building a fancy website if it is not optimized for the search engines.  Additionally, there is no point is spending time and resources driving traffic to a website or web page that is not set up to convert traffic into business.  A good Internet marketing company will help a client define their business goals (from an online prespective) and work backwards from there.  Defining these goals first is essential so that your website can be designed to reflect the conversion fatcors that will support these goals.

Remember that your website, and pages within your website should be designed to support all outside marketing efforts including online marketing like organic search engine optimization and pay per click advertising, as well as offline marketing like print ad or direct mail.  Let’s assume a website itself is set up well for basic conversions and has the proper calls to action necessary to take people through the sales cycle.  Even if this is the case, it does not mean that your PPC ads or print ads should be directing visitors to the home page of your site.  This is where landing pages come into play. 

A good landing page strategy has multiple advantages:

  • Helps you focus on the ad campaign rather than redeveloping the actual website
  • Gives you the opportunity to test multiple landing pages for optimial conversions
  • Gives you the ability to constantly change just one page based on goals and conversions
  • Can increase conversion by up to 40%
  • Helps you focus on a specific message and call to action
  • Can be used to capture business leads without any extra steps

What are the main components for landing pages:

  • Clean, simple, but compelling design
  • Very specific call to action (i.e. 7 day FREE Trial – REGISTER NOW) – in more than one place
  • Simple content (short paragraphs or bullet points are best)
  • The use of a Multi Step Process Guide (i.e. 3 Step Process)
  • A registration form is necessary
  • Trust Factors (i.e. certifications, testimonials, etc.)
  • The use of the same keywords used in your advertisements

Here is an example of a landing page we designed for a client running a PPC campaign for their new Loft condos in San Francisco, CA.  Notice the simpe design, bullet pointed info, clear call to action, and short registration form on the right side of the page: 

The goal for this client is of course to capture registrations from interested potential buyers for their property.  This helps them build a database and get their sales teams involved in building relationships directly with the customer.

So remember, when launching new marketing efforts, even if you have just redesigned your website, consider using landing pages to support the campaign.  It will help you target the customer better and improve ROI.


Landing Pages and Conversion Optimization

Posted by Brent on February 13th, 2009

Conversion optimization:  The process of manipulating a web page to improve the visitor’s perception of the page and increase the conversion rate.  A “landing page” is generally referred to when speaking about the page a visitor is directed to when clicking on an advertisement, email marketing piece, or search engine result link.  The page should be a logical extension of the ad, support the “promises” made in the ad with more detail, and have clear and simple calls to action.

Three types of LPO:

  • Associative content targeting:  the page content is dynamically modified for each user based on parameters such as search criteria and geographical location.
  • Predictive content targeting:  the page content adjusts based on any “known” information about the user such as demographics, browsing patterns, and possibly purchasing behavior.
  • Consumer directed targeting (social targeting):  page content is created using public information through metrics based on reviews, ratings, referrals, tagging, etc.

(Wikipedia)

Below is an example of a nicely laid out landing page with a very clear call to action.  Notice how the layout gives the visitor a very simple multi-step process, additional content about the page and offering, a short registration form, and the appropriate “trust” factors associated with the serrvice.  All of these elements exist to improve conversion rates.

All website design elements should define a specific conversion.  The client should be first asked to lay out their business goals and goals associated with their online presense and Internet marketing plan.  If you haven’t defined the conversion factor you can not take the necessary steps to design the site appropriately.  The website and its landing pages are probably the most crucial element and the key foundation to the online marketing strategy.  There is no point in building a fancy site that noone will see.  More importantly there is no point in spending time and resources to drive traffic to a site that is no set up to convert visitors into customers.  Until “traffic” is converted, it should always be considered a cost, not an asset.


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