Conversion optimization, part entrancing art and part concrete science, may seem elusive to attain. Many times it seems as if a skilled conversion optimizer can read the minds of the target consumers; however, with a little forethought, you can reproduce the results and turn your landing page into a conversion page. Put aside the dull split test results. How to advertise small business products and services depends in large part on knowing your customer intimately.
For many small to medium sized businesses, building a landing page has become an assignment centered around the template. Instead of developing a unique landing page for each PPC campaign, website designers simply rearrange content within a template to build the page. Unfortunately, this method incorporates almost zero strategy. Each feature of a landing page has the potential to produce conversions, and the elements of content designed to produce conversions should address more than a call-to-action. A well designed landing page will integrate intent, purpose, action, audience and the building blocks of content and images.
Thus, conversion optimization goes beyond reducing the form fields, best practices or creating a larger CTA button. In today’s competitive environment, you need a thorough comprehension of the customer, and that takes just a bit more effort, yet the payoff can be quite significant.
Understand Your Target Customer
That seems so obvious; however, website designers can get caught up in simply rearranging the page elements. Conveying the needs, wants and desires of the client to your professional content writer will ensure that the text is optimized, and working closely with the designer will provide insight to produce greater conversions. Why?
- The target consumer does the converting, thus taking a holistic approach to design addresses the customer’s needs.
- Each group of buyers has distinct characteristics. What works for dog lovers will have a different impact on senior executives.
- Each element of the landing page should meet the unique needs of the audience, such as images, explanations, CTAs and images.
- Take into account the different learning styles. For example, an explainer video may work with some groups better than long-form content.
Cognitive Flow
In addition to creating a highly effective landing page through deep understanding of the customer, creating cognitive flow should be incorporated as well. Cognitive flow looks at the customer’s needs, answers their questions and leads them to conversion.
As an application of cognitive information processing theory, learners are viewed as processors and seekers of information. Thus, information flows in a particular way: sensory input triggers sensory memory which leads to attention, then short-term memory leading into encoding into long-term memory. At a fundamental level, the learning takes in both phonetic and visual cues, processing the data in both working and long-term memory. Therefore, a landing page should have a cognitive flow that addresses questions systematically and sequentially, such as:
- What is the landing page about? (image or headline)
- What does it mean? (subheadline)
- Tell or show me more (bullet points, images or content)
- How can I be certain? (testimonials or similar trust points)
- What about my objections? (statistics, emotional persuasion, testimonials, social proof, etc.)
Transforming a landing page into a conversion page takes more than rearranging buttons and text boxes. It begins with truly understanding the user of your product or services and conveying their worth right up front.
Writer Bio: Wendy H is a professional writer whose cognitive flow generally begins with a strong cup of coffee in the morning before her active preschooler takes over the day.
