9 Tips to Help Optimize Your Landing Pages

For obvious reasons we tend to focus a lot on keywords and ad copy. They’re vital to getting search users to click on your ads. But once they have clicked, then what? Hopefully, they’re A) in a buyin’ mood and B) they’ve actually come to the right place.

You can help promote both of these results by optimizing your landing pages. Here are nine tips to help get your leads to stick around and buy from you:

1. Connect the search experience to the landing page experience.
Wherever possible, use the same language on your landing pages as you do in your ads. It’s a real disconnect when you click on an ad that reads, “Online Conversion Rate Counter” only to land on a page selling a “Conversion Calculating Service.”

2. Integrate your landing page into your site.
Some advertisers make the mistake of building stand-alone landing pages for certain keywords that are more-or-less “divorced” from the rest of their sites. This can make your business seem sketchy to potential customers, who you want to be able to trust you with their credit card info. A consistent experience across all of your pages and product offerings can help create a more convincing experience. (More on this below.)

3. Gain their trust.
Use trusted, third-party security providers and make sure their badges and icons are clearly visible.

4. Offer tips and suggestions.
How can potential customers best use the product? If you’re selling steaks, offer a steak au poivre recipe. There’s a potential for up- and cross-sell here, as well. Perhaps monsieur would enjoy a nice bottle of cabernet sauvignon with his tender, juicy filet mignon, oui? Just don’t go crazy with it, mon ami. (See 5 and 6, below.)

5. Stay on target.
If your ad specifies John Deere tractors, make sure all of your tractors for sale on that page are John Deere tractors. In other words, if I had been looking for Caterpillar bulldozers I’d have clicked on an ad for them instead.

6. Cut the clutter.
Your landing page should not be too generic and cluttered. This ties in with the tip above. If your ad is for discount wholesale 7Up, don’t clutter the page up with other un-colas. This helps keep the lead focused.

7. Ban the bling.
Your landing page should be cleanly and attractively designed, but avoid distractions like music or other audio, animations and revolving logos. These can distract prospective customers from their purpose, which is to buy the product or service that they need, hopefully from you. Again, keep ‘em focused on the task.

8. Give them something to do.
A little interactivity can help keep people engaged. For some products, especially big-ticket items, things like video testimonials and 360-degree tours may be good sales aids. Just let customers decide whether or not they want to view them by giving them control. And remember Tip 7: Keep the bling to a minimum.

9. Write right.
Language counts. Think of your landing page as a salesperson in a showroom. What would a salesperson say to a prospect to help “get to yes?” Here are a few classic pointers:

• Make sure that your headers and subheads are clear and direct.
• Deliver your value proposition right away.
• Offer a persuasive message near the call-to-action—You know: “Don’t be left out of this amazing offer,” etc.
• Be nice with your call-to-action copy—”Submit” and “Buy Now” can sound like orders and put some people off. “Try it Now” sounds nicer.

For more tips on landing page optimization, visit this page in our Help Center.

—Michael Mattis, Conversion Tipster
from the Yahoo Search Marketing Blog

Holiday E-Cards

This Holiday, Say it with an E-card
10 creative holiday email card ideas

by Gail Goodman, Constant Contact CEO
 

Why spend money on paper cards and postage when you can send an e-card? The holidays are a perfect time to send one to the people on your list. Here are ten ideas that will help you do more than just say, "Happy Holidays" with your e-card. Instead, you'll send one that makes your subscribers smile.

1. Show your face - Include a photo of you and your staff (or you and your family, if you're a one person shop) in your e-card. This is a great way to make it more personal. You can take a traditional photo or take a fun one of  your employees decorating for the holidays, you with a set of antlers on your head, or everyone with a glass of eggnog held up, saying "cheers." A more interesting photo will get more attention!
   
2. Give a little gift - Say thank you with an exclusive coupon. Ask them to print the e-card and bring it in for 20 percent off their next purchase, or to receive a special gift. You know what kind of "gift" is valuable to your audience. Make it special and make it clear that this offer is only for those on your email list, then it truly is exclusive.
   
3. Spread some cheer -Thank your list members by giving them something intended for forwarding. Include a family and friends' discount in your e-card. An enticing offer can make your e-card go a long way and get great results. Also, you can grow your list by adding a sign-up link at the bottom of the cards.
   
4. Eat, drink, and be merry - Share a favorite holiday food or drink recipe. Most people have a number of parties that they attend over the holidays, with workmates, friends and family. And many times they need to bring something. Help them be the life of the party by sending them a recipe for a dish or beverage that's guaranteed to hit a homerun. Make it quick, easy, and enticing. Include a photo (if you have a good one).
   
5. Ask for some love (nonprofit) - In the spirit of giving, invite list members to donate to or volunteer time to your worthy cause. Do you do something special for those you serve during the holidays? Let your list members know how they can get involved.
   
6. Be wise - Instead of the standard holiday greeting, include an uplifting quote, saying, or poem that will enrich one's soul. Look for something unique and inspiring that will resonate with your readers.
   
7. Have a little fun - How about using video? It's easy to upload a video of your staff on YouTube. You can then link to it from your e-card. Record your staff singing a holiday song, just saying happy holidays or, if you have some creative bones in your body, write a little two minute script and record a funny skit. Your list members will love that you tried to do something different.
   
8. Share the warmth (nonprofit) - Include a short story (and photo) about a person your organization helped. What a great way to end the year and thank your donors and volunteers for their efforts, by giving them an example of how they are making a difference.
9. Give a tip - Serve up a few helpful tips (relevant to your audience, of course!). You can send some general holiday tips like "5 ways to cope with holiday shopping" or tips that fall within your area of expertise. For example, a financial planner may send "
   
   5 Easy Ways
   to Save Money in 2008." Think about what would be useful to your audience. Be creative. And if that's not your forte, then brainstorm with a creative friend.
   
10. Be resolved - Share a resolution for the New Year. What do you want to do better, differently or more for your customers, clients or members in 2008? What have you learned from them that you plan to act on? What promise do you wish to make to them going forward? Include a brief statement about it in your e-card.
    

Remember to keep your e-card short and simple. That's what makes it an e-card, and not an e-newsletter. The holiday season gives you a unique opportunity to communicate with your list members and to do it in a fun and spirited way!

A Five Year Vision for CRM

This article is nearly 2 years old but his points are very valid and I can see his predictions developing. So far he's wrong about SalesForce though. 

Jan. 06, 2006

By Bob Thompson, CustomerThink Corp.

For the past several years, I've been writing annual predictions for the CRM industry.  It's all been good fun and forces me to sit down once a year and think about important developments.  How did I do last year? Judge for yourself by reading my CRM Industry Predictions for 2005.

It's far easier to write predictions for the CRM technology industry than for the business strategy of CRM. So this year, for a change of pace, I'm going to present my five-year vision of CRM, from both a business and technology perspective. Here are seven trends that I believe will define CRM for the next half decade.  Full article...

Weekly Computer Maintenance

Today:

• Disk Clean Up to remove files you don't need
• Disk Defragmenter to organize your hard drive
• ScanDisk to clean and protect your hard drive

Computer Maintenance Instructions

New! XP Disk Cleanup Video Tutorial
New! XP Scan Disk Video Tutorial
New! XP Disk Defrag Video Tutorial

Use of PDF files on Web Sites

Many of you use PDF files for technical literature or documentation on your web sites. I wanted you to see a second opinion about their value. Adding PDF files is a way to load your site with valuable data that the search engines will love!

Hi Jill,
I came across your site on Google while trying to find some information and found it very helpful. However, I did have a question that was not covered. Will the search engines be able to find text in a PDF document, or am I better where possible to include the information in a web page?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Morag


Jill's Reply
Hi Morag,

The search engines do indeed index and rank PDF documents these days. Basically, what they do is convert them into HTML and then index the information just like any other web page. You can see this in the search results when a PDF file shows up -- there is usually a link nearby that says "View as HTML."

PDFs are great fodder for search engines because by their very nature they tend to be text-heavy.

Search Engine Land recently had a good article by Galen DeYoung on how to optimize PDFs for search engines, which you can read here: <http://searchengineland.com/070912-095906.php>.

Hope this helps!

Jill Whalen
High Rankings Advisor

Windows Automatic Updates - Yes or No?

This is one of those damned if you do - damned if you don't areas.

Microsoft is constantly publishing patches, fixes, tweaks to your Windows operating system. Many of them won't pertain to you.  But once in awhile there's fix that you need. You may not even know you need it but the update will make your computer run better.

So turning on Automatic Updating is a good thing.

Except ... when Microsoft publishes something you aren't ready for or don't want such as Internet Explorer 7. One night I went to bed with IE6; the next morning I woke up with IE7. It wasn't a morning where I had time to figure out the new look, the new terms or the new restrictions IE7 "helped" me with.  Furthermore, I don't like to try any new Microsoft product until it's been out at least six months.

A second nuisance is that Windows does the installation at shutdown. It never fails that I'm in a client's office finishing a work session when it decides to install the updates. The client and I have to stand around and wait for the installation to finish. Because you DO NOT EVER stop the installation. It takes forever to get your computer working right again.

Automatic updates takes away my ability to choose what I want to update and when.

If you prefer not to use Automatic Updating, sign up for my Computer Maintenance Reminders service. I'll send you a reminder quarterly. You can then go to the update center (I'll include instructions!) and you can choose your updates and do them at your convenience. OK, maybe convenience is not quite the right word but you understand what I mean!

If you want to turn on the automatic updating, here are the instructions from Microsoft for Windows XP. Visit the Windows Update Solutions Center if you have another version.

Free Back Up Service

Mozy offers you 2 GB of back up space for FREE!

You download some simple software, set up which files you want backed up then Mozy will automatically, continuously back up your files.

Your files are stored online. You can restore them to a new hard drive in case of disaster or retrieve a file you accidentally deleted.  If, God forbid, the office burns down, your files are safe.

High speed internet is required. The first back up will take a long time but the process doesn't slow down your computer or keep you from using the Internet. Subsequent back ups will be faster since Mozy is only picking up changes.