Table of Contents
Editor's Note
Introduction to Revised Second Edition
Introduction
- Sample I.1: MarketingSherpas Mistakes Landing Page
Chapter 1: New Landing Page Study Data
- What is a Landing Page and Why Does It Matter?
- What is Not a Landing Page?
Typical Landing Page Conversion Rates Are Fairly Low
- Chart 1.1: Conversion Rate Averages for Search and Email Landing Pages
- Chart 1.2: Have Your Average Landing Page Conversions Improved Over the Past Year?
Six Steps of the Conversion Process: How a Visitor Experiences Your Landing Page
- Figure 1.3: The Six-Step Conversion Process, a Rough Guideline
- Stage One: The ADD Crowd asks, Should I bail?
- Stage Two: Regular folks consider bailing
- Stage Three: Should I accept this offer?
- Stage Four: Maybe I should think about this awhile
- Stage Five: Conversion attempt
- Step Six: Conversion success
The Bad News About Tracking the Bail Process
MarketingSherpa's New Landing Page Observational Study & Real-Life Marketer Survey
- Chart 1.4: % of Marketers Sending Clickers to Homepage vs. Landing Page
- Chart 1.5: Where Do Promotional Link Clickers Go?
- Chart 1.6: % of Marketers Implementing Landing Pages by Tactic
- Chart 1.7: Number of Landing Pages Currently in Use
- Chart 1.8: What Prompts the Creation of a Landing Page?
Getting to the Landing Page
- Consistency = Conversion
- Consistencia
- Chart 1.9: % of Marketers Sending Clickers to Wrong Language Landing Pages
Always Use Readable URLs, Except in Most Cases (Huh?)
- Chart 1.10: Types of Landing Page URLs Used in Offline Advertising
Someone Clicked! Now What? Landing Page Design!
- Cut the Clutter
- Chart 1.11: Marketing Goals for Landing Pages
- Chart 1.12: % of Marketers Who Customize Landing Page Templates
- Simplicity Defined - Buttons
- Chart 1.13: Use of Unhelpful Buttons on Online Forms
- Pare Your Navigation
- Chart 1.14: Who Knows Which Pages Get Heavy Organic Search Traffic?
- Give Options Without Overwhelming
- Chart 1.15: Single vs. Multiple Offers on Landing Pages
- Copy Length and Need for Scrolling
- Chart 1.16: Global Broadband Penetration
- Chart 1.17: Distribution of Absolute Scroll Reach
- On the Page: Text & Graphics
- Chart 1.18: Distribution of Number of Columns Used in Page Design
- Chart 1.19: Frustrations of Agencies Providing Landing Pages to Clients
- Are You Your Affiliate, or Are They You?
- Chart 1.20: Creative Input for Affiliate Marketer
- Graphic Elements
- Chart 1.21: Clickable Offer-Related Landing Page Graphics
- Placement of call-to-action buttons
- Registration forms and mail opt-in requests
- Chart 1.22: Tactics for Email Opt-In and Registration/Lead Generation Forms
- What works
- Chart 1.23: Real-Life Marketing Tactics to Improve Conversion Rates
Chapter 2: Landing Page Design, Layout & Copy Fundamentals
Overview: The Six Steps of Landing Page Design
Prospect Research Details
- 1. Prospect Type Comparison & Conversion Chart
- Chart 2.1: Sample Conversion Path by Prospect Type
- 2. Persona/Profile development
Next Step: Landing Page Layout and Graphic Design Guidelines
- Screen Resolution Stats & Examples
- Figure 2.2: What 300 Pixels Look Like at Varying Resolutions
- Chart 2.3: Screen Resolution Stats, August 2007
- Chart 2.4: Browser User Stats, August 2007
- Figure 2.5: Impact of Screen Resolution by Major Browsers: 800 x 600
- Figure 2.6: Impact of Screen Resolution by Major Browsers: 1024 x 768
The Fold, Scrolling, and Paging
- Chart 2.7: Online Bill Paying Services: Required Scrolling Compared
- Sample 2.8: MarketingSherpa Store Landing Page Before
- Sample 2.9: MarketingSherpa Store Landing Page After
- Number of Columns
- Sample 2.10: Sun Microsystems Original Homepage
- Sample 2.11: Sun Microsystems Homepage With Fewer Columns
- Sample 2.12: CareerBuilder Horizontal-Style Response Options (Test Loser)
- Sample 2.13: CareerBuilder Vertical List-Style Response Options (Test Winner)
- Navigation Bars = Mostly Verboten!
- 3 design tips for one-page landing pages
- Design tips for landing pages with links to other pages
Color
- Flash Intros and Navigation, Oh, Please No!
- #1. Reading comprehension
- #2. Button graphics
- #3. Branding
- #4. Eye corralling
White Space
International Design & Graphics
Typeface Fonts, Point Size and Text Layout
- Top 5 Rules to Follow for Easy-to-Read Type
Commonly Made Online Type Design Mistakes
5 Guidelines on Text for Children and Older Readers
- Table 2.21: Kids Font Reading Comprehension Online
Guidelines on Emphasizing Text for Impact
How Many Elements Should Be on a Page?
Hero Shots
- Sample 2.22: The Sales Board Skills Assessment Test
- Sample 2.23: Sales Lead Dogs Landing Page
- Sample 2.24: Landing Page With Hero Shot
- Hero Shot Placement
- Tips for creating hero shots
- Sample 2.25: Real People Outperform Stock Footage for Hero Shots
- Sample 2.26: MarketingExperiments Test Covers
- Using photos of people
- Sample 2.27: Happy Customer Photo for Palo Alto Software
- Does sex sell?
Trust Icons & Images
- Sample 2.28: Test Results for Faux Trust Icons
- Sample 2.29: Trust Icons That Can Improve Conversion Rates
- Sample 2.30: Kelley Blue Book Trust-Building Tagline
Pop-Ups on Landing Pages
- Sample 2.31: BusinessSummaries.com Entry Pop-up
- Sample 2.32: VistaPrint Utility Pop-up
Audio on Landing Pages
Video on Landing Pages
- Sample 2.33: Digital Media Landing Page With Video Play Button in Middle
- #1. As Seen on TV
- #2. Real-life testimonials
- #3. Viral campaigns
- Sample 2.34: Six Degrees Network for Good Video Testimonial
- #4. Video watching is the conversion activity
Avatars & Video Spokesmodels on Landing Pages
- Sample 2.35: Flowers Fast Landing Page With Animated Character
Load Speed - The Final Graphics Challenge
- Chart 2.36: Household Broadband Penetration Growth
- Table 2.37: TimeConnection Rate Download Time
- Sample 2.38: ClearInk Landing Pages With Loading Video, and Completely Loaded
Response Devices on Landing Pages
- Adding phone numbers to landing pages
- Sample 2.39: Math Made Easy Landing Page
- Offering live chat on your landing page
- Sample 2.40: Kevis Marketing Live Chat Request Window Opened on Homepage
- Call me now offers
- Sample 2.41: Sales Builder Landing Page With Call Me Now Box
Buttons: Can You See Your Button From Across the Room?
- Sample 2.42: MarketingExperiments Tested Red Button Art
- Interactive submission boxes
- Sample 2.43: Insurance.com Landing Page With Submission Box
- Sample 2.44: Autobytel.com Landing Page With Progress Bar
- Entire page as an involvement device
- Sample 2.45: Classmates.com Interactive Homepage
- Sample 2.46: The South Beach Diet.com Interactive Homepage
- Sample 2.47: HouseValues.com Interactive Homepage
- Sample 2.48: Matchmaker.com Interactive Homepage
- Sample 2.49: ProfNet.org Interactive Landing Page
- Sample 2.50: iunctura Interactive Landing Page
- Sample 2.51: Frederick's of Hollywood Interactive Landing Page
- Sample 2.52: Frederick's of Hollywood Interactive Landing Page, Step Two
Registration Forms That Get Higher Conversions: Design Tips
- Step #1. Number and types of questions
- Sample 2.53: Source Technologies Request Info Form, Before & After
- Step #2. Use proven best practices in form design
- Sample 2.54: Single Column and Multiple Column Request Forms
- Step #3. Put some thought behind your submission button
- Tips on collecting email addresses
- Table 2.55: Typo Rate of People Completing Registration Forms
- Sample 2.56: PhoneHog Email Control Pop-Up
- Tips on collecting telephone numbers
- Sample 2.57: Tucson Real Estate Landing Page
- Tips on Globalizing Registration Forms
- Sample 2.58: Infobloxs Registration Form
Double Your Qualified Leads: 4 Steps to a New Registration System
Copywriting Tips for Landing Pages
- Chart 2.59: Email Marketers Rate Testing Effectiveness
- Sample 2.60: JumpBox's Original Landing Page
- Sample 2.61: JumpBox's Winning Landing Page
- Sample 2.62: Eyetracking Heat Map
- Chart 2.63: Analysis of Gobbledygook in Press Releases
- Sample 2.64: Palo Alto Software Landing Page Prose
Writing for Different Interest Levels
- Layer 1: The headline
- Layer 2: Summary
- Layer 3: Major points
- Layer 4: Detailed copy
- Long copy vs. short copy
- Sample 2.65: Long-Copy Opt-In Form
- Sample 2.66: Email Campaign
- Sample 2.67: Skype's Control Page (Test Loser)
- Sample 2.68: Skype's Micro-Short Copy Page (Test Winner)
Writing to Multiple Segments
- Sample 2.69: Leo Schachter Homepage Targeting 7 Personas
Copywriting URLs or Domain Names for Landing Pages
- Personalized Landing Pages (PURLs)
- Dealing With Delayed Conversions
Error Handling for Landing Pages
Pop-Ups That Chase People Who Leave the Page
- After they convert - tips for Thank You pages
- Sample 2.70: VistaPrint discount pop-up
- Sample 2.71: Anritsu Thank You Landing Page
- Sample 2.72: MarketingSherpa's Thank You Landing Page
- Sample 2.73: WebWord.com Newsletter Thank You Page
- Warning: Multiple Offers Can Be Dangerous
Chapter 3: Advanced Landing Pages: Search, Email, Blogs & More
Paid Search Engine Marketing Campaign Landing Pages
- Sample 3.1: Kayak SEM Marketing Campaign Landing Page
- Sample 3.2: Musician Friend Landing Page Matches Keyword
- Additional SEM PPC Tactics to Test
- Why You Should Track Delayed Search Campaign Impact: Your Landing Pages May Be Better Than You Think
- Sample 3.3: Car Toys SEM Landing Page
- Chart 3.4: Consumers Prefer Sites With Customer Reviews
- Sample 3.5: Petco SEM Landing Page With Reviews
- Macy's Tests Revamping Search Landing Pages
- Sample 3.6: Macys SEM Landing Page for Calvin Klein Shoes
- Warning: Search engine spider traffic is not always a good thing
Paid Search Engine Marketing Campaign Landing Pages
- Sample 3.1: Kayak SEM Marketing Campaign Landing Page
- Sample 3.2: Musician Friend Landing Page Matches Keyword
- Additional SEM PPC Tactics to Test
- Why You Should Track Delayed Search Campaign Impact: Your Landing Pages May Be Better Than You Think
- Sample 3.3: Car Toys SEM Landing Page
- Chart 3.4: Consumers Prefer Sites With Customer Reviews
- Sample 3.5: Petco SEM Landing Page With Reviews
- Macy's Tests Revamping Search Landing Pages
- Sample 3.6: Macys SEM Landing Page for Calvin Klein Shoes
- Warning: Search engine spider traffic is not always a good thing
Landing Pages for Organic Search Campaigns
- Chart 3.7: Organic Search Traffic to MarketingSherpa.com 2007
- Type #1. Our mothers (and probably yours, too)
- Type #2. Landing page visitors who want to know more about you
Three Ways to Turn Deep Pages Into Landing Pages
- Sample 3.8: Mysis EMR SEO Microsite Options Page
- Sample 3.9: ABEBooks Landing Page With Opt-in Offers
- Sample 3.10: Claire Burke SEM Landing Page With Request Form
- Sample 3.11: CBS Deep Click Landing Pages
- Inspirational Story: Print Subscription Marketer Tests Organic Landing Page Revamp
- Sample 3.12: BLR SEO Landing Page Styles, Old & New
Optimizing for Search Engine News-Driven Traffic
- Sample 3.13: Symmetricomm Press Release and Matching Landing Page
Email Campaign Landing Pages
- Sample 3.14: Zacks Postcard-Style Email Campaign Landing Page
Change Your Homepage to Match Major Broadcast Offers to Your House File
- Sample 3.15: Kiyonna 'Denim' Email Broadcast & Matching Homepage
- Sample 3.16: Kiyonna 'Denim' Email Broadcast Landing Page
Deeplinking vs. Special Email Landing Pages
- Sample 3.17: MarketingSherpa Product Pages, 2 Versions
How to Get 'Better Visits' from Email Newsletter Subscribers
- Sample 3.18: SmartBrief Newsletter Page With Hotlinks
- Landing Pages for Outside Email Lists
- Sample 3.19: Olympus Email Newsletter Landing Page with Question Form
- Sample 3.20: ServiceWare Outside Email List Landing Page
- Extend Landing Page Lifetime
- Chart 3.21: Typical Email Broadcast Campaign Lifetime
- Sample 3.22: Tektronix Interactive Landing Page Replacement
- Advertising in Third-Party Email Newsletters
- Warning: Your Email Landing Pages May Be Blocked by Filters
- Sample 3.23: MarketingSherpa Email Landing Page Blocked Message
- Coping With Web Filters
Landing Pages to Generate More Email Opt-Ins
- Sample 3.24: Questia Control Email Opt-in Landing Page
- Sample 3.25: Questia Winning Email Opt-in Landing Page
- Business-to-Business Offer Landing Pages
- Chart 3.26: Should Separate Checkbox Be Included to Sign up for Newsletters?
- Sample 3.27: SEM Campaign Landing Page for the Term 'Ethernet'
- Sample 3.28: IBM Chinese Email Landing Page
- Chart 3.29: Translated vs. Non-Translated Emails
Webinar Landing Pages: Inspirational Case Study
- Sample 3.30: Webinar Registration Landing Pages, Old & New
- Old Webinar Registration Landing Page
White Paper Landing Pages: Inspirational Case Study
- Sample 3.31: Long Copy White Paper Landing Page
- Set the White Paper Free
- Sample 3.32: MarketingSherpa PDF Download White Paper Email
Blogs, Podcasts, and Video
- Improving Blog Conversions
- Sample 3.33: Email Subscription Sign-up Form for Blog
- Sample 3.34: Plagiarism Today Blog With Hotlink
- Sample 3.35: List of Free Applications to Attach to Blog
Podcast Landing Pages
- Sample 3.36: Podcast Download Landing Page
- Chart 3.37: Fewer than Half of Download Pages Inform Listeners of Podcast Length
Direct Response Television Landing Pages
- Sample 3.38: Netflix Direct Response TV Landing Page
- Sample 3.39: Finishing Touch Direct Response TV Landing Page
- Design notes
Radio Campaign Landing Pages
- 1. Pre-landing page entryway
- 2. Customizing landing page per radio station
- 3. Allowing non-coded orders to get through
- 4. Adding a radio button to the homepage
- 5. Test duration
- 6. Rest and retry
- 7. Live reads vs. canned ads
- Bonus radio copywriting tip
Web Ads
- Sample 3.40: Nivea for Men Banner Ad With Matching Landing Page
Mobile Marketing Landing Pages
- Sample 3.41: Secrets of Success Traditional, Mobile User Homepages
- Sample 3.42: Integrating Mobile & Email
- Design notes
Chapter 4: How to Test Landing Pages & Improve Results
Real-Life Data on Testing Landing Pages
- Chart 4.1: Landing Page Testers & Non-Testers: Conversion Improvement in a Year
- Chart 4.2: Which Tests Were Tried Last Year Among Testing Marketers
- Chart 4.3: % of Marketers Who Think Landing Page Testing Is Worthwhile
- Table 4.4: Example 1 - Airline tickets offer via email campaign to segmented house list
- Table 4.5: Example 2 - B-to-B sales lead generation campaign
- Table 4.6: Example 3 - Online publisher
- Table 4.7: Example 4 - Ecommerce site prospecting new customers via SEM
Before You Start: Top 9 Rules of Conducting a Landing Page Test
- Chart 4.8: Landing Page Test Daily Conversion Rate
- Chart 4.9: Concentrated Online Ad Exposures Enhance the Impact on Purchase Intent
- Chart 4.10: Frequency of Landing Page Tests
When Is the Best Time for Landing Page Tests
Landing Page Test Calculator: Excel Spreadsheet Included With This Handbook
- Sample 4.11: Excel Spreadsheet of Landing Page Test Calculator
What Should You Test Specifically?
- Sample 4.12: 21st Century Insurance Test Using Multivariate Technology, Winner & Loser
- Sample 4.13: Shutterfly Test Using Optimost Multivariate Technology, Winner & Loser
Testing Costs, Services, and Technologies
- Chart 4.14: Analytics Tests & Tech Planned by Heavy Online Advertisers: 2007
- Table 4.15: Landing Page Testing Types Compared Briefly
- Testing type
- Cost
- Requirements
- Results May Tell You
A/B Split Testing
Multivariable (a.k.a. Multivariate) Testing
Eyetracking (a.k.a. Visual Effectiveness) Testing
Usability Testing
Online Surveying Tools
Survey: Why didn't you buy?
Production & Landing Pages
- Table 4.16: Obstacles to Optimizing Landing Pages
- Planning
- Involving the technical team
- Chart 4.17: Frustrations of In-House Marketers Around Analysis of Landing Pages
Working With Outside Companies
- Chart 4.18: Frustrations of Agencies in Providing Better Analytics to Clients
- Get the Ball Rolling
Budgeting
- Simple design and implementation
- Landing page strategy, implementation, and testing
- Repurposing existing content
- Example: How to hold a landing page contest to test new "outside the box" ideas
- Sample 4.19: Creative Samples From 10 Landing Page Tests
Chapter 5: Useful Resources
How to Conduct a 'Skunk Works' Landing Page Project
- 1. Limited in-house technical resources
- Sample 5.1: MarketingSherpa Registration Landing Page
- 2. Lack of management belief in testing
- 3. Institutional unwillingness to change creative
Managing a Skunk Works Project
About MarketingSherpa Inc
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MarketingSherpa's bestselling Landing Page Handbook helps you raise conversions by up to 55% or more for search, email, and ad campaigns for lead generation, ecommerce, and even blogs. Includes: