So, like many businesses you're investing a proportion of your marketing budget on paid ads. You're getting loads of clicks, meaning loads of eyeballs on your website.
But... you're order book isn't bursting at the seams, and you've stopped eyeing up those super yachts because you're not seeing the return that you want!
Well, the good news is that your ads are working, they're doing exactly as designed - driving traffic to your website, meaning the first part of your marketing funnel is spot on! But something needs fixing. There are a few reasons why you might not be converting, in this blog I discuss landing pages and how an optimised website or landing page can be the difference between a super yacht and no super yacht. (well, probably not, but we can dream eh!) But there are other reasons you may not be converting that I'll blog about soon, such as:
Acquiring the wrong type of traffic
Your leads need a bit more nurturing
Your offer isn't compelling enough
For now lets assume that your ads are absolutely flawless. You've got your audience nailed down so only the right people are seeing your ads, your key words are perfect, your headlines and messaging are spot on and your CTAs leave them begging for more. But, they land on your site and leave as quickly as they arrived. Why? It'll most likely be because your site or landing page isn't set up to convert.
This is a fairly common issue, many web designers will build a beautiful site that looks amazing and has the right type of information but missing a few key inclusions to help guide your audience into converting. It certainly doesn't mean redesigning your website, just a few little tweaks.
Here are some pointers on ensuring that your landing page is set up to convert.
Critique Your Landing Page
Lets start by reviewing your landing page. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers, and keep in mind the ads that have been clicked on. What is the experience like? Is the content closely related to the ad that you clicked on? Does the page look professional and trustworthy? Is there a clear call to action to prompt your customers to buy/sign up/download/get in touch/book a call? And finally, is it easy for your customers to take action?
Aside from reviewing your content, design and CTAs, there are a few tools you can use to see how your site is really performing. The best place to start is Google Analytics. I'm not going to go into too much detail here as Google Analytics is a whole new subject. But, you can quickly and easily see how many people are visiting that particular page, the amount of time spent on it, and most importantly the bounce rate.
Another great tool is Hotjar. Hotjar analyses your site, and provides information on how your audience are interacting with it. They do this through heat mapping which shows you exactly where people are clicking, and where their mouse is hovering. They also use scroll mapping which identifies the area of the web page that people are looking at. This can be particularly useful because it identifies the parts of your page that aren't getting many views. So if you've got some amazing testimonials, game changing stats or your only CTA in an area where people aren't looking, your conversions will be badly impacted. The below visual is a typical scroll mapping report. The 'warmer' the colour, the more eyeballs are on that part of your page.
Relevance
How relevant is the web page to the ad that your audience saw? If its not an extension of the ad then you're likely to get a high bounce rate. Quite often businesses will simply direct traffic to their home page, and hope that their audience will find their way to the page that they need. We now live in a world where people expect relevant information instantly. This means that we need to think about how we present that information and reduce the amount of clicks or time it takes to provide that information.
If you're promoting a certain product or service that isn't instantly apparent on your home page, I always recommend that individual landing pages are necessary to maximise conversions. For example if you're a financial advisor who offers multiple services and products. But your ad was specifically promoting your services on inheritance tax. Ensure that your traffic lands on this page rather than your home page. If not, your audience will leave quite promptly.
Credentials & Reputation
There's nothing wrong with blowing your own trumpet now and again! Within your landing page, make it impossible for your audience to not recognise how great you are at what you do. There are a few ways to do this...
Relevant reviews
Reviews are hugely important when it comes to websites. Whether your considering what to buy from Amazon or which restaurant to eat in, I imagine you will always look at reviews before making a decision. Its exactly the same for your business. So, on your landing page try to include relevant reviews to the service that you're promoting. If you've got a brilliant rating on Trust Pilot, Facebook, Google or any other review site, make sure you use it. 5 stars is a pretty impactful visual, and will instantly instill trust.
The Accountancy Partnership do a great job of this:
Stand out stats
For the purposes of this blog, lets pretend again that I'm a financial advisor and the service that I'm promoting is inheritance tax. In my business there are a combined 300 years of experience of minimizing inheritance tax. We've helped over 3,000 individuals reduce their tax and on average we can save people up to 30% on their inheritance tax and estate.
These are pretty impressive stats! If I was a customer I'd be chomping at the bit to be working with these guys.
So, if you've got the stats. USE THEM! But, make them relevant to the service that your promoting. JC Social Media do a good job of promoting their expertise:
Clear Call To Action
This bit is really important. You need to think about what action you want your customers to take. This will have a huge impact on your conversion rate. If for example you're a service based business, its quite unlikely that someone visiting your site will become a customer at the click of a button. They will need more information from you, and vice versa. So if that's the case, create a CTA to achieve this. It might be a free video consultation call, or a form that allows them to quickly and easily provide information. This is also a great way of qualifying your customers (I'll be releasing a blog on this shortly!).
I also recommend that you include some copy with your CTA that shows the value of the free video call or completing the form. Here is a great example:
I hope you found this blog useful. I'd love to hear your thoughts on optimising conversions through landing page design.
If you'd like any more advice, feel free to drop me an email.
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