Landing Page Optimization (LPO) or Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) often go hand in hand. LPO is more specifically dealing with the effectiveness of the page visitors visit on your site and how that can help convert them to buyers. CRO is more about the entire user experience from initially becoming aware of you via search or even your business card to finally buying from you. It is typically looked at from an online standpoint and is often viewed as synonymous with LPO, though it may incorporate your entire cart process and sales funnel, rather than just the initial landing page a visitor lands on. This is part of our series of pages and posts defining key elements in the search engine marketing world.
LPO, CRO, and UX
LPO or CRO can differ to some extent, based on what your ask is, but there are a number of key elements that should always be put in place to make it work effectively. Some businesses have the size and budget to constantly test new ideas with their landing pages, while others just follow general best practices and business standards to make sure they don’t scare people away. At the most basic level, you need to provide your user with the easiest experience to provide them what they want and what you want…to sell to them. It becomes about user experience (UX). Below are some key aspects.
- Analytics: Make sure you have Google analytics or some sort of metrics set up to see what visitors do when they come to your site. Otherwise, you are just guessing. Analytics can tell when and where people are leaving your page, and when selling online, can actually follow the visitor all the way through the sales funnel so you can find out if your forms are too complicated or your message is too long based on where you lose the most people in this funnel.
- Simple and Specific Message: Your page should be specific to what product or service you are offering. People clicking on an ad for back pain relief don’t want to be sent to a generic home page or services page that just lists what you do. They want to see how you are going to relieve your back pain. They often want to even see it in the terminology that they used. Having very specific pages helps with placement in SEO and in PPC will always leads to better conversions.
- SEO vs. PPC Messages: Though SEO sometimes looks for a more thorough “answer” to the search query, you should also always make sure your ask is clearly stated and above the fold. Sometimes content for SEO is a little longer and more thorough than PPC landing pages, but they both need clear messages that deliver the message that is the intent of the page.
- Clear Call to Action: What do you want them to do? Make it clear and easy for visitors to sign up or get in touch. I suggest offering multiple methods of contact (phone, form, email), without making it confusing. Also, be clear and concise about what they are getting if they sign up (Free evaluation, newsletter, appointment). If you prefer phone calls, test a page with only the phone number vs. one with other options. Is it worth losing those you might lose by only offering the number?
- The Value: Why are you the best choice? Along with making it clear how to buy from you, you should make it clear why. Are you smarter, more experience, better, higher quality, or cheaper? What is it that makes you the answer for the visitor. This should be clear and concise. Remove doubts.
- Good Site Structure: It should be clear that they can learn and dig deeper about certain offerings without cluttering up the page and confusing the visitor. Clear text links to learn more and an obvious navigation structure so the visitor doesn’t get confused. The primary goal click should be the clearest and most obvious. In some cases it is even more effective to not allow any click other than the goal click, though I find that frustrating personally.
- Flexibility: Try a few different versions of your landing pages and test how they convert. Keep an eye on analytics for high bounce rates or poor performance and don’t be afraid to do a little PPC to test one page against another.
These are all important elements to make sure your site and pages are running the way you intended, to get new customers or clients. Expanding to CRO, you can analyze forms you ask people to fill out and test how much information you need vs. losing people due to the length of the form. The number of stops someone may need to sign up can drastically change your conversion rate. Also, testing payment methods such as Paypal vs. credit card, etc. These are all aspects of CRO that are important to keep in mind. If you need help digging into your site and make sure it is doing what you want it to do, give us a call and we can help move you in the right direction.
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