Tweet

Increase Landing Page Conversion By Testing These 5 Elements

Written by: Karen Scharf

Article Overview: Are you satisfied with the conversion rate on your landing page? I hope the answer to that question - no matter what your conversion rate - is an emphatic "No!" Because no matter what your conversion rate is, there's always the chance that it can be better.

Increase Landing Page Conversion By Testing These 5 Elements

Are you satisfied with the conversion rate on your landing page? I hope the answer to that question - no matter what your conversion rate - is an emphatic "No!" Because no matter what your conversion rate is, there's always the chance that it can be better. And you'll never know how much money you're leaving on the table until you start measuring, optimizing and testing.

If you're a newbie to website testing, there are two different schools of thought as to how you should get started. The first says you should start with an "unimportant" page on your site. Use that page as your "practice field" to avoid making any grave mistakes while you're learning the ins and outs of testing.

I, on the other hand, subscribe to the second school of thought: start with a high traffic web page so you can see results more quickly. If there's one thing the internet era has done to all of us, it's turned us into a society of "immediate gratification seekers". We want results now. We get bored easily. We don't want to wait for the answer.

The danger in starting your website testing with an "unimportant page" is that it will take too long to see any real results. You'll grow impatient, you'll get bored, and chances are you'll abandon the concept of testing before you've had a chance to appreciate its amazing merits.

So let's start with your highest traffic page (if you're scared you'll make a mess, start with the second or third highest traffic page - but don't worry. As long as you back up ahead of time, anything you "mess up" can be undone!)

The page components you want to test are:

1. Your Headline
Without a doubt, your headline is the most important component of your web page. It's the first thing your visitor will see when landing on your site. It will either compel him to continue reading, or convince him he's at the wrong page. And the best part is, it's super easy to test. You don't need to get your graphic artist involved, or even your copywriter. You can easily craft a few benefits-laden headlines to test on your own. I suggest writing at least four different headlines and designing an A/B test to verify the effectiveness of each.

2. Your Opening Paragraph
Just as in offline direct mail marketing, the opening paragraph of your web page sales letter must pull the reader into your copy and make him want to read more. Because many small business owners have a harder time writing opening paragraphs than headlines, you might want to get your copywriter involved in this one. But again, a simple A/B test can be used to measure the effectiveness of each paragraph.

3. Your Call to Action
There are dozens of different ways to spell out to your reader exactly what you want him to do. And depending on your product, your niche, your audience, etc, some will definitely be more effective than others. This is one component of your web page that you don't want to leave to chance. Rather than simply copying what other marketers are doing, choose several different calls to action and test them each against each other.

4. Your Product Benefits
Your sales copy will be most effective when you list the most important benefit first. But Wait!! Your prospect might have a different opinion of which is the most important benefit. Try varying the order of your benefit statements to test which positioning converts at the highest rate. This could also provide some valuable insight into rewriting your entire sales letter for higher conversions - or writing the sales letter for your next product.

5. Your Graphics and Visual Elements
They say a picture is worth a thousand words - but what is the wrong picture worth? Some colors, graphics and photographs can actually hurt your conversion rate. Some can provide a so-so conversion rate. While others can have your conversion rate soaring through the roof. The only way you'll know for sure that you're using the right visual elements is to test. A multivariate test will allow you to test several different elements simultaneously to ensure you have the right combination.

Once these initial tests are done, it will be time to move on to more tests. Never rest on your laurels and never assume that your conversion rate is as good as it could possibly be. There will always be room for improvement - and room for more testing.

Related Articles
  Testing Your Way to Website Profits
  How to Start Split-Testing Your Web Pages
  Quality landing pages to get more sales
  How To Increase Your Internet Marketing Lead Conversion
  Creating an Effective Landing Page

Article Tags: web design, website design



Related Forum Posts
Re: Examples of Great Landing Pages - Kevin, been a while! hey I just reviewed the Landing Page - I like it! The structure is all there and I like how the testimonials are "related" to the business benefit of becoming a Partner - Nice work! Two points: 1. Have you tried other headlines or split tested other headlines? You can use google website optimizer to do it. I know you can come up with a slightly stronger headline unless this one came out on top. 2. I feel that when the page first loads it looks "incomplete". It's just a visual thing. I guess i was expecting a border around the content, a header image maybe... it's just the way i am wired to expect webpages to load. This point may be insignificant. Testing is the only way to know for sure.
Page Rank Changes - Hi Kevin - there is a lot of speculation as to why so many websites lost Page Rank. A few new sites that I've been following also got Page Rank for the first time. Every time Google does a Page Rank update there are websites that get caught in the crossfire and have to work to get their rankings back up!
Re: Secrets About Landing Pages Revealed! - Hi Greg, Thank for posting this, it's very helpful. Landing pages can convert very well if they are well written.
Elements of Style - Can't comment on the two books you listed, but Strunk and White's Elements of Style belong on every writer's shelf.
Re: All the Secrets to Getting a Lot of Traffic Using Google AdW - Thanks, Zeke. Testing is required for any campaign. Tanny, let us know how you make out. I will try to get started with MSN during the next week. I have a bit to learn yet as it's different than Adwords. Alan


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

ROSI Return on SUNK Investment

Resolving A Conflict Between Two Sales Staffs

Marketing & Sales tools – going back to basics

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.