The goal of search engine marketing (SEM) is to turn a web visitor into a customer — and this happens faster when you’re using a conversion-driven landing page.

A landing page is what a visitor sees after clicking on some type of web advertising or promotion (e.g. pay-per-click ad, banner ad, etc.)

Many SEM agencies don’t promote online branding because it can restrict their online lead generation efforts.

However, branding landing pages doesn’t have to be restrictive. If anything, branding colors and logos should strengthen the marketing message on a landing page – and make the landing page more trustworthy.

Here’s what every online brand manager should know about online lead generation:

How to Develop Conversion-Driven Landing Pages

Getting traffic to your site might be easy for you, but trying to get them to do something can be very difficult.

And that’s why a conversion-driven landing page can help you move that visitor into a customer.

Before developing your landing page (or making it more conversion-driven), it’s important to ask:

What do you want your visitors to do?
When someone comes to your website, what’s your main goal for them?

• Buy a product
• Enter their email address
• Provide their home address
• Fill out a form
• Click a button
• Get a visitor to tell a friend
• Give you feedback
• Email you a comment

After you’ve determined your goal, it’s important to find out what the average conversion rate is for your particular industry.  This can help you gauge whether PPC campaigns or other advertising will be worth your time and money.  It can also provide a benchmark for the type of conversion-rates you should try to beat right from the start.

What’s an average conversion rate for your industry?
It’s difficult to get accurate data about conversion rates for every industry because all data is self-reported.  And self-reported numbers may be inflated and/or not entirely accurate due to the way data is sometimes mixed (e.g. paid search, email blasts, natural search).

However, 2007 data revealed from MarketingSherpa.com shows that average conversion rates on landing pages are at 3.84%.  Conversion-rates bumped up to about 5% for pay-per-click campaigns, and almost 3% for email blasts to house lists (business to consumer).  Contact MarketingSherpa.com to gather more data for more information.

Fireclick Index revealed in their report that most sites in all verticals are averaging about 2.3% conversion-rates.

As you can see, you’re target on any new landing page should try to get above 2.5% at the minimum.  If you’re not getting that, you need to consider changing your landing page.

Before we get into the details about landing page design, let’s think about your website’s visitors.

Who is your web audience?
Forget about your creative messaging, your brand, and what you think looks compelling to you – and instead think about your audience.

• Why did they visit your site?
• What do they want to know?
• How much time are they willing to spend on your site?
• How will they know your website is trustworthy?
• Why should they stay?

Take the time to research your web audience (which might be different than what you think).  Some companies think their web audience is the same as their local store audience – and that’s a grave mistake.

You need to know who you’re selling to if you want to make a strong impact on your conversion rate. So make sure and do the research.

Test Everything
Don’t get caught-up in debates with your colleagues about what you think will work.  Test everything and let your audience decide.  You’ll find out rather quickly how your landing page is converting.

This doesn’t mean you should blindly create a landing page.  You should always apply best practices and use some of the techniques your competition is using. And use multivariate testing to refine your landing pages on a regular basis.

How to Write Conversion-Driven Headlines

Most visitors don’t read all the text on your landing page – and a big portion won’t even scroll below the fold.

So that’s why it’s extremely important to grab their attention with a benefit-filled headline – that convinces them to keep on reading.

A recent eye-tracking study of how web users look at landing pages show that eyes focus primarily on the central image (hero shot) and headline:

If you don’t capture their attention with an attractive headline, you might as well say goodbye.

Here are some tips to make your headline attractive and interesting:

Give a huge benefit (and be specific)
Emphasize the benefit of whatever you’re trying to sell.  Be specific, and make it believable.  If you focus on how your visitor will benefit, you’ve won half the battle.

Make it believable.
Don’t exaggerate the benefits so that it seems unbelievable.  You need to show specific proof on why you’re headline is true.

Be specific.
General headlines trying to appeal to a mass audience will always have lower conversions than a specific headline that targets a particular group. So focus on selling what your visitor is looking for.

Clever headlines usually don’t work.
Just because you thought of a clever headline doesn’t mean you should use it. Say exactly what you mean. After all, you don’t have much time to get your message out there.

Don’t get caught up in tweaking every word.
You’ll have more impact in changing the concept (or what you’re trying to say) in a headline than tweaking a few words.

Make it easy to read.
Your headline should look like a headline. Make sure it stands out so your message is clear and easy on the eyes – no matter what browser and monitor they use.

Read more about writing attractive headlines . . .

How to Choose Images (Hero Shots)

You should constantly test different types of images for your landing page (as well as size and placement).

Here are potential images to test:

• image of the product
• image of the product being used by a real person
• image of the successful outcome
• image of happy customer holding the product

Add captions under important images.
People will look at the headline, image, and captions under the photos. Make sure to sell benefits in each one.

Real people outperform stock photos every single time.
Use real people whenever possible.  It adds much more authenticity than a commercialized sock photo.

Test eyeball-grabbing call-outs, starbursts, and other graphics
Test attention-getting images like starburst and other call-outs to draw attention to certain text on your landing page:

Attention-grabbing images are great, but only if they help to communicate your sales message (which they rarely do).

Add security icons if you have a form.
Add security icons on any forms you want visitors to complete.  This will make them feel more secure about giving out their personal information on the web.

Hero shot should be left of text.
Studies recently carried out in eye tracking indicate that a visitors eye is usually first drawn to images on the page. If the product promo image is on the right hand side, it requires more effort for the visitor to move their eyes back to the left, where your marketing copy will be.

Focus on one hero shot for your landing page.
The more images on your landing page – the more distraction your visitor may have.  Test whether one, two, three, or more images are needed.  But always start with just one since multiple hero images tend to reduce conversion results.

eBooks should have dimension

If you’re selling an eBook, add some dimension to the image so that you can actually feel like you’re buying something.

As always, graphics should apply directly to the key benefits of products.  And every element on the page has to work in concert toward the same goal.

Sneaky Copywriting Tactics for Landing Pages

A majority of the population doesn’t like to read — and they read about 25% slower on the web.

In fact, the average American reads 50 words online in 20 seconds, and eye-tracking tests reveal how quickly eyes scan a page in an F-pattern.  So it’s essential that you make your message brief and clear.

Here are some web copywriting tactics to get your message across quickly:

Keep your key selling points on the top and bottom.
Studies show that people read the tops and bottoms of things before the middle, so don’t hide any important facts or selling points in the middle.

People read the first three words of paragraphs and bullet points.
People scanning the web tend to read the first three words of a new paragraph, so put important facts there.  Also use bullet points to highlight certain benefits.

Write in the second person – You, Your, and You’re
It sounds more inviting, and more personal to use second person tense on landing pages.  Some of the most conversion-driven direct mail pieces are written this way too.

Keep your first paragraph short – under 2 lines.
Tease your reader in the opening sentence to get them to continue to read.  Don’t make your opening too long, and make sure it doesn’t have over 2 lines of text if possible.

Paragraphs should not exceed 4 lines.
Bulky paragraphs don’t make good reading on the web.  Write like a newspaper journalist with brief paragraphs.

Add copy near a human face and/or graphic.
Studies show that people read captions, especially near a picture of a person.  So always make sure you have copy there that shows benefits of your product.

Write about benefits.
Focus on how the product can benefit the consumer.

Add calls-to-action (multiple times depending on length)
Make sure you have a one central call-to-action.  Don’t tell them to call a phone number, or click on a chat button, or fill out a form, or send an email.  Focus on one for each landing page.  You can test varieties later.

Give a guarantee.
Guarantees can give your copy a boost in credibility, so add one if you can.

Use bold to highlight certain benefits.
People who skim will typically see the words you’ve bolded.  So you should test body copy by bolding certain benefits you think are important for the reader.

Hand-drawn annotation always gets people reading.
Many direct mail pieces use “hand writing” fonts to get you to read something.  For whatever reason, we like to read hand-written content on the web.  So test it if you think it can work.

Offer premiums — like free downloadable ebooks, reports, gifts, etc.
I’ve seen dramatic increases in landing page conversions by simply offering a free report.  So test different free gifts if it works for your business.

Add a phone number.
Show a phone number to give some more credibility to your company. Some people also prefer to call.

Add testimonials from customers and/or media.
Gain instant credibility for your product by showing some testimonials.  Press credentials can also really boost credibility:

Eliminate any hyperlinks or navigation.
If you add links to your landing page, a portion of your traffic will get distracted and go there.  So don’t give your visitors that option.  Keep them on your landing page — and provide enough information to get the sell and/or contact information.  If you must provide links to privacy policies, or other information, use daughter windows that pop-up.

Address common objections (when applicable).
Answering objections can really strengthen your credibility, and can help you sell more.

Call-to-Action Strategies

Make your button bigger.
Amazon.com always make sure that the there most important buttons are large enough to see even if you’re several feet away from the computer monitor.  Make your important buttons nice and big so that it’s clear where you want people to click.

Test different colors on your buttons.
Colors of buttons may not have a huge difference in your conversion, but it doesn’t hurt to test different colors. There’s actually been some studies showing a higher conversion for buttons that are red.

Test different types of calls-to-action.

Test language like:

• Learn More
• Request Information
• Buy Now
• Proceed
• Submit
• Buy Now and Get 25% Off
• Buy Now and Get Free Shipping
• Offer Ends on Saturday
• Only ___ Seats Available

Landing Page Layout Tips

First off, forget about what layout you think will convert better.

You might be surprised to find out that the single column direct-mail style landing pages tend to outperform two or three column layouts. Yes, it’s true.

Here are some best practices for landing page layous:

Single-columns tend to work best.
Conversion tends to decrease as you add more columns to your landing page layout.  Test this out for yourself.

Keep your font easy-to-read.
You should keep your font in 10 to 12 point font size, and make sure it’s a regular font that can be easily read.

Keep the length of each line under 60 characters across.
Remember that eyes are skimming your text, so it should be treated like a newspaper column for quick reading.  Keep the lines of each text under 60 characters.  FYI, Google search results are typically under 62 characters across (including spaces).

Put your best elements in the upper-left-hand side.
Eye-tracking studies show that people read the web in an F-pattern. So keep all your important benefits and selling points in those areas.

Don’t underline.
Bold important text, but don’t underline because it may look like a link.

Don’t use italics.
It’s harder to read italics.

Use black text.
People read text better and faster when it’s black on white.

More than half your visitors don’t scroll — so put your best copy on top.
Research shows that most people don’t scroll on landing pages, so keep your copy interesting if you want them to keep reading below the fold.

Remove anything that is distracting.
Any images, videos, or sounds that distract from your goal should be removed.

Use a large font for your main headline.
Make sure your headline can be read from several feet away.

Use Ajax or pop-ups to hide information that isn’t necessary.
Try to avoid using these elements, but use them if you need to add legal information or privacy policies.

Use one hero shot.
Don’t litter your landing page with too many images.  Focus on one hero shot whenever possible. Every image should help convince your visitor to take the next step.

Use these elements to aid in conversion:

• Logo
• Hero Shot
• Headline
• Quick offer
• Product description filled with benefits
• Deadlines
• Forms or Buttons
• Call-to-Action
• Testimonials (with real picture)
• Security icons (when applicable)
• Guarantees