Bay Area Inbound Marketing Blog

Best Practices for Thank You Pages

Posted by Justine Burt on Thu, Nov 17, 2011 @ 02:24 PM

Thank you pages provide an important follow up to your landing pages. Your offer on your site’s landing page was so appealing that your visitor filled in her name and email address. What’s next? Optimize your thank you page so you can move your visitor further down the sales funnel. Here are four best practices for optimizing your thank you page.

  1. Give clear instructions about how to receive the giveaway – Whether you are offering useful content, a webinar or free products, your visitor should be able to gain access to this content easily. Allow her to click a link to receive the e-book or start watching the webinar. Make sure they can get the offer immediately. An email with an attachment may take a while.
  2. Make another offer – Your visitor has filled out her contact information and is interested. On the thank you page, make an offer for something else she might find useful: another offer or a link to your blog.
  3. Restore navigation – On the landing page you took away navigation so the only option the visitor had was to fill out your form. Now, you should restore the navigation so the visitor can view other parts of your site.
  4. Offer social media – Place social media icons on your thank you page to give your visitors the options to follow you on Twitter, “like” you on Facebook or folllow you on Linked In.

Your visitors have arrived at your thank you page because they are interested. Optimize your thank you page so you can deepen your relationship with them.

For inbound marketing consultants that will drive traffic to your site, capture leads, and nurture them towards sales....email Laurie@bayareainbound.com or call 510-543-7593 mbl.

To download our free whitepaper that will give you more tips and tricks, click the button below:

Get Your Free Copy of: "6 Stepsto S

Read More

Tags: Social Media, thank you page, landing page

Successfully Collect Contact Information on Your Landing Page

Posted by Justine Burt on Tue, Nov 15, 2011 @ 02:36 PM

Some website landing pages that ask for your contact information make you feel comfortable giving your personal information and others do not. Why is this? Here are five tips you can use to create effective landing pages.

To move your website visitors down the sales funnel from detached visitor to engaged customer, you need to offer value and inspire trust. Your landing pages can help you do this. Here are the basics.

  1. Post a clear headline – Visitors should be able to understand what you are offering within a few seconds. The headline should include the title of what you are offering, whether it is an e-book, webinar, white paper or free demo.
  2. Offer them value – Your giveaway should provide information visitors will find valuable and position you as an authority in your area of expertise. In order to gain access to that e-book, webinar, white paper or free demo, your site visitors will need to give you their bare minimum contact information. A landing page that asks for a first name, last name and e-mail address will allow your sales staff to follow up on what they learned about your expertise and offer them more value.
  3. Minimize distractions on your landing page – Avoid buttons that allow the visitor to navigate away. Your landing page should explain the offer, ask for contact information and give the visitor a call-to-action button that takes them to the valuable item you offer. Two examples of call-to-action buttons are “Download Now!” or “Send me a free trial.”
  4. Use an image – A relevant and interesting image that reinforces the benefits you describe in the text will pull viewers in.
  5. Reduce anxiety elements – Placing a link to your privacy policy next to the box asking for their e-mail address is an element of a landing page that reduces friction and helps convert your site visitors to leads.
Read More

Tags: Inbound Marketing, landing page, grabber headline, value

Top 10 Tips For Landing Page Optimization by Bay Area Inbound

Posted by Laurie Monahan on Mon, Nov 07, 2011 @ 07:50 AM

Effective landing pages have one goal. They move the user to fill in the form with their contact information and push a button in exchange for gaining access to a white paper or other downloadable content. If they do this, then it is considered a successful conversion. Landing page effectiveness is measured by the conversion rate of the page. What percentage of total visitors to the page fill out the form and click the button.

What follows are ten sure fire tips for Landing Page Optimization.

1. Who is your target prospect?
Who is the target prospect for this landing page? Who is your offer aimed at? What are the common challenges and pain points for this buyer? Your landing page should be written with that target in mind. The copy on the page needs to speak to them and motivate them to want to download your content.

2. Keep it where they can see it…
Lay out the landing page so the user can see all the content without having to scroll down. If you can’t do this, at least make sure you can see the entire form that must be completed and the button to be clicked are where the user can see them without scrolling. Of course this includes the heading.

3. Use no more than 5 bullets
Bullets make it easy for the user to scan the text and visualize what they will get with your offer. Keep it short and concise so they will quickly understand why they should accept your offer and click on the button. The bulleted sentences need to describe things that the prospect wants or cares about.

4. Keep the Headline Simple and Include a Call to Action…
The headline is likely the first thing the visitor will read on the page. If your headline is unclear, many people will hit the back button on their browser. Keep the Headline simple, make it action oriented and use a verb that clearly states what you want the reader to do. You should be able to tell what the offer is by reading the headline. Embedding a call to action in the headline improves conversion rates.

5. Optimize the Page for Search Engines (SEO)
Each page must be optimized for Search Engines. This means doing the same things you do to optimize all pages of your website including research and select a keyword for the page. You need to insert that keyword into all six locations including: URL, Page Title, Meta Description, Meta Keywords, Page Header (H1 and H2), and Page Text at least once, preferably twice.

6. Include an Image that Relates to Your Offer
Include an image on the page. If you are offering a whitepaper or ebook, show the cover and maybe some of the other pages. You probably want to include text above or below the image text that says “Download this 15 page e-book on (your product category).” This makes the offer that makes your offer more tangible and helps reader better able to visualize what they will get when they click the button.

7. Keep the Input Form Short
Keep the number of fields required to fill out the contact information to a minimum. Studies show with each additional field that you add to the form, the conversion rate for the landing page decreases. If you are requiring a telephone number or email address, be sure to include a statement about your privacy policy and how their information will not be shared.
8. Limit the Navigation Options
Keep the navigation options to a minimum on your landing pages. You want the visitor to do one thing, fill in the form and click the button. So why display a menu to take them to other pages on your website and risk distracting users who land on this page? Do not include your regular menu. If you feel compelled to offer a way back to your main website, make it a single button. Keep it simple.

9. Don’t Overlook the Label on the Button
Avoid labels like “Submit Now” or “Click Here” on your button the user has to click. HubSpot, a marketing automation software company, conducted a study that revealed that landing page buttons that are labeled “Submit” have low conversion rates. Instead use action words like “Download Now” or “Get your e-book today”.

10. End with a Sense of Urgency and Call to Action

End each landing page with a call to action like “Get your definitive guide to Inbound Marketing today.” Add urgency by using words like today or now in your calls-to-action.

For more help with your landing pages, give us a call at 510-543-7593 or email: Laurie@bayareainbound.com.

For more tips on Landing Pages and the Results you can expect, download our free whitepaper by clicking the Call-to-Action below:

Get Your Free Copy of: "6 Stepsto S

Read More

Tags: Bay Area Inbound, calls-to-action, landing page