The leads your network generates are not converting? The quality is very poor. There is lot of junk etc etc ., we all hear a lot of comments like this from agencies and advertisers but do we ever concentrate on the aspect of what happens post click in the client's ecosystem. An interesting article on landing page best practices from
http://www.interactivemanrketinginc.com/:
The Top 6 Landing Page ComponentsTo Optimize for Maximizing Your Conversions
The following are the top 6 conversion components that should be tested and improved to boost your conversion rates…
Headline - Since your headline is the first line that your visitors will read, the headline of your web page offers the biggest opportunity (about 80% of the opportunity) for improvements in conversion rate. Use headlines that clearly state the biggest benefit(s) that your product offers. Tell them exactly what they can get on your landing page.
Offer - Since your offer is the "call to action" that asks your visitors to act (purchase, sign up, opt-in), your offer accounts for the second the biggest opportunity for improvements in conversion rate.
Lead - The “lead” or first paragraph is the third biggest opportunity for improvements in your conversion rate. Leads must be written with strong benefits that capture your visitor’s attention and make them want to continue reading.
Benefits - The "benefit bullets" (bullet-point format) are the forth biggest opportunity for improvements in conversion rate. List your benefits in the order of your product’s "value hierarchy" to your target market. In other words, state your product’s strongest benefit first, and its weakest benefit last.
Images - The images you use have a big impact on your conversion rates. The best practice is to use images that clearly portray the biggest benefit your product or service offers your customer (rather than generic "feel good" stuff like unknown logos and clip art). Studies show that product images usually work best when placed to the left of your product description (or lead paragraph) since it makes it easier to read your copy from left to right. Plus, people like to read"captions" under your images almost as much as they read your headlines. So, add powerful captions and make your images clickable to the order/sign up page.
"Look & Feel" - According to a recent study by Stanford University, 46% of Web sales are lost on websites that lack the critical elements that build value and trust with website visitors. The number one reason the people indicated why they wouldn't buy from a website was because it had an unprofessional "look and feel" that lacked credibility and did not "feel" trustworthy. Having a professional look, and trust building logos (such as VeriSign and BBBOnline certifications) help convert significantly more of your website's qualified visitors into new customers.
Other Important Conversion Elements to test:
Buttons – Button text, color, look, etc.
Pricing
Formatting and placement of page elements, images and copy
Navigation links versus no navigation links
Press Quotes
Testimonials
Other Conversion Best Practices and Tips:
Add a Logo and a powerful "Value Proposition" to the top left
Instead of letting visitors click off your landing page, put all your information on one page (This tactic alone increased the conversions of a landing page by 55%)
Use colors that fit your target customer’s personality
Conclusion:When you use "Conversion Rate Optimization" to test and improve your web pages and landing pages you can double your sales (possibly even quadruple) when you add up all the performance improvements. Of course it takes time and work but it's well worth the effort.
If you’re truly serious about maximizing your results, continuously test, track and improve the important elements of your web site, landing pages (and your marketing materials).
