In the previous article Vol.14: What is Landing Page and Its Optimization?, landing page and its optimization were defined. This article discusses possible methodologies to optimize reference landing page(s).
1. What it is to optimize reference landing page(s)? How web owners can optimize reference landing page(s)?
In short, it is by connecting between expectation of the online prospect (to later become buyers/customers) and what is actually delivered on the landing page and overall website/content, to make what is delivered the same or greater than the expectation, so that the buyer will be satisfied with the web service provided by the web owner. This needs to be done in line with total web marketing programme, integrating with SEM (Search Engine Marketing) etc., to make the landing page(s) logical extension of the advertisement or link for prospects. If that is successfully achieved, contents on the landing page(s) meet expectations of the prospects, who then will take series of micro actions to go through the persuasion scenario defined.
2. What are possible methodologies of reference landing page optimization?
From the author’s experience, possible methodologies of optimizing reference landing page(s) are as below.
1) Execute consistent branding based on the buyer/customer persona to make an excellent first impression and maintain it.
Similarly to any other things, there is only one chance to make first impression, and making positive first impression is inevitable. It is almost impossible especially in web marketing to change the first impression from negative to positive once the prospect gets negative first impression. Moreover, with negative first impression, the prospect would likely to click-away saying goodbye immediately.
The key to make excellent first impression of the landing page is branding aligning with the buyer persona defined, taking approaches mentioned in the previous article Vol.10: How to Successfully Develop Web Content to Directly Reach Buyers? And the factors for effective branding to make excellent first impression include:-
(1) Look, feel and tone of the buyer persona
(2) Appealing design with attractive visual and graphic
(3) Attractive yet simple layout in order
(4) Attractive and simple headline (with trigger words)
Regarding headline, Vara‘s article about “9 Proven Headline Styles that Get Read” (2009) will be extremely helpful. In addition, the author added “with trigger words”. This is because headlines need to contribute to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to drive prospects to the landing page, but “trigger words” for the prospects also needs to be embedded in the headlines to maintain and increase prospects’ interest to make them read the contents. The trigger words are to be defined by successful buyer persona building.
What is delivered as the first impression, i.e. branding of the first impression, need to be consistent throughout the web page/content and website. Otherwise, the landing page(s) (and following pages of the persuasion scenario) would not be delivering what the total web marketing programme has promised, so the prospect would be dissatisfied and click away.
2) Include relevant information for the online buyer and make it stand out.
To make landing page a logical extension from online ad/search result etc., relevant information for the online buyer also needs to be included. The relevant information needs to be stood out so that the prospect would know find it, which can be fulfilled by:-
(1) Effectively using trigger words in headlines, subtitles, texts and captions.
Search engine keywords and tags usually focus on algorithms, which is not always equal to trigger words of prospects. The trigger words are of buyer person’s word and therefore defined by buyer persona and what stage the prospects are in the buying process.
(2) Improve text/copy.
This can be done in many ways by improving construction and logic, simplicity, style, font and its size and colour, content itself and so forth.
(3) Focus on communicating the value of the offering to the buyer.
Reference landing page(s) are not for advertising. Advertising should have been cone before the prospect accessed the landing page. Reference landing page(s) need to maintain and increase the interest of the prospect, which is effectively fulfilled if the value of the offering is delivered to the prospect/buyer, from consumer psychology logic. Such communication needs to be performed with care; it must not be advertising nor selling because it is still too early for selling. Providing quote from a happy customer and/or story telling of the organization is often effective.
2) Navigate web users effectively so that they will not get lost but take series of micro actions aligning with the persuasion scenario.
Effective navigation is also vital; if prospects cannot find relevant information and/or cannot smoothly take action they desire, they would be frustrated and click away. Effective navigation is fulfilled with logical architecture and navigation of website/web page(s). Navigation is designed and fulfilled by left hand menu, tool bar, tabs, link icon and link text, taking note of the following:-
(1) Make navigation simple with logic of “industry standard”.
The prospect can apply logic = what he/she has learned to utilize navigation from web surfing to the website/landing page of the web owner.
(2) Clarify the next step of the prospect.
This can be done by improved (link) copy as well as simple navigation. The improved (link) copy means that the information displayed after clicking the link button needs to be anticipated. Of course, the next step is carefully designed from the 5 steps of basic buying mentioned in the previous article Vol.12: How to Make Web Users Stay in Website and Finally "Buy"?
(3) Making links to related pages.
In increasing prospect’s interest, making links to related pages can be effective. However, in other cases, it is effective NOT providing links to main website page but make landing page unique and exclusive place in the website, as a self-contained unit, in order to secure traffic to the pages of persuasion scenario. It would really depend on the total architecture of the website and relationship with the landing page, persuasion scenario and assumed actions and pages accessed by the prospect.
Possible methodologies mentioned basically above can be applied to optimizing transactional landing page(s) and other micro action pages.
In the next article, possible methodologies to optimize transactional landing pages are discussed.
References:-
Eisenberg, Bryan & Jeffrey with Davis, Lisa T. (2006), Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? Nelson Business
Scott, David Meerman (2007), The New Rules of Marketing & PR. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vara, Suzanne (2009), 9 Proven Headline Styles that Get Read
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