- By Michael Wright
- Published 10/30/2008
- Writing for the Web
Before you begin the attempt to build a successful list or create a powerful sales letter, you will want to start with a rigorous introduction to landing pages. In stark contrast to undifferentiated, unfocused home pages, sales letters focus specifically on capturing leads for a newsletter or making a sale for a specific product. They also minimize and reduce every other attempt to give visitors a different option. * Drive the reader to a specific goal you have in mind and don’t allow anything to distract the reader as they go down the path. Another word which is used for a landing page when it functions for the specific purpose of capturing leads is a squeeze page. A squeeze page is a page designed to get names and email addresses. Usually, however, a squeeze page is a smaller version of the sales letter and has an opt-in form in sight when the page has finished loading. It is important to recognize the fact that all successful marketers have tested and optimized their landing pages. There are proven formulas and patterns for designed to create action from a reader. There are also templates specifically for the sales letter and squeeze pages that follow the success formulas. I cover this topic in greater detail in part 10 of the Killer Sales Letter. Successful sales letters, no matter what style or purpose, all share a common attribute. They all convey a single point of action and avoid offering any other options. This is extremely important to remember.
The next most important thing to keep in mind is simplicity. The simpler something is, the friendlier people react to it. Try not to have a busy landing page. You want a nice clear presentation that isn’t packed with busy things. More often than not, while using the rul
e of simplicity, you will be removing content, pictures, links. Keep things clean, clear, and extremely simple. By nature, people love nice clean tidy areas. We don’t like busy. You should always do your very best to create a clean look and a simple open page. The more simple you can make it, the better off you are. Keep things a little more open and not crammed together. Offer visual space and keep the content flow organized and very simple. Use simple statements. Ask simple questions. Never produce anything complicated or confusing. People in general don’t like to make a decision, which means you need to instruct them as to what you want them to do. Sign up here! Download now! Buy Now! All the words you use make a difference and your content goal is to ultimately get the reader to take action. People are more likely to take action when they feel more freedom and a busy landing page don’t have that. The casinos raise their ceilings higher; because it gives people the impression they have room and space. It makes people more comfortable. They do this because statistics show people spend more money due to the environment. This principle applies to your sales page as well. Keep it simple and comfortable and you have higher success in directing your reader to the goal. We all love simple. Follow those two rules alone and you can increase conversion rates. It’s also possible to produce the best quality sales content and reduce your conversions dramatically, if you have a busy landing page that isn’t strictly focusing your reader on a single goal.
Determining which model will work best for you can simply only be done through testing. While many boast a conversion and attribute it to the shortness of their introduction (many will be one short paragraph), otherwise will boast a high conversion rate because they use lengthy, thorough, and compelling copy.
