Well, we certainly didn't expect it, and that just goes to show the importance of split testing even the smallest tweaks.

Here is what we did.

One of our biggest websites is www.SilvaLifeSystem.com and below is how the top banner of the website looked BEFORE implementing the tweak.

This is it AFTER the tweak.

Spot the difference?

Adding the "McAfee Secure" seal boosted sales by an average of 15%.

The seal and the information it leads to when clicked seem to make a group of suspicious prospects more comfortable at making a purchase online.

Considering the positive impact it had, it's clearly obvious that our $2,000 investment for the seal was very worthy.

If you're making big revenues with your online business, a 15% boost in sales, or even just a small 5% boost will easily cover your costs and you can enjoy the ROI for months to come.

I do believe that boosts in conversion rates will vary depending on your target market though.

To certify your online business, all you need to do is make an application at the McAfee Secure site:

McAfee Secure web sites are certified as providing the highest level of protection for their shoppers.

Are you going to give it a try? What are you doing now to boost the confidence of those who are suspicious and still uncomfortable with buying from you?

Please share your insights with us.

Carlos Garcia, for example, created a report that showed how adding a video to one of his websites and changing a couple of things boosted sales rates from 1.6 to 3.3 --that's almost doubling the initial sales rates.

If the figures are anywhere close to that, we all obviously have to get better at editing videos for our websites. A Keynote video is quick and easy to make, but that's only a Level 1 video. A Level 2 video is where you aren't using slides, but using story telling and person to person interaction.

I've had to write numerous video scripts lately for different websites, and because at MindValley we like processes and automation, I came up with a process for writing these scripts. It integrates a lot of ideas from Robert Cialdini, from Frank Kern, from Kenneth Yu, and from Jeff Walker.

Tips to Create your Video Script

1. Know your audience's core identity.

What does your audience want? What do they secretly desire?

Example:

Let's say you're promoting a parenting tool. What do parents want from their kids? They might want, for example, a close bond and loving relationship with their child. This gives you the first clue as to what to do with your video, and how you should frame it. Your video would include you sitting with your arm around your child, who will talk about how much he or she loves you. In that way, you show yourself to be in the position these parents want.

Frank Kern does the same thing. He knows that most of his audience wants freedom, so he a video called the beach video with him on the beach because the beach represents freedom.

In other words, frame your video based on your audience's core identity.

2. Replicate the real world

Second, you ask yourself, "What are you trying to reveal in this video? How would you talk to your friends? In what environment would you share this with your friend?" Replicating the real world is about reproducing the fireside chat or the coffee chat in your videos.

Example:

Let's say you were a lady creating a video targeting a female audience.

If women are talking about relationship problems, where are they usually sitting? Is the setting going to be an office? An elevator? Is it going to be in a public space, or at the beach? It's probably going to be over a cup of tea or coffee in their living room. That's the framing clue: you would film your video in the living room, holding a cup of tea, sitting on your sofa.

If you were marketing to entrepreneurs who are struggling to get their business off the ground, they probably would have a small company. Therefore, you would not film your video with your team of programmers in the background –you'd film it on a sofa, perhaps, because much of your audience might be working from home or in a small office with a comfy sofa inside.

3. Storyline

Here, we bring in a couple of ideas from Frank Kern's Mass Control. 'Us vs. Them'. 'Reluctant hero'. 'Hometown boy makes good'. You find a story that fits best, and you reveal it in the video.

Example:

If you were taking the 'us vs. them' storyline, you would include phrases like, "I'm going to show you, because we are all in trouble here…" Or, "All of us are about to be screwed so I'm gonna show you how to prevent them from taking over..." Note the phrasing, especially –"you", and "them" and "us". The 'us vs. them' psychology is about relating to your audience and creating a common enemy.

4. The Revelation

This has to be a key idea in the video that gets them addicted. You take 2 items that you've already observed, and you connect them neatly.

Example:

You can even take a trend as your revelation, for example. It doesn't have to be something not everybody out there knows, but you can add a spin to it by adding your fresh/new/different perspective. It automatically separates you from the crowd, especially if it's counter-intuitive to what everyone is expecting.

Now, as you are doing this, as you are giving that 'aha' moment, there are a couple of things that you can add in to make the video more effective.

5. Phraseology

You invent words. Such words arouse curiosity, and they make you seem like an expert.

Example:

Mike discusses military strategy, terrain assessment and the pajama posse in The Coming AdWords War, for example, and because of his expertise and experience in the field, he explains why most business owners become casualties in the rough AdWords terrain and gives a solution.

You will notice this even with some of the gurus –they use terms that you will not find in any dictionary because they coin their own phrases.

By using alliteration, you can come up with catchy phrases that sound even more powerful.

Think about the following term: 'Moving the free line'. Where did it come from? Eben Pagan.

'Money magnet' – Frank Kern. 'Aspiration angle' – Vishen Lakhiani.

Here's the thing: I've been talking about giving stuff away for free ...for 4years! But along comes this guy –Eben Pagan; he gives it the name "moving the free line" and now everyone associates this theory with him. That's the power of phraseology.

6. Future Pacing

Future pacing is part of the phraseology that Jay Abraham invented to establish himself as a guru. Everybody talks about future pacing, but Jay Abraham invented it, and every time you hear that term, you think 'Jay Abraham'. It's a powerful branding strategy. Here's how you use future pacing.

Example:

You might say in your video, "So go ahead and download this report BUT, don't read it yet" (which is counter-intuitive). You then ask them to do something first that helps them to picture what will happen in a given timeframe if they get the report. Then, they can read the report. "It will take maybe, 29 minutes of your time," you should say. (Note the use of the exact time.)

That is future pacing. You get people to picture future benefits after using your product.

7. Most Wanted Response

That's phraseology invented by Dr. Ken Evoy in his 'net-selling bible' Make Your Site Sell. The MWR is what you most want your visitor to do, after reviewing your content. You always end with a most wanted response.
Example:

Mike actually says, "Look at the sign up form below. I want you to fill in your first name, your last name and you email address, click 'Send me The Coming AdWords War report', and I'll see you on the next page." Notice that he adds anticipation by saying 'see you on the next page', which makes people think, "Hmm, I wonder what's going to happen on the next page?" thereby encouraging people to download the report.

A video script is not the copy script –that is completely different. It is embedding a lot of psychological triggers and elements, storylines in the video in order to:
1. Create a bond, and
2. Get people to download the report.

If you integrate these 7 things, you'll come up with a powerful video that will improve your conversion rates and get people more interested in what you have.

To sell anything to anyone, don’t sell your product

Now, that is counter-intuitive because if most people were to sell a pen, the first word out of their mouths would be, "Hey, I have this pen I'm selling..."

That is NOT how you sell the pen.

Chet Holmes says you should never sell the product. That's his #1 strategy.

What does that specifically mean?

There are a few reasons why he says that. The first is a quick pyramid. If you think about it, only 3% of people in the market are ready to buy Right Now, they’re actively in buying mode. There may be another 6% who may be willing to buy, 30% of people are probably interested in what you have (but they’re not in buying mode right now –they’re not searching to buy), another remaining 30% are just not interested – they’re not really looking for what you have…and the remaining 30% will never be interested.

When you’re talking about a product to sell, you are usually only talking to the tiny 3-9%.

That is a GIANT mistake, because you just end up not communicating to everyone else.

Chet Holmes figured out how to talk to the other people. This is his key secret:

1. Look at Market Data

Approach them with market information.

Why? Let’s take security alarm systems, for example. Market information might be something like, “Here are 10ways to reduce the risk of someone breaking into your home.” That is interesting, because if you were looking at a security system I would want to know how to lower that risk.

Or in Internet marketing, you might be talking about 10ways to do pay-per-click advertising or to maximize your profits on AdWords.

He has another insight that’s equally important.

We’ve all seen it on television. What do you see on TV?

2. Bad News that makes people say, “Wow!”

You hit them with bad information or bad news. I hate to say that, because that’s one of the reasons I hate TV –because they present you with bad news.

But, why is that? They share bad news because pain is 100% more influential in moderating human beings to take action than gain.

If I broke your leg, would you want to get it fixed? Seriously, if you broke your leg, would you want to get medical attention for it? Yes, you would want to get it looked at immediately. Would you do price comparison shopping of where to go if your leg’s broken? No, you wouldn’t. You would take immediate action because you were in pain.

If you were involve in an accident and you were taken to the emergency room, under normal circumstance you wouldn’t ask –you’d let them take you to whichever ER is closest. Pain really moderates people’s behavior.

That’s the other thing that Chet Holmes says. Don’t hit them with gain but with the pain of what could really happen.

Just to give you one of his examples, he shared some really powerful data points that he used to help one person who is in the nutritional supplements’ field.

1. Start with market data.

His case began, Did you know that the incidence of cancer has gone through up dramatically? The number of breast cancer cases have risen by 80% since the 70’s. Today, the lifetime risk stands at 1 in 9.

Every woman has some risk of breast cancer. About 80% of women who get breast cancer have no known family history of the disease.

3 to 4 out of every 100 women who are 60 years old today will get breast cancer by the age of 70, and about 1 woman out of 100 women who are 60 years old today will die from breast cancer by the age of 70.

2. Share bad news.

What you look for in the bad news is the “wow” factor. When you hear statistics like the ones mentioned above.

In the case of men, studies show that sperm counts in healthy men appear to have dropped by more than half in 50 years.

A survey of 1,350 sperm donors in Paris found a decline in sperm counts by around 2% each year over the past 23 years. Among men who died in 1981, 56.4% had normal, healthy sperm production. By 1991, however, this figure had dropped dramatically to 26.9%.

That is what’s happening. By throwing out these data points, you get people’s attention and they start listening to what you have to say. Men that want to have children are listening, and certainly, because of the compelling market data makes you want to pay attention.

In addition, scientists say that diet/ nutrition and modern lifestyle are possible causative / contributing factors. (At this point they have yet to mention that this person is selling nutritional supplements.)

What is causing it? Nutrition, and nutrients. Or rather, the lack thereof is contributing to the rise of these conditions. Isn’t that interesting?

Further research is then used to establish and prove the market data.

Imagine the surprise of going online and discovering that the vitamin and mineral content of vegetables has drastically dropped.

Some of the differences in vitamin and mineral content are enormous - a 50% drop in the amount of calcium in broccoli, for example. Watercress is down 88% in iron content; cauliflower down 40% in vitamin C content - all since 1975. The vitamin A in apples has dropped from 90 mg to 53 mg. Cauliflower has lost almost half its vitamin C, along with its thiamin and riboflavin. Most of the calcium in pineapple is gone-from 17 mg (per 100 grams raw) to 7.

That is really, really bad news, isn’t it? So how are you taking care of yourself? Even of you are eating your apples and carrots, from where are you getting nutrients? There's a big wow to discovering that your veggies don’t have enough nutrients to sustain you anymore!

What they have established is

1. Market data

2. Bad news –> a big wow

The answer to the surprising statistics of market data naturally follows as nutritional supplements.

That is a far more powerfully charged sales angle as opposed to approaching someone and telling them, hey, I’m selling nutrients. People may not be interested in nutrient pills, but they are interested in reducing their odds of having breast cancer; they’re interested in being fertile if they still want to have families, and staying in healthy for longer. That is why it is absolutely important that you hit them with market data first.

This is what Chet Holmes has done with the sales organizations that he has built to double their original size. This applies to almost any and all industries and businesses, whether you are in law, medicine, or any other profession. That is the power of market data –it makes objections pass away and opens the door and gives you permission to have a conversation.

EarlyToRise is owned by Agora Publishing, which in Tribby's words is an "Idea Company" and they focus on direct marketing.

I was totally blown away when they shared their metrics with me. They have a list of 300,000 people, and they make an average of $40 per person.

Their year-to-year growth is stunning.

Take a peek:

• ‘04 - 3 million
• ‘05 - 5 milliom
• ‘06 - 8 million
• ‘07 - 27 million
• ‘08 - 36 million

Notice the huge spurt from '06 to '07?

After the event I had a chance to talk to Tribby and I asked her to explain the main "mind-shifts" or "strategic shifts" that lead to that stellar growth.

Here was her response:

The Three Things that Causes Dramatic Growth for EarlyToRise.com

These were the three things she said:

#1 You have to embrace offline marketing

Just because you are an online business does not mean that you have to ignore offline marketing. There is absolutely NO reason to eliminate cross channel marketing.

This means physical mailers, demo CDs and more.

Mary Ellen will actually be releasing a book detailing this in October, and I’m looking forward to it.

#2 Test, Test, Test

Tribby is fanatical about testing. Email response rates, site tweaks, promo and offers etc.

She said that every employee had to know how to perform tests.

The most important things in their vocabulary should be:

• Testing
• Anlayzing
• Rolling Out
• USP
• ROI
• Lead Generation
• Response Rate
• Offer
• Acquisition
• Upsell
• Cross-Sell

Metrics are important. Ignore this and you'll never grow as fast. And the 3 most important criteria for these tests should be:

• Immediate
• Specific
• Measurable

3# A Mind-Shift: Every Employee must think of themselves as a marketer first

During Q&A of the seminar, one lady with an internet business asked Mary, “So, my big question for you today is, how do I protect my website from hackers?”. I could tell that every Internet Marketer on the stage, including Mary Ellen rolled their eyes at that question.

Mary replied, “Stop worrying about things like that. The only thing you focus on is marketing. That’s the only thing.”

She went on to add that in her company, every employee is trained to think like a marketer FIRST.

I think this is a very key point. Everybody must think like marketers. Everyone is a marketer first. Whatever else you wanna call yourself comes second. Unless you absorb this philosophy, you are not going to succeed. Marketing is not the only thing, but it is the KEY thing that matters.

Now you can’t ignore that kind of advice, not when it comes from someone that took a company from 8 million to 27 million in one year.

I arrived a little late due to my plane troubles. But was just able to catch the last 30 minutes of Mike Filsaime's session.

Here's the thing I like about Mike. You can walk in just as he's wrapping up and still find enough juicy nuggets of information to make a big impact on your site profits.

This is the key idea I learned from Mike today.

Learn to Use Other People's Dead Internet Real Estate

What's dead real estate? It's pages on a site that aren't selling. Such as Order Complete Pages, Thank You for Signing Up Pages, Logout Pages, Subscription Success Pages and more.

Most people forget to utilize these pages to boost their site profits.

Here's what Mike does. When you buy his product, the Butterfly Marketing Manuscript for $97, as soon as you hit the order button and complete the order, Mike will NOT immediately let you download the manuscript. Most marketers would. But not Mike.

Instead, on the "Order Complete" page, he's show you a video of himself explaining that he has created a software package to accompany his manuscript and that he'll give you this $1495 package for only $897 if you commit to ordering now.

Now remember, the user has just spent $97. Filsaime is maximizing the customer value by now asking them to buy a higher end product before they proceed to downloading the manuscript.

Now here's a question.

What Percentage of People do you Think Will Take Mike Up on his Offer?

The answer according to Mike is 11%.

This means that for every 100 people who buy the Butterfly Marketing Manuscript for $97, Mike will make $9700 from the manuscript.

But he's make $9867 from that 11% of people who then order the software package on CD.

Mike makes more on the UPSELL than on the actual product.

But he doesn't stop there.

If you decide not to buy the $897 upsell, Mike will then downsell you and offer the same package for only $497 if you order now. For $497 you won't get it on CDs, you'll have to download the digital version.

And according to Mike, another 10% of buyers will take him up on this.

This is another $4970 in revenue.

So a potential sale of $9700 has been turned into a sales value of

$9700
+ $9867
+ $4970
-------
$24,537

Mike's increased his revenue by over 150% through the clever use of upsells and downsells.

But he takes it one step further.

Mike now looks for other sites that have a similar audience to his own.

(You can do this too by using a service like Quantcast.com)

He examines the site and looks for dead real estate and offers the site owner a little badge or banner that they can add to advertise the Butterfly Marketing manuscript.

The site owner gets a percentage of revenue, and Mike gets a new customer. At this seminar he announced that he was making an extra $36,000 per month from these types of deals.

Those are some pretty impressive stats. And the best part is that anyone can start using upsells, downsells and integration marketing almost immediately.

Among the things covered in this rapid-fire 5 minute video:

1. How to redesign the navigation system for less confusion

2. How to create a headline to lists a strong USP

3. Tactics to boost credibility - including the Strategy of Pre-Eminence.

4. How to re-lable some attractive features of this site to make stand out from the competition.

5. A novel idea to collect leads and convert these leads into sales.

Here's the video:

Want to Know Quick Changes You Can Make to Boost Your Sales?

If you'd like us to do a complete overhaul of your site and provide a year's worth of support and training resources - visit our new course Chain Reaction Marketing, on this page >>

How Can You Increase the Online Conversion Rate of your Main Page?

Summary

In a phone consultation this week we shared with Bill some tips for increasing online conversion rates. In particular we showed him how to increase the online conversion rate of his main page.

Scenario

Bill owns a website selling language courses. Natural search is working really well - he gets 1200 visitors a day from Google, 600 go direct to his targeted pages and 600 end up on his main page.

However despite a very attractive site that appears to get many things right browsers simply aren't clicking past his main page to his targeted pages. Sound familiar?

Are you falling into the easy errors that your competitors no doubt will be as well?

Here's what Bill's site looked like:

This is what Bill's site looks like and I've illustrated 4 pitfalls that he's sadly fallen into. I'll identify these pitfalls, show a strategy to put it right and then show you how Bill would go about it.

4 Errors Bill has made

1) Sidebar on the Left

So many tests have proven that the most dominant element of a webpage is the upper left hand corner. This means that it's the area people are most likely to concentrate on. The last thing you want to happen is for your customer to be put off in a flash.

The first thing you see in the dominant upper left hand corner is the sidebar and links to "Arabic" and "Albanian". These aren't even the core products that Bill sells.

2) Plain, Unemotive Text at the Top Dominating 

Once again first impressions count -you should be asking yourself . . . How can I make a Lasting and Emotive Impression on the potential customer? There should be a hook there to trigger a browser's inquisitive side.

3) Images of People

It's also been proven that images of people actually have a negative impact on conversion rates. They have the effect of distracting a browser away from something you want them to see, like the compelling copy, headline or a list of key benefits.

4) Regimented, uninspiring formal information and jargon

"Multimedia PC CD Roms for Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced levels" might be informative but the term 'Multimedia PC Cd Roms' is offputting, irrelevant jargon. The whole paragraph does not convey the key factors that sets them apart from the competition.

Strategy For A Killer Main Page

4 Solutions

1) Make a Good First Impression

Make your upper left hand corner exciting and targeted to what they are looking for. The first thing they see could be the headline, for example.

2) A Headline that provokes them and leaves them stunned

Instead of plain text being the first thing to catch the browsers eye they should be immediately smacked in the face by a punchy headline that also answers their most pertinent question.

3) An Image of the Product

Instead of having a human image why not have an image of the product? Tests have shown that this increases the conversion rate by making the product look more attractive.

4) List of Key Benefits that set the Product Apart from its competitors

Enticing benefit laden copy condensed down into concise bullet points will have a phenomenal impact on your site. By educating your browser what is totally unique about your product you will set it apart from its competitors.

Here's what we'd do for Bill

How Implement Strategy

 1) First Impression is very impactful

Instead of seeing the sidebar initially now the browser will immediately see the headline and an image of the product.

2) A Punchy Headline that answers their most pertinent question

See how this headline compares with the plain text previously:

"When the Waiter Mistook me for a Native on Holiday with my Friends they just Laughed . . . That laughter soon turned to Amazement when I Answered him Flawlessly in his Native Tongue"

 

Hitting the browser with incredible copy should be one of your biggest priorities. This headline is a variation on a classic headline that's been used no end over the years.

3) Image of the Product

This has been proven to improve the conversion rate. People are interested to see the packaging of the product. You can easily design a product cover by Photoshop.

4) Benefit Laden, Competition Crushing Copy

Here's what Bill should put:

• Unique Digital Software Package that only we offer
• Downloadable MP3s, Ipod Compatible
• All text and learning from Native Speakers
• Completely revamped and Revolutionized for 2007
• Patented Software Process Scientifically Trains you to embed a foreign language in your long term memory, you remember more much faster!

If you compare this to before there are some major differences:

• Stresses key benefits
• Identifies Strengths over competitors
• stresses uniqueness and how modern the product is

When Bill implements these tips we're sure he'll see great results. The top section of your main page has to be impressive to stop your potential customers clicking away. These tips are easy to execute and don't take very long.

Let's see if they actually work

Does it Work? Here's The Statistics

Bill's implemented a few of our recommendations in the last couple of weeks and is already seeing dramatic improvements in his conversion rate. The click through to his product pages has gone from 40% to 45%. This has resulted in a 12% increase in sales, a truly rapid transformation!

Truly remarkable results that can turn your business around in a matter of weeks. Information on how to increase your online conversion rates is rapidly increasing. Gain a better idea of how to increase your online conversion rates by reading more Tips for Increasing Online Conversion Rates.

How Many Online Stores Kill their Conversion Rates by Adopting Outdated Catalog-style Websites?

Forget about displaying your entire inventory to your customer. Think of your store as a "guide" and not a "catalog". Educate and guide your visitors to make the right choices and you'll see greater boosts in your conversion rates. Here's how...

In a previous consultation we showed you how to make sales online by directly answering your customer's biggest questions. Now we've just carried out a similar consultation on a client suffering from a similar misfortune.

Are you making the same cardinal sins that 90% of ecommerce sites are?!

HERE'S A NEWSFLASH FOR YOU - Catalogue style sales websites simply don't work on the Internet in many niche areas. Too much choice and too many products on a page can actually reduce sales.

Get out of the dark ages and step ahead of your competitors by educating them and guiding them on a journey deeper into your sites. This Case Study explains how.

The Client

Our client is a specialist in products for feeding cats and dogs and wish to remain anonymous, so for the sake of this post we'll refer to them as Autopetcare.

Here's their Landing Page. . .

This webpage actually does ok when it comes to getting traffic . . . BUT their conversion rate is horrific. Of the 15,000 unique visitors they only get 70 sales!!

You do the math (OK, that works out at a miniscule 0.046%)

The main reason for this . . .

THE PARADOX OF CHOICE!

A customer who comes to this site is looking for info on a pet feeder. They have a particular breed of dog or cat and want to know what type of automatic feeder they should purchase. A typical search query is "dog feeder" or "automatic cat feeding".

Remember - people search for INFO and not for PRODUCTS. Yet when the visitor arrives on this site what they see is little info and instead 11 product pics.

By having 11 products, complete with pictures and vastly differing prices, on your landing page you're offering an abundance or  plethora of choice that  - in fact it has the effect of raising more and more questions rather than answering the customer's biggest questions.

The customer might see several brands with no discernable difference except price.

Feeder Deluxe - $148

UltraFeed - $127

But the customer doesn't care about brand names! What they want is INFO.

Here's what could be going on in their mind:

Are feeders different for cats vs dogs?

Is there a difference between feeders for pets that stay indoors vs outdoors

If I have 3 dogs, can I get one gigantic feeder rather than three smaller ones?

When you present them with products pics without answering their question - here's what they do.

They click the BACK button, head back to Google, and do another query to learn more.

Raise more questions in their head, and you force them back to Google and perhaps on to another competitor.

Think about it . . . Why not offer your customers a helping hand and simply guide them into making the right choice from a host of products.

Here's What We'd Do

We reckon the best way for this landing page to convert would be to serve up a cocktail of emotion, answering the customers' biggest questions and offering them a helping hand to the sale . . . avoiding the paradox of choice.

When a customer types in, for example, "auto pet feeders" they should be led to a page that is simple, highly targeted to their needs and has excellent navigation so that they are most likely to convert.

Here's what we mean - notice how important the cocktail is engage a customer and not give too much choice.

Below I've outlined 3 Great Ways for them to improve their landing page:

1 - Establish trust

2 - Answer the customer's Biggest question

3 - Offer them a helping hand to the sale

 Increase Conversion Rate  . . .

1) Establish Trust and Appeal to people's emotions

Tests have proven that a customer is more likely to make a purchase, and also a larger purchase, when they make the decision on an emotional basis rather than a logical one.

Autopetcare's initial page has no element of trust in it whatsoever - there is by no means a connection likely to be made between the customer and this website on a personal level. By tinkering their site and adding a picture of the founder with their dog this will instantly have a dramatic effect on the conversion rate.

The text towards the left could read:

Hi I'm Jimmy, the founder of Autopetcare and this is my beautiful 5 year old Golden retriever Lucy. I also own a cat called Geoffrey and a Budgerigar called Tweetie. When it comes to keeping your pets healthy and well fed you couldn't wish to meet anyone more passionate than myself.

I've been in the pet feeding industry for the last 8 years and know everything possible there is to know about which pet feeder is right for your pet . . .

This will engage with the customer on a personal level, trigger emotions and in the process also establish the founder as the expert in the field and an authority on the subject matter. This will develop great trust for your site in the process.

2) Answers the customer's biggest question

We showed you the importance of this in the previous post. When someone types in "automatic pet feeders" into Google they are searching for information not for products. This new page gives the customer really good information without bombarding them with prices and endless products. Instead, by answering the customer's most important question, in this case, whether they are a dog or a cat owner, it allows you to give them specific targeted information and products deeper into your website.

3) Offer them a helping hand to the sale

By offering general, authoritative information to customers you then have the opportunity to lead them to the sale. The links on the new page allow you to target customers once you have established a relationship through emotion, trust and quality information.

If they click on the dog owners link then they can be introduced to specific dog owner products and recommended items. The same goes with the cats link.

The paradox of choice has still not been avoided!

So you've got a great landing page but the job's certainly not done there. The linked to pages of your site have to answer the further questions your customer has and to target and segment them in such a way to convert and get value per customer, the best way to do this is to answer the questions comprehensively and make 1, yes 1, recommendation.

The Next Step - A Targeted Sales Page which delivers all the answers and makes solid Recommendations

You need to continue to educate and guide your customer

If they're a dog owner you still need to find out certain questions. The site could read like this:

"Welcome fellow dog lover! Before we see which products are best for you we need to find out your exact needs, what kind of feature you're looking for  . . . Are you looking for a water or a food feeder?

Are you looking for an indoor or an outdoor feeder?

What size of dog do you own? Large or Small?

How many dogs do you own? One or Many?"

 Only once you know the answers to these questions can you make a strong recommendation safe in the knowledge that they have all the information at their fingertips.

Recommendations

#small dog, water feeder, indoor - 1 recommendation

#small dog, water feeder, outdoor - 1 recommendation

#large dog, water feeder, indoor - 1 recommendation

#large dog, water feeder, outdoor - 1 recommendation

#small dog, food feeder, indoor - 1 recommendation

#large dog, food feeder, outdoor - 1 recommendation

etc. etc.  I'm sure you get the picture.

What you're effectively doing is showing off your products, but you're doing it in such a way that it is so highly targeted and specific utilizing all the info from your customer that they are likely to convert.

The Key to avoiding the paradox of choice:

• Use emotion to develop trust and a relationship
• deliver high quality information
• answer the customers biggest question
• target and segment through guiding and educating
• then make 1 recommendation

Do you find it impossible to choose from the 100 different brands and types of salad dressing in your local supermarket?

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• Tips for Increasing Online Conversion Rates

In a recent  telephone consultation with a skincare company Internet marketer Vishen Lakhiani reviewed and tested their landing page and indicated how to improve it to better convert. . .

Well, here's their landing page:

Creating a killer landing page can have an absolutely remarkable effect on your conversion rate as long as it delivers certain key benefits and doesn't fall into the common pitfalls that can can fall way wide of the mark. Before I share these take a look at the format of their landing page below and make up your mind on it.

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5 Qualities of a Killer Landing Page

1. The headline and copy correspond to the ad that triggered the page.

If your ad is targeted to people looking for golf attire, your landing page should focus on golf attire, and not on other items that could distract from the main focus, such as golf clubs.

2. The focus is on getting visitors to take one specific action.

The landing page works on the basis of a most wanted response (MWR). It is designed to get the target audience to take ONE specific action, such as making a purchase or subscribing to a newsletter.

3. There are no distracting navigational links.

Unlike the homepage, the purpose of the landing page is not to get the users to browse the site, but to stay on the page and carry out the MWR. Tests have shown that landing pages with too many navigational links consistently under-perform. Just stick to the basics: a company logo or header for recognition along with a link to the homepage are sufficient. Avoid having any links that distract from carrying out the MWR.

4. The copy is short.

The copy on the landing page is usually shorter and more straightforward than the copy on your homepage. Remember to keep the look and feel of your landing page consistent with the rest of your website.

5. There is a prominent subscription form or checkout option.

The action you want the user to take should be available on the landing page itself; the user should not have to click to another page.

5 Qualities - How did the Skincare Company Fare?

I really don't know what you thought of the landing page - whether you were engaged by it, BUT. . .

Here's my take - to be honest with you I don't think it fulfilled a single one of the criteria I outlined above. Let's take a look:

1. The headline and copy correspond to the ad that triggered the page

 'Skinny Truths' is a headline that doesn't really convey any great message and it certainly doesn't correspond to the keywords of the ad that triggered the page. It has no mention of the key benefits of the offering - it doesn't mention skincare treatments.

2. The focus is on getting visitors to take one specific action.

Although the focus of the copy is to try and get browsers to carry out the most wanted response (MWR), to get them to download a free whitepaper,  it by no means focuses on this response. It's just a long string of plain text with no real attention being drawn to the MWR.

Another thing is the way to communicate with people on the Internet is to engage them on personal level - this means NO CORPORATE TALK:

Does this language bore you?

"In an effort to serve and inform the general public, this FREE 4 page report clearly explains how & why the skincare process works and exposes the most common ‘skincare myths’ being sold. This effectively empowers consumers to make intelligent distinctions about the affordability and effectiveness of each product."

This is like an academic report in style. Wake from your slumber! You see what I'm trying to share with you here. A comparison and good practice is on its way. 

3. There are no distracting navigational links.

OK so there's no actual distracting navigational links that will lead you directly away from their copy, HOWEVER there's features on their copy that'll have a massive negative impact on their landing page. You should never put large pictures, such as the ones on the right hand side bar, on your copy.

Loads of tests can back me up on this - eye tracking tests have proven that it's detrimental to your copy.

• makes your design confusing
• increases the time it takes to load
• people are naturally drawn towards human faces, they are no longer focusing on the key benefits you're trying to portray 

4. The copy is short.

A long copy of plain text is not going to inspire your landing page. All the professionals use every trick of the trade to highlight and emphasize what the MWR is and smack you in the face with the key benefits of what they have to offer. Once again corporate talk is a big NO-NO!

5. There is a prominent subscription form or checkout option.

Even though you can't see it there's a subscription box right at the bottom of the landing page. That's where the problem lies - it should be the most prominent thing on the page, above the fold, as it's the means to the MWR.

It appears their landing page has been absolutely pulled to pieces and let's face it - it has. But these are easy things to put right and in no time at all they can have a landing page that converts.

Let's get some inspiration from some best practice examples:)

5 Qualities of a Killer Landing Page - Best Practice

Here's a major contrast that I'm sure you'll notice. Go from the landing page that Vishen reviewed over the phone to 2 best practice landing pages and the difference is stark.

Check out these landing pages and identify the key factors that create a powerful landing page:

A) - The Silva UltraMind System

B)- Ask Database from Alex Mandossian

1. The headline and copy correspond to the ad that triggered the page

Let's compare headlines:

A)

"Experience Deep Meditation with the Free Silva Audio Training"

 

B)

"Modern Research  Into 2,437 Year-Old Marketing Technology Reveals The Secret To Increase Your Sales, Uncover Quick-Profit Niches And Helps You Uncover What Your Prospects And Customers Want To Buy Most!"

 

Test)

"Skinny Truths"

It's so easy to see which headline is the amateurish one. Headlines A and B hook the browser in completely and correspond directly to the ad keyword that triggered the page. 'Skinny Truths" is so ambiguous and is not related to the keyword that led the browser to their page.

2. The focus is on getting visitors to take one specific action.

4 or 5 key benefits versus a long copy of plain text?

There's only one winner in this competition. The 2 best practices landing pages outline the four or five key benefits of what they have to offer and don't share any further information whatsoever. This means that a browser isn't going to get lost in plain text and not carry out the MWR.

3. There are no distracting navigational links.

simplicity versus over-engineered design?

The use of highlighting and bullet points on the 2 best practice landing pages means that a browser is drawn towards the copy and not towards anything distracting like pictures.

4. The copy is short.

Concise focused copy versus long copy?

Somehow the message is completely lost in the long copy of the test's landing page. Short, concise copy ensures that the message is clearly conveyed, only information that is beneficial to the cause is shared. Unnecessary information simply dilutes your message.

5. There is a prominent subscription form or checkout option.

Both best practices examples have an extremely prominent sign up box that spans a third of the copy. It's a simple box with two boxes to fill in - First Name and Email.  The test's sign up form isn't even above the fold, you're not immediately drawn to the box and you have to scroll right down to the bottom to see it. It also has unnecessary information field boxes to fill in.

Why would you ever need to know a person's last name and where they heard about the site from?

The more hassle you give a browser the less likely they are to sign up. The sign up button should also use language such as free instant access or 'I want my free report' rather than unattractive language like submit.

We've analyzed and frankly criticized the original 'Skinny Truths' landing page. . . SO What's the solution?

Vishen presented 5 recommendations that will dramatically boost the performance of the page; here's an idea of what it should look like.

The New Landing Page 

Vishen's 5 Recommendations To Create The New Killer Landing Page

1. A killer title that corresponds to the ad that triggered the landing page. In this case the keyword that would trigger this page is 'Skincare'. Both the new title and subtitle deliver a hook to the reader and express the key benefit with the MWR staring you in the face.

2. Display the founder's image and establish them as an authority on tooth whitening. This has been tested a lot and proven to dramatically increase results. It eliminates the need for long copy and develops integrity in such a simple way.

For example...

" This is Joe Bloggs, Vice President of Company X, the last 5 years of my life have been dedicated to studying the field of skincare and dermatology and there's nothing I don't know about the US market . . . As a service to you I'm delivering the most comprehensive whitepaper on the skincare environment. . ."

3. Short, targeted, benefit laden copy with a Most Wanted Response smacking the browser in the face. In this case it's achieved by having the four key learning points outlined in distinct bullet points. The sentence below the key benefits spells out the MWR for the browser.

4. A Prominent sign up box that works. The new sign up box should definitely be above the fold and ideally on the right hand side of the landing page. There should only be two fields to fill in and an inviting opt in button reading "YES Joe Bloggs! I WANT MY FREE REPORT TODAY".

These four recommendations have been illustrated by the new template for the landing page above. BUT there's another tactic which is vital - you need to customize your copy so that it's specific for the individual AdWords groups.

5. Use PHP To Customize Specific AdWord Keyword Groups. Using PHP you can easily change your headline to be specific to the keyword which the browser searched for. For example if someone types in 'facial skincare' the headline should read 'Facial Skincare Myths Exposed' AND if someone searches for 'Body Skincare' the headline should read 'Body Skincare Myths Exposed'.

Don't Forget to do Split Testing

For testing sign up rates on landing pages ClickMuse can be an essential tool. It also has the effect of customizing your keywords. In previous articles we've shown how the smallest of tweaks of your copy can have an enormous effect on the results of your landing page.

Read more information on:

• Landing Page Optimization
• Split Testing

UltraDent sells dental solutions. They needed to know how to make sales online in a very competitive market (10+ direct advertisers on Adwords). What tricks could they use to boost their checkout rate?

We suggested that UltraDent AVOID the traditional style of ecommerce storefront and instead experiment with the concept of segmenting and educating the customer before asking for the sale.

Here's How We'd Revamp their Site:

The company we spoke to earlier this week would like to remain anonymous, for the purpose of this case study I'll refer to them as UltraDent. UltraDent is a retailer of plaque control products. It's a traditional ecommerce store in the Amazon mould with a shopping cart but its website isn't converting as well as it could be.

My theory is this:

People in the market for dental care are not educated customers. They have heard of plaque control and teeth polishing - but they're puzzled and confused by the myriad of different products and choices. When they get on Google and search for "Plaque Control" they are NOT LOOKING FOR A PRODUCT. Instead, they're LOOKING FOR INFORMATION.

This is an important insight:

People Google Search for INFO - NOT for PRODUCTS. Yet most PPC advertisers insist on displaying a list of products rather than information relevant to the search - not a smart idea.

The UltraDent Site Problem

When the user first lands on the site after a PPC ad click the user was presented with a myriad of choices.

Here is an Outline of their Site

Note: For privacy reasons we do not show their actual site but a "block" version that just shows the position of types of elements they currently used.

They make several big mistakes
Among them

1. Promo product of the day, sale of the day, special offers -- etc etc...

2. Admin log in buttons (absolutely not needed!)

3. Product search? Why? The client typed in "Plaque Control" on Google. They already did their product search. You should be capturing this info via your Adwords link.

4. Cheesy stock photography

5. Multiple Product Sidebar? A common sin of ecommerce sites - don't confuse customers with multiple product suggestion.

What benefits do all these features actually give to a customer? This website has no targeting whatsoever and it also fails to form any trust between the website and the browser.

The Site Makeover - Going for Simplicity, Customer Segmenting and Customer Education

Here's how we'd redo their site.

Frankly, we'd toss out the ENTIRE front page and start fresh.

The image below gives an idea of what the new front page should look like.

Here's the key things we'd do.

1. Build Trust

One way to quickly establish trust and integrity to your website is to simply put a picture of the owner or manager of the company up. This helps establish trust. It also helps with branding and having the customer perceive you as an AUTHORITY on the subject of Dental Care. Being perceived as an authority is critical to the strategy we're about to discuss.

2. Focus on Information First - then the Sale.

Most traffic for products such as teeth whitening is of course going to come from Google. It's so important that you understand how people use Google and their quest for information.

"No-one googles to buy, they google to get information"

SO. . . what's the implication of this?

Don't try to sell the customer upfront. The headline and opening body copy should instead focus on making the customer feel that they are on the right place to answer their question.

Sample Headline:

"Having been in the Dental Industry for 8 Years, Here's the Dirty Truth behind Plaque Control Products that Your Dentist May NOT want you to Know"

The next part is an opening paragraph mentioning what the site is about -- something along the lines of

"My name is _________. On this site I'm going to reveal to you everything I've learned about Plaque Control - the procedures, the best products, the industry lies and the best choices for consumers.............."

That's the kind of opening that can hook a customer and make them stay on your site.

Now here's the next -- and the MOST IMPORTANT PART.

3. Customer Segmenting

Ask the customer what they're looking for. Yes - seriously...give them a list.

What's Your Biggest Question on Plaque Control?

• Cost of Teeth Whitening
• Home versus Dentist
• What's the difference between kits, gels and strips.
• etc, etc

Here's the KEY POINT

Each question is a link to a separate page on the site that answers the question and then RECOMMENDS ONE PRODUCT THAT THE CUSTOMER SHOULD BUY.

In many cases having many different products with different prices and reviews can have a severely negative impact on your conversion rate. There should never be any reason for your browser to have to stray from your website to get more information. This strategy eliminates that possibility.

So what does the customer see when they click on their question of choice?

4. Educating the Customer

Now let's say the customer clicks on "What is the Cost of Tooth Whitening?". The next page they see looks something like this:

The page DIRECTLY answers the question in brief and then recommends ONE single product for the customer.

At this point, the customer is having their main question answered. A sense of trust has been established. They are likely to perceive you as an expert and not a salesperson looking for a quick product.

Whatever product you recommend has now gained great credibility. The buy rate will likely be MUCH higher.

But why do we recommend just showing one product?

Let's say you show 4 different products, the problem is that unless you explain the pros and cons of each really well, the visitor could jump off your site, go back to Google and do research on the products. Along the way, they might stumble onto a competitors site and you lose the sale.

So if you must show multiple products, explain them really well based on the question the customer previously clicked on.

In the case above, you know the customer is likely concerned with price. If you have 4 products in your catalogue, you can list all 4 on this page. But address the pricing levels of each. For example:

Product 1: This one is the most economical. But results take 3 months. I would recommend this if you're looking to spend less than $200....

Product 2: High end product with great testimonials. Fast (most customers see results in ___ hours). The pricing is $3400.

Again, you want to give the customer the EXACT info they need so they can make a purchase on your site -- with little confusion and little need to go back to Google and do more research.

Summary: Keys To Make Sales Online

How to make sales online is a subject that's troubling so many internet marketers. Don't stick to conventions - think out of the box. Learn to target your customers, discover what they're looking for, give them EXACTLY what they're looking for and make a sale through education and customer segmenting.

Roberta Rosenberg, The Copywriting Maven, and a reader of this blog summarized it best in a comment she left us 4 months back:

Whether it’s online, in a catalog, or through traditional direct mail marketing, too many choices will “paralyze” most prospects and impede their ability to click the “buy now” button. What prospects do want, however, is assistance toward making the right choice from among many options.

Learn More:

• How To Make Sales Online
• Case Study on getting Traffic
• The Paradox of Choice