Tag Archives: Landing Page Optimization

How Dynamic Landing Pages Help Increase Conversion Rates

What Are Dynamic Landing Pages?

Landing pages are the bread and butter of your company website. Typically, businesses use these pages as links for sponsored advertisements to drive web traffic to the site. Web designers craft the page to target a specific conversion, such as purchasing a new product or downloading a free eBook.

Standard elements of a landing page include:

A single, clear Call to Action (CTA).
Potential SEO, although not required.
A description of products and additional content necessary to sell the conversion.

A landing page does not have a site navigation attached to it. In addition, only one CTA can exist on a landing page since the purpose of these pages is to target a specific conversion. No internal or external links are available on a landing page aside from the CTA.

Dynamic pages, on the other hand, are web pages that are customizable to a user’s location. It displays different messages to different users based on location or keywords. Landing pages and dynamic pages can combine forces to create one effective web tool for your business: the dynamic landing page.

Dynamic pages for e-commerce allow businesses to further customize the user experience and push the conversion. A user will appreciate the tailor-made page and is more likely to convert than they would a standard landing page.

Dynamic Landing Pages and Conversion Rates

Dynamic landing pages have the potential to increase your company’s conversion rates because they are directly relevant to the user. Standard landing pages lack this relevancy. Instead of landing on a basic page, the designers customize landing pages to fit the user’s needs.

For example, say that you run a nationwide cleaning service company. If a person is searching for a cleaning service, they want to find one in their local area. A standard landing page would lead them to your site, but they may need to type in their location manually. However, a dynamic landing page will tailor results to their location specifically, showing that your company can service their home. This will make it easier for the customer to schedule an appointment with you.

A study by the UK-based firm Periscopix directed visitors to a cleaning service site to either a dynamic landing page or a standard landing page. The study found that desktop conversion rate for the dynamic landing page increased by 9.2% and the mobile conversion rate increased by 25.2% — a major increase in business for the company.

Necessary Elements for Creative Landing Pages

Investing in a dynamic landing page is crucial to increasing your company’s conversion rates. However, you should follow these best practices to ensure that your web pages direct traffic in the right direction and communicate your desired messages clearly.

Write a strong, well-crafted headline.

You can create different headlines based on keywords to add the dynamic factor to your landing page. Select a handful of the most common pain points and construct your headlines around them.
Include a visual focus on your landing page.

Choose an image that reflects your company culture and values. Choose an emotion to target and find large, dynamic images to match this emotion.
Add a persuasive subheading.

After you grab your visitor’s attention with the headline, include more information to help them convert. Elaborate on the offer you’re trying to sell and aim to help your visitors move past their hesitation to convert.
Eliminate risk by adding a guarantee.

Offer a free trial, free consultation, or product demo. You can also offer a money-back guarantee within a certain timeframe. Whatever the case, create a situation where the visitor has little to lose from the conversion.

Dynamic Landing Pages with Help from Eminent SEO

Ready to create a dynamic landing page for your company website? Contact Eminent SEO today to learn more about our web design services.

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.

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This entry was posted in Design & UX Optimization, Marketing Strategy, Sales & Pro Tips and tagged Design, Landing Page Optimization, Marketing Tools.

Words Will Sometimes Hurt You: How to Use the Right Words on Your Website to Drive Conversions

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This entry was posted on August 19, 2016 by Team Eminent SEO.

“It’s not what you said. It’s how you said it…”

We’ve all played the role of victim or accuser, whether in a relationship with a significant other, a parent, sibling or even those with whom we work. Miscommunication is at the root of most conflict.

Therefore, effective communication, while subtle, can pay huge dividends – in relationships and business alike. But don’t just take our word for it: Social psychologists and copywriting experts have done the research and strongly agree.

One Word Can Make or Break You

Did you know that a single word can mean the difference between someone buying in or opting out of your message? Social psychologist Ellen Langer once conducted a study that tested the power of a single word. In her experiment, she asked respondents if she could cut in line at a Xerox machine, varying her phrasing slightly in three separate trials to test the effect of her wording.

And what were the results?

When Langer phrased her request as, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine,” she found that 60 percent of respondents agreed to let her cut in line.
When the request was rephrased as, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush,” she noticed that 94 percent of respondents acquiesced.
When the request was rephrased to, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies,” the number changed to 93 percent.

It’s interesting to note the differences between the first and the latter two of Langer’s experiments. As strange as the last question sounds, the real lesson of note is in the barely noticeable drop in positive responses.

What Does This Mean for Me and My Business?

Simply put, if you want people to take action, you need to give them a reason. In fact, the presence of the reason is more important that the reason itself.

People just need a why. If you think about it, it makes sense: Your why is your value proposition, or your mission statement. Which of these requests sounds more enticing to you: “Click here!” or “Click here to find out how to save on your next vacation”?

Clicking on a link, subscribing to an email list, opening an email, and clicking on a new product are just a few examples in a long list of small “sales” that ultimately lead to the final sale, and revenue for your business. And those sales can come oftentimes down to a single word.

Turning Clicks to Cash

As you can see, getting new customers to buy into your brand or product is tricky business. There’s a reason why companies and universities spend millions of dollars annually to study what makes you say yes or no.

When it comes to conversion rate, especially, wording is everything. Fortunately, companies like Ogilvy & Mather have done the dirty work for us, compiling lists of the most persuasive and influential words to use to increase conversion rates.

It should come as no surprise that words like you, free, because, instantly and new are at the top of the list for most persuasive words in the English language. Here are some examples of email subjects using those words to generate high open rates:

“Thank you, Chris!”
“Sneak peek of our new video”
“Update your profile instantly”

Of course, email opens, while important, are not the only type of conversion. David Ogilvy, the marketing mastermind behind Ogilvy & Mather, went a step further and published a list in 1963 of the most influential words in his industry. Some examples are:

Suddenly
Now
Announcing
Introducing
Amazing
Sensational
Remarkable
Revolutionary

Startling
Miracle
Magic
Quick
Easy
Hurry
Instantly

If you look carefully at these words, you should notice some thematic similarities between them. Each of the terms on this list either appeal to a sense of novelty, or to a sense of instant gratification. This is a powerful concept – one taps into the complex wiring of the human brain.

I Want It Now!

Think back to the first time you tried a new flavor of ice cream that you loved, or the first time you made it to a new level on your favorite video game. The rush of satisfaction that you felt was your brain’s production of dopamine, the chemical released in our brains that signifies a reward.

According to Kelsey Libert in her article This is your Brain on Viral Content: What Psychology Says You’ll Click On, the region in the brain that is responsible for motivation and reward-processing (aka consumer decisions) responds better to novelty than to the familiar.

Put simply, “When the brain discovers a novel idea, it releases a reward (dopamine) that inspires us to go searching for more.” In the wrong hands, this is the root of insatiable drug addictions. In the hands of savvy marketing, it is the foundation for an effective conversion.

When you consider that the same rush of dopamine happens when we experience instant gratification, it is no wonder that Ogilvy’s list of influential words all trigger novelty and instant gratification.

Use The Right Words at the Right Time

Your work isn’t done once you have chosen powerful words. The best marketing involves the most powerful words in the right situations. For example, Leo Widrich of Buffer and Social Media Today once compiled a list of “189 Phrases That Influence, Persuade, and Convert.” Widrich told us that in order to encourage community, use phrases such as:

Join
Become a member
Come along

Remember that pyramid by Abraham Maslow that you had to memorize in high school Psychology? As it turns out, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs brilliantly explains why marketing that encourages a sense of belonging satisfies a deep psychological need within our brain. Similarly, by using influential phrases that imply scarcity like “only 3 left” or “limited offer,” marketers can appeal to our most basic needs.

Final Word(s)

At the end of the day, it seems that no matter how smart we think we are as consumers, we’re all slaves to our desire. Any self-aware business will partner with a marketing firm that understands these desires and knows how to turn them into sales.

To put it bluntly, we want what we want when we want it. And even if we don’t want it, you can convince us that we want it if you can use the right words at the right time, give us a reason, and associate it with our basic needs.

If you need help with optimizing your website with high-quality, strategic copy that can drive clicks and conversions, try out Eminent SEO. Learn about our Landing Page Optimization Services here, or call 800.871.4130 today.

Team Eminent SEO

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Dedicated Landing Page Optimization Fails that Make You Lose Conversions

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This entry was posted on December 31, 2015 by Team Eminent SEO.

What is a Landing Page?

A landing page is an asset you present online to drive users to take a particular action. Dedicated landing pages are often separate from a website’s normal navigation – although they don’t have to be – and sometimes bear only slight resemblance to the layout of the parent website.

Other traits of landing pages include:

They can be used for a pay-per-click campaign, but also have the ability to show up in the organic search results.
They’re intended for users to land exactly on that spot from a search engine or online ad with a specific goal in mind for the user. Sometimes they may be invisible from the website’s navigation if the page is intended to promote a specific campaign or product, such as an eBook.
They generally conclude with a specific call to action (CTA), such as to make a phone call, fill out a form or buy a product. Sometimes, though, the goal is as innocuous as getting the user to sign up for an email list.
Sometimes their goal is to lead users to another page, such as the next step in a sales funnel. These are called click-through landing pages.
If dedicated, they will often limit the other pages you can go on a site, if they let you click anywhere else at all. Some dedicated pages will just let you click to go to the homepage, if you don’t want to click on the call to action.

Landing pages can be optimized over time, but they are pretty much supposed to be airtight when they go live and are ready to accept web traffic. Even so, marketers occasionally leave a lot to be desired when it comes to landing page optimization. Hopefully, they’ve at least done keyword research and incorporated that term on the page before publishing it. However, a number of other issues can still arise when presenting a landing page that’s supposed to be a boon for a business.

Watch out for These Landing Page Optimization Mistakes

Whatever the objective, a landing page is supposed to provide a boost to your business in some shape or form. You’re not just doing it for fun.

So if you’re not putting a landing page together for fun, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by making one (or all) of the following landing page mistakes.

Unclear Path to CTA

If your call to action is in a poor spot or the reader finishes the copy and asks, “What am I supposed to do next,” then there’s a problem with your CTA and the build-up to it. As you’re writing the landing page, try to explain how your service or product will make the consumer’s life different, and basically why they need it. Have your text lead right in to the CTA, helping the user make a logical leap from reading to taking action.

Too Many CTAs

One may be the loneliest number, but it’s the only right answer when it comes to how many CTAs to have on a landing page. Don’t ask the user to either fill out a form or make a call. Pick one! If it’s a dedicated landing page, don’t ask visitors to follow your social media profiles in addition to whatever your final CTA is. Take away all the distractions and detours and focus on funneling visitors right to that ultimate call to action.

Copywriting Issues

You may think the user is mostly going to pay attention to the images, headlines and interactive elements you have on the page, but success will largely be determined by the quality of writing. Therefore, don’t commit the following five infractions related to copywriting.

• Writing for Too Many Audiences

Your landing page can’t be all things to all people. Don’t bring up a lot of, “Well, if you’re like this … But if you’re this type of person …” scenarios. Focus on one kind of consumer that you think will be likely to deliver your desired outcome, and then tailor the page to that buyer persona.

• Vague Copy

Making an emotional appeal without providing substance is going to hurt your chances of earning conversions. Get into specifics, use data and answer all the most-pressing questions in the reader’s head about the product or service you’re promoting. Dancing around specifics will drop trust with your audience, and conversions will then be hard to come by.

• Jargon-Heavy Language

Don’t write to consumers the way you would talk to other professionals in your industry. Using too many business clichés, technical terms and too much industry-related jargon will leave users scratching their heads, if not quickly bouncing off the page. Remember who your ideal consumer is, and break your product or service down to a way they can understand it, without all the platitudes and esoteric language.

• Important Info Obscured

Don’t bury the lead! Also, don’t bury important information in the middle of a large paragraph. Use call-out boxes, charts, graphic illustrations – whatever you need to make your most important info stand out. If it’s a stat or another piece of information that’s going to be vital to making a conversion, make sure it’s front and center.

A corollary to that technique is to break up long paragraphs and don’t write more than you need to. Many readers can tell when you’re rambling on, and most won’t stick with you from the beginning to the end of a long paragraph. Online users have become notorious for skimming the copy of a page. Writing for the web generally entails two- to four-sentence paragraphs, along with frequent usage of bullet points, images and headers.

Technical Difficulties

Does the landing page load too slowly and is it not mobile-friendly? That’s two strikes right there in the eyes of most users. If either or both issues apply to your page, it’s time to contact your web developer, or you may have to hire some outside help. To check the loading speed of your landing page, use this tool. To check if your page is responsive to mobile devices and to see what it looks like at different dimensions, try this tool.

URL Fails

We’ve taken over websites for clients and found old dedicated landing pages in their crawl reports that have “ppc” at the end of their URLs.

Yeah, don’t do that! Be sure the page’s URL is optimized, siloed correctly in the navigation (if not dedicated) and that it features the correct naming convention of the page before publishing. Also, make sure that the address is not too long, such as featuring every single word of the headline. Only use the most important individual words of the page’s header within the URL, and don’t over-optimize.

Outside Help is Available if You’re in a Bind

If you’re in over your head when creating a landing page or you’re not sure if an existing campaign is getting results, you have the option of turning it over to an expert marketing team. Eminent SEO builds custom landing pages and closely tracks results for dozens of businesses across various industries. We can help you with writing the page persuasively and finding premium imagery to supplement, as well as helping you shore up the more technical elements of your website. Hand the task over to us, all you have to do is wait for the qualified leads to come through.

To get started with creating or improving a landing page for your business, see our Landing Page Optimization Services page or call Eminent SEO today at 1-800-871-4130.

Team Eminent SEO

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This entry was posted in Content & Blogging, Paid Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and tagged Landing Page Optimization, SEO.

Top 10 Ecommerce SEO Tips to Maximize Organic Traffic and Sales

1. Research Keywords and Develop a Plan

This part is easy right? You know what term you want to rank for. Just optimize the entire site with that one term, right? Wrong. Over-optimizing is irrelevant with today’s search engine algorithms. They’re a lot smarter than five years ago.

Run a crawl report of your website and compile all of your top level navigation pages, product category pages, and sub-category pages into a priority list, starting with the top level navigation first. From there, you want to identify a focus keyword that could be potentially optimized for each of these pages. This is where keyword research and strategy development come together.

A tip here is to think of terms that are going to actually convert if that page started ranking for that term. Is it long-tail enough? If not, consider trying out long-tail keywords, since they are going to provide fewer but more-qualified visitors to the page.

2. Optimize Each Page with Focus Keywords

Now that you’ve identified what the focus keywords are for each important landing page of the shopping cart, it’s time to optimize the page with that term. Some important areas of the page you could potentially place the term include: header tags, alt tags, meta title, meta description, website copy, and call to action.

If the page is lacking in content, consider beefing it up. Search engines will not understand what the page is about without a little snippet of content. Adding unique, high quality content to that category page could help tremendously.

3. Optimize the Website Architecture Structure

This is where a lot of ecommerce websites drop the ball. Website architecture tells the story of your website and how it’s supposed to be laid out.

To know if your website needs to be architected, take the crawl report that was organized by priority order. Do the URLs show exactly where in the site that product or category page lives? For example, when looking at a product category URL, it should be structured as follows: example.com/parent-category/sub-category/.

The URLs are your website’s breadcrumbs for search engines. If there is not a clear path laid out for the search engines, they will not see the value of a page, since all of the other pages on your site are weighted as the same value.

Certain shopping carts will have the option to structure the URLs so that when a product is added, it will automatically create the correct URL for the product. Talk to your shopping cart support team for more information about setting up a proper website navigation structure.

Not only are the URLs important to optimize, but also the navigation itself. What makes sense for users? What are your most important product categories that you would like to promote? Having an easy-to-navigate website will reduce confusion and help users easily find the top products that you’re looking to sell.

4. Write Unique Product Descriptions

Yes, UNIQUE. I know this can seem like a huge task to some, but it’s worth it. Having duplicate product descriptions from the manufacturer site will just devalue your product pages and even prevent them from obtaining higher rankings. Rewriting the product descriptions in your own words will help crawlers and users understand the item better. If anything, the product page is your sales page for the product. It needs to be well written and optimized for both users and search engines in order to get the sale, period.

5. Optimize Individual Product Pages

Product pages make up the majority of most ecommerce sites. It can take months to optimize each and every product page, but it should be an ongoing effort to optimize each individual page. If product pages don’t have any SEO, how are potential new users going to find your product? Optimize, test, and optimize more.

6. Encourage Customers to Review or Rate Your Products

Enabling the reviews feature on each individual product page will help entice customers to rate the product. Understandably, it can be difficult to rate a product that hasn’t been received by the customer yet. One way to lure your customers to rate the product is to utilize email marketing and send a follow-up email after they’ve received the shipment. Encourage them to rate the product with some sort of counter offer.

Rate Your Product Purchase within the Next 24 Hours and Receive 10% off Your Next Purchase!

Giving your customer a reason to rate your product will help increase product rankings because unique content is being added by others to that specific page. Also, positive rating stars can be great clickbait for your product when it shows up in the search results.

7. Include Product Installation Videos When Applicable

Selling a product that requires installation? More content is needed for these types of products. Videos are a great way to show your customers how to properly install or assemble the product when they receive it at home. Include these videos on your website or even the product page itself.

The more user engagement on your website, the more trusted your site will become in your industry.

8. Optimize the Mobile Shopping Experience

It was predicted a few years ago that mobile search would eventually exceed desktop. That prediction is now a reality. According to Smart Insights, so far in 2015, users are spending more time on their mobile device than their desktop. If your website is optimized for mobile with a responsive design, then your website will most likely provide a positive mobile experience. If it’s not, your organic traffic could suffer if your competition is already ahead in the game.

It’s important to test your website on a mobile device to make sure users can easily navigate from a product to the shopping cart checkout. Having a one-page checkout option would be a perfect way to optimize your website for a better mobile shopping experience. Users can easily become frustrated when they have to go through multiple pages just to purchase the product when they’re on their phone.

9. Internal Search Feature Optimization

There is more than one search engine you should be considering when optimizing your ecommerce site. The internal search functionality on your website is just as important because it allows users to engage with your site easily and find exactly what they’re looking for, which means more sales.

Your internal search must have a customizable algorithm that can handle misspellings and keyword variations and be able to sort through all of your products, among other functions. There are third party search companies that have built this feature already and can customize your website’s search functionality for your specific products.

10. Check for Website Errors Regularly

Ecommerce websites often have thousands of pages. Errors can easily be missed if the site is not properly managed. Run a crawl report monthly or quarterly to know if there are any 301 or 404 errors. You want to manage the 301 redirects since you don’t want internal links passing through a redirect, so your internal links need to be constantly updated to be relevant to the current site architecture. Monitoring the site’s health in Google Search Console and other third party tools is a great way to maintain a healthy website that search engine crawlers will index regularly.

Closing Thoughts

Ecommerce SEO is never going to be “complete.” Optimization can go on and on, especially with a larger product website. When an ecommerce website receives ongoing optimization and maintenance, it begins to shine in the search results.

Looking for ecommerce SEO from a team of experts who do this stuff daily?

Learn More About Our Expert SEO Services Here

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This entry was posted in Addiction Treatment Marketing, eCommerce, Search Engine Optimization and tagged Landing Page Optimization, SEO.

Why You Should Outsource Your SEO to a Digital Marketing Agency Instead of Hiring a One-Man Show

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This entry was posted on July 6, 2015 by Team Eminent SEO.

When it comes to growth, unless your business relies solely on word of mouth or printed collateral, you’re going to want to explore the huge potential that marketing in the digital realm offers.

More than likely, you already have a website established for your business, and perhaps you’ve already set up a few social media accounts. However, your business could be losing out on a huge stream of leads if your website is not showing up high in Google search rankings. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.

SEO is more than just plastering a certain keyword across a website page and earning (or buying) backlinks to your site. It’s now about overall user experience and whether Google considers your website an authority on a particular topic.

Improving your website’s search engine visibility is a multifaceted approach, and it’s often a tall order for just one person to handle. Let’s take a look at the benefits of hiring a full-fledged digital marketing agency to handle your SEO rather than hiring one person or an SEO-only firm.

Website Assessment: SEO Considerations

Certainly you can hire one individual within your company or a freelancer to look at each page on your site and optimize them one by one with keywords and headlines; however, the hired hand needs to consider the overall look and feel of the website – its design and the ease of navigation.

Getting the right keywords on a page should help your website rise in the search rankings, but even if you’re seeing any increase in clicks, you may not necessarily see a rise in sales or even incoming phone calls. If the website still has an outdated design and the copy is written awkwardly or blandly – even with the appropriate keywords – you will likely see a high bounce rate, which means potential customers have backtracked to their search results and are looking for the next company in your industry that’s going to catch their eye.

So when you hire somebody to boost your search rankings and conversion rate, that person (or team) needs to have the resources to improve aspects of your website from layout and design to even your company’s logo, should any of those items be problematic. If your website has a modern design and if the copy is written intelligibly and even authoritatively, you may start earning backlinks from other reputable sites, a concept which also boosts your visibility on Google. SEO is a dynamic and continually evolving process, and asking one person or even a small team to address every aspect of your website’s SEO is a tall task.

Is Your Website Mobile-Friendly?

Does your website adjust well to handheld devices like tablets and cellphones? No? Well, not only will it frustrate people who have found your website via one of those devices, but you’re also holding yourself back from a higher ranking on Google.

To make your website more responsive, you’re probably going to want to look for a web developer, one who not only has a high degree of programming skills but also can distinguish a good design from a poor one. In many cases, those are jobs for two different people, but if you can find one person who is experienced in both areas – not to mention copywriting and keyword research, among other skills – then more power to you. It’s not going to come cheap though, whether it’s somebody you hire on staff or if it’s short-term freelance work.

The Cost-Effectiveness of a Digital Marketing Agency

Let’s recap the primary areas in which you have to be skilled to improve and maintain the SEO of your company’s website:

Keyword research
Copywriting
Web design and content
Programming
Graphic design
Social media
Email campaigns
Website traffic analysis
Monitoring backlinks and mentions of your business online

There are even other factors that play into your website’s search visibility, but we’ll leave it at these for now. As you can imagine, you’ll have to search long and hard for even one person that claims to boast all of these skills, and if you do find him or her, it’s not going to be very cost-effective for your business.

The best route to take is to search for a digital marketing agency that can juggle all of these tasks and do so with a commitment to helping your company put its best face forward in the digital world. You may find SEO-oriented micro-businesses or freelancers in your area who can look up the most-searched keywords in your industry and rewrite the copy of your web pages, but it’s not likely they will possess the skills or resources to upgrade the look and user experience of your website, especially if those are glaring deficiencies.

Instead, opt for a digital marketing agency that can address every SEO consideration of your company’s website and digital presence. And if the marketing firm offers to manage your social media accounts, it’s only a bonus. You should be able to find an agency that will cost you less per month than you’d pay one person who may (or may not) possess all of the skills needed to improve your website and its search visibility.

An Agency that can Handle ALL of Your SEO Needs

Since everything from website design to social media strategy has search engine optimization implications, Eminent SEO has the resources to bolster every aspect of a company’s digital presence. We can assess your website and your online marketing strategy and then recommend and execute the necessary improvements.

Does your website need a complete overhaul or do you need a new one from scratch? Eminent SEO can show you some options and turn your wish into reality.

But maybe you just need to optimize a handful of landing pages on your site: We can work with you on a month-to-month or long-term basis – on whatever the size of project that works with your budget.

Looking to Boost Your Website’s Traffic and Conversion Rates?
Eminent SEO Has Solutions For You:
1.800.871.4130

Team Eminent SEO

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This entry was posted in Design & UX Optimization, Marketing Strategy, Search Engine Optimization and tagged Development, Landing Page Optimization, Link Building, Mobile.

8 Tips for Effective PPC Landing Pages

Here are some PPC landing page tips to getting the best bang for your buck with your campaign:

1. Make Customer Testimonials Stand Out

Is this the right product/service for me? What do other people think of this? Am I making the right choice? A real customer testimonial can answer all of these questions and seal the deal. Make it prominent, give it a unique design element. You can even make it a video. This creates trust between you and your readers.

2. List the Benefits. How Is Your Product/Service Better?

They are there because of what you are selling – you need to convince them why yours is better. Make sure your key benefits are listed out clearly, in a bullet list. This helps your potential buyer quickly determine whether or not they landed where they need to be… and whether or not your product or service is worth the time to buy or call.

3. POW! Catch Them with a Knock-out Headline

Take time to come up with an amazing headline – you have 3 seconds to capture your readers attention, tell them why they are here, and that you have EXACTLY what they are looking for. Use headline tools to test the effectiveness of your headline. (Have more than one killer headline? See Step 8.)

4. Keep it Simple, Silly!

This is a landing page – not your whole website squished into a page. Focus on the key points – this is to turn this prospect into a qualified lead – not to tell them everything that you are or what you offer. Keep the layout and content simple:

Headline – strong and clear (remember, 3 seconds!)
Sub-headline – support your headline with a compelling thought
Pictures – these should show the benefits of why they are there
CTA Buttons – strong and compelling
Break up your content with Large Font Headlines
Bullet Points – get to the point right away, list the benefits of your service/product
Short Paragraphs – under 10 sentences, use simple words and thoughts that are easy to understand. Don’t use 10 dollar words where 2 dollar ones explain just as well.
Image Captions – don’t forget to explain the pictures (not just for Google, but for your readers, too)

5. Be Yourself

Write as if you are talking to your reader face to face. Sound human. Your readers don’t want a robot, even on ‘paper’. Add some humor, too.

6. Get Your Facts!

Be real. Nobody believes “Your conversions will increase greatly” – but “Our clients have seen increases in conversions up to 30%!” Write compelling facts that mean something to your clients. Hard facts are the real deal.

7. Don’t Be Bossy

No one likes to be told what to do. So ASK your readers to act. Use a 2 line method: 1 line to ask, 1 line to reassure it’s the right choice.

For Example:

We create beautiful websites and unique marketing strategies that drive targeted traffic and high conversions.
Get Started Now!

Let us create a custom website and marketing campaign for you so you can get back to what you do best – running your business.
Call us now.

8. A/B Test

Come on, you think you hit a homerun right off the bat? Possibly. But to be sure, you should test it. Compare your headlines (Remember step 3? This is how you choose!). Compare your sub-headlines, your CTA copy, or even change up your benefits – which ones really matter to your readers?

Did you catch all of that? It’s a lot to remember, and it’s not easy to come up with the right formula to get the results you are looking for. However, these are the key elements to look at if you are trying to beef up your PPC campaign.

Want a hand? Give us a call: 800-871-4130 or fill out a form today.

Kirstin Douglas

Technical Project Manager. My day-to-day includes performing technical SEO tasks, managing multiple projects and supporting the website optimization process. I also communicate directly with customers to help them understand their options and implement their customized solutions.

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This entry was posted in Paid Marketing and tagged Landing Page Optimization, Paid Ads, SEO.

Landing Page Optimization Checklist: Key Landing Page Must Have’s for Higher Conversion Rates

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This entry was posted on June 19, 2014 by Team Eminent SEO.

Everyone knows landing pages are important but there are so many elements to a landing page that people often forget the important elements that help increase conversion rates. Yeah, it’s only one page, but that one page could be your lead generating machine. We’ve provided this checklist to help you NOT forget these important parts when designing and writing your landing pages.

The RIGHT Content

First things first, you need to look at the bigger picture of your landing page. What is the message you are trying to get across? What is the end goal that you want the user to perform? This should be your value proposition. You need to make sure this is CLEAR to the end user. To make this clear, you can place your proposition in a variety of areas within your content.

Headline

This is where you need to catch people’s attention.

Your headline should have actionable content that provides only points that matter. Whether your action is to get the user to fill out the form or sign up for a free trial – make it clear in your headline.

“What matters is that I’m the best in this space.”

That’s exactly where you’re going to lose your audience. By saying you’re the “best” or your product is the best. Say what matters because you and all your competitors are going to claim they’re “the best,” so be unique.

What is your offer? Be relevant and straight to the point with your headlines. Your headlines should also match with the marketing campaigns you’re pushing out… But we’ll get into that more later on.

Supporting Headline

This is the headline where you want to provide supporting details about your value proposition and main headline. What will the end user get if they fill out your form or sign up for your trial? Clearly lay out the benefits of your offer here.

List Your Other Benefits

This is where you can really show off your goods. Good use of bullet points here will help on the eyes for the user. Bullet out what the benefits are of your offer. Don’t go overboard and bore them, but provide enough information to support your headlines and entice the user to reach your end goal. What makes your offer unique?

Meta Data and Ads Contain Similar Content

Meta data isn’t just about SEO. It’s about enticing internet users to click on your landing page from the organic search results. Your title tag should be very similar, if not the same, as your main headline. When people see your headline and click in the search results – they want to see relevant content on the landing page. They don’t want to see something completely different.

Same goes when writing ads. You want the value proposition clearly stated within your ad as well as a very similar headline and call to action.

Reinforce Your Offer

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Most of the time your value proposition should be shown at least 3 ways on your landing page. This is meant for those who scan content instead of actually reading it.

Reinforce your offer by placing it again, with slightly different wording, below your benefits and form. This is similar to your supporting headline.

Images

You want to have the right image on your landing page because this is how you can visually show your offer. Whether you want to show an actual picture of what the offer is or a personal message from the CEO – images are important.

Think of what would compel your users to to meet your conversion goal – put it in your image!

A Clear and Concise Call to Action (CTA) – Also Known As Your End Conversion Goal

EVERY LANDING PAGE NEEDS A GOAL.

This is ultimately how all of the content and CTA’s are structured on the page. Your goal will define what type of CTA you’re going to need.

A lot of landing pages contain a form of some kind. Whether you’re trying to get someone to download an eBook or fill in their information for a free trial – you want to capture the end users’ information.

This isn’t always the case for every business. Your final CTA may be to call to receive more information. Whatever your goal is will help determine what your final CTA is.

Forms

Okay, let’s be clear right away about this one – size doesn’t matter.

When you’re creating forms, you want them to be long enough to capture the information needed for your end goal, but short enough you can still keep the users’ attention. There’s no right or wrong length for forms as long as they provide you with the information you need. However, longer forms are statistically proven to have higher bounce rates – so IF possible, keep it short and to the point.

Just as important is the form CTA button. You want to make sure this button clearly stands out. Most studies suggest having an entirely different colored button increases conversion rates dramatically. You want to also make sure your button clearly states what the user is going to receive when they click that button!

Buttons

As mentioned above, your button should stand out on the page with both design and context. Since not all landing pages are form-driven, another option is enticing the user to take a Next Step to get to another offer. This would be where buttons strongly come into play.

For example, you’re writing a blog post about “Tracking Your Marketing ROI.” The goal of this blog post is to attract people interested in marketing and ultimately turn those interested people into leads.

The blog itself is not going to turn each visitor into a lead, but it can be a gateway for visitors to get to a landing page, where they have to fill out their information to receive your offer.

The button is extremely important for these types of landing pages because they are your final CTA. The buttons should provide content that explains the next step and matches the landing page content to where they’re being led to. Ding, ding, ding, ding! Relevance.

Closing Thoughts

You made it through, yay! You can now see that landing pages have many different elements that we can easily forget. Now that you know exactly what needs to go into each landing page you can start creating them and testing them for better conversion rates. Of course there are a lot of other things you can do as well, but sometimes a simple fix, such as a change to your heading, can sky rocket your conversion rates!

What are some landing page optimization elements you utilize in your design and content? Let us know below in the comments!

And, if you need help with your landing page optimization give us a call, we can help: 1.800.871.4130.

Team Eminent SEO

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This entry was posted in Search Engine Optimization and tagged Landing Page Optimization.

4 Reasons Why Website Design is More than Looking Pretty

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This entry was posted on April 10, 2013 by Kirstin Douglas.

When you think of a website design, what do you think of? If you’re like most people, you think of the colors, the buttons, the pictures, and the animations. Basically, you think about how “cool” the website is.

Even though the coolness of a website is very important (do people really want to engage with uncool websites?), there’s much more to website design than creating a pretty layout. In fact, there’s much more to it than I can even cover in this blog post.

If you’re a business owner, why do you purchase someone else’s services? You do that because that service either 1) makes you more money or 2) saves you money now. Your website has much to do with how much money your company makes, especially in the digital age where consumers use tablet PCs, smartphones, laptop PCs, and desktop PCs to conduct 90% of the purchases they need to make. Here are some more ways in which your web design helps you increase your sales:

Responsive Website Design – The mobile device market is exploding in usage. Just look at how many people had smartphones just a few years ago – virtually no one. Now, who doesn’t? “Responsive design” is a term referring to websites designed to look visually appealing and to be fully functional on all device types – tablets, iPads, smartphones, PCs, laptops, and desktops. If your design isn’t optimized for all of these devices, you’re missing out on sales.
SEO Friendly Website Design – Websites can be designed more (and less) effectively for search engine optimization. For example, text on flash pages can’t be understood by Google. Flash also causes slower load times, which Google takes into account when ranking websites. For the keywords you’re targeting, you should have at least 1 page dedicated to each primary keyword. The list of SEO-friendly ways to design your website goes on and on, but these examples demonstrate why it’s important to design also with SEO in mind.
Calls-to-Action – Many websites come up short in showing their visitors what action they need to take. Even though it seems obvious, people are more likely to take your desired action if you tell them what to do. If your site lacks a clear call-to-action, then people are much less likely to become paying customers. Pretty websites are engaging, but if they don’t compel visitors to take an action, then they’re just as effective as ugly websites.
Trust Signals – By using the icons of respected authorities like the BBB, icons of well-known clients you’ve served, icons of awards your company has won, icons of certifications or accreditation’s you have, etc. you build a large amount of trust with visitors. Because trust makes buyers more apt to submit their credit card or pick up the phone and call, trust icons are extremely important for anyone looking to increase their website conversions.

There’s Much More to Effective Website Design, But That’s a Start…

Design is much more complex than this, but hopefully these tips give you the basic idea that a pretty web design is only pretty. A well-thought-out design, however, increases your sales in an era where everyone shops online for what they need.

Kirstin Douglas

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This entry was posted in Content & Blogging, Design & UX Optimization and tagged Development, Landing Page Optimization.

How Does The “Page Layout Algo” Improvement Affect You?

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This entry was posted on February 22, 2012 by Team Eminent SEO.

In an effort to optimize the user experience, our friends at Google have implemented yet another algorithmic change called “Page Layout Algo”. How does this affect you? Well put your seat back and we’ll get right to it:

As with most of Google’s algorithm changes, this alteration aids in the search for content that is relevant to the actual search being performed. We’ve all had the experience of clicking on a search result only to spend the next 5 minutes sifting through ads. The Page Layout Algo seeks to rectify this situation by ranking sites with a low amount of content “above the fold” lower than those that keep their above the fold ad space to a minimum. As a result, users are able to locate the content they’re searching for faster, and with less hassle. Direct and to the point.

Now before you go altering your current layout, you should know that the change does NOT affect the rankings of websites with above the fold ad placement to a “normal degree”. Rather, this alteration seeks to impact sites with excessive ad space, making it difficult to locate the content being searched for. Long story short: you will not be negatively affected by these changes unless your site has a large block of ads pushing down a small portion of relevant content.

Still having doubts? A recent outline from Google states The Page Layout Algo alteration will only affect less than 1% of global searches. If you are considering whether your site makes the grade, take a close look to see whether the pages on your site use above the fold ad space and whether or not the content found on those pages is difficult to locate. For a quick fix, consider utilizing Google’s browser size tool (now part of Google Analytics) to determine how your site is presented to those viewing in alternate screen resolutions. If during your assessment you happen to find issues with your current layout and decide to make changes, the algorithm will assess and reflect them automatically once a re-crawl has been completed.

While above the fold ad placement is a wonderful way to monetize online content, there are ways to realize the benefits without falling victim to Google algorithm updates. If you’re looking for the best way to ensure an engaging user experience while optimizing ad space, your friends at Eminent SEO are here to help! Contact us today to learn more!

Team Eminent SEO

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This entry was posted in Design & UX Optimization, Marketing Strategy and tagged Algorithm Update, Landing Page Optimization.

What Are Dynamic Landing Pages?

Dynamic Landing Pages and Conversion Rates

Necessary Elements for Creative Landing Pages

Write a strong, well-crafted headline.

Include a visual focus on your landing page.

Add a persuasive subheading.

Eliminate risk by adding a guarantee.

Dynamic Landing Pages with Help from Eminent SEO

One Word Can Make or Break You

What Does This Mean for Me and My Business?

Turning Clicks to Cash

I Want It Now!

Use The Right Words at the Right Time

Final Word(s)

Watch out for These Landing Page Optimization Mistakes

Unclear Path to CTA

Too Many CTAs

Copywriting Issues

• Writing for Too Many Audiences

• Vague Copy

• Jargon-Heavy Language

• Important Info Obscured

Technical Difficulties

URL Fails

Outside Help is Available if You’re in a Bind

1. Research Keywords and Develop a Plan

2. Optimize Each Page with Focus Keywords

3. Optimize the Website Architecture Structure

4. Write Unique Product Descriptions

5. Optimize Individual Product Pages

6. Encourage Customers to Review or Rate Your Products

7. Include Product Installation Videos When Applicable

8. Optimize the Mobile Shopping Experience

9. Internal Search Feature Optimization

10. Check for Website Errors Regularly

Closing Thoughts

Looking for ecommerce SEO from a team of experts who do this stuff daily?

Website Assessment: SEO Considerations

Is Your Website Mobile-Friendly?

The Cost-Effectiveness of a Digital Marketing Agency

An Agency that can Handle ALL of Your SEO Needs

Here are some PPC landing page tips to getting the best bang for your buck with your campaign:

1. Make Customer Testimonials Stand Out

2. List the Benefits. How Is Your Product/Service Better?

3. POW! Catch Them with a Knock-out Headline

4. Keep it Simple, Silly!

5. Be Yourself

6. Get Your Facts!

7. Don’t Be Bossy

8. A/B Test

The RIGHT Content

Headline

Supporting Headline

List Your Other Benefits

Meta Data and Ads Contain Similar Content

Reinforce Your Offer

Images

A Clear and Concise Call to Action (CTA) – Also Known As Your End Conversion Goal

Forms

Buttons

Closing Thoughts

Why spend any more time, energy or money on marketing that doesn't work?

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