I want to try something different for this post by making it more of an informal online brainstorm. I’ll pose a topic and a few primary questions, then open it up to comments.
The more people that interact with their opinions, the better the post will become and I’ll re-incorporate them into the post as we go.
Social media is no longer the next big thing, it’s just simply an interaction medium that proliferates all aspects of online life. As such, it will naturally begin to infiltrate the discipline of internet marketing. How this happens is yet to be determined. There seem to be a few toes being dipped in the water, but it’s a little early to get a clear picture of where it’s headed and what’s been successful thus far.
And so, I have some questions:
Today’s guest post is a conversion optimization case study by Kevin Kaiser from Surety Bonds. In my last post I referenced their lead capture form as a good example of how to keep your CTA above the fold on a lead gen landing page. Kevin discusses how he optimized a primary conversion goal – to have more customers complete a lead capture form to receive a quote.
Over to you Kevin.
Many people approach their web marketing strategy mainly as getting people to their site. They take for granted that once a visitor gets there, the visitor will do exactly what they want them to do.
Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. A complete web marketer realizes that you need to tell people what to do when they get to your site. Â The rest of this post will explain some of the things I performed on SuretyBonds.com to help increase conversions by 27%.
In the spirit of failed New Year’s resolutions, I’m writing this post 11 days after the fact. We all do a miserable job of living up to our personal commitments, so I figured a few new business goals might be in order to get your marketing campaigns off the proverbial couch and into the gym.
It's time to whip that 2009 marketing stomach into fighting shape!
As an added incentive, I’ve decided to get you to sign a completely non-binding contract with yourself.
All tips are appreciated. Here's 544 ways to make you landing pages convert more effectively.
Optimizing your landing pages or website to perform better is a no-brainer, but if you’re short on time or resources then it helps to have a bag full of tricks to kick things off.
The collection of links below brings together over 500 tips on conversion rate optimization and landing page improvement.
Naturally, there will be some repetition of the core principles, but it’s a good idea to read the perspective of several experts when forming your own opinion.
Click me, squeeze me! Go on, I dare you.
Inspired by a conversion tip from our friends at Wider Funnel, where they suggest that BOB – the Big Orange Button – is an overtly clickable button color, I thought I’d talk a bit about what the web is doing to help improve marketing’s most important element – the Call To Action (CTA).
Buttons on the web have always been a bit lame, forcing designers to find creative ways to improve the customers’ level of click desire.
Well listen up, cos it’s all about to change. Sorta. Kinda. Perhaps in a little while.
Or right away if you use the Safari web browser (sadly I don’t – I’m still a Firefox lover).
HiPPO's are big and powerful, and hard to argue with. Use the diplomacy of an A/B test to solve the corporate version of a family argument
The HiPPO I’m referring to is the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion. Typically the voice of an uncreative senior management type that likes to ask if you can “make the logo bigger”.
Sitting around a boardroom table with a giant projection of your latest design or web page splashed across the wall. Conjecture and opinion fly – generally in the face of conventional wisdom or plain old common sense.
You argue back and forth using your most experienced and educated insights to nullify the stupidity – hopefully mixed in with some examples of previous campaigns where a certain idea didn’t work.
Uncovering the ever-elusive magic bullet.
I have been optimizing websites from a business/sales perspective for about 8 years, and about a month ago, I finally made that “Magic Bullet” change most people look for when optimizing their sites. Its rare to change a word and double your conversion rate.
I’ve done it on landing pages, emails, and micro-sites, as well as for site “micro conversions” (improving one piece of a larger process, such as a form) but to increase end conversions on a complex eCommerce site with a single word change, without spending a dime or increasing targeted (paid) traffic, this was rare and worth sharing.
Download our free white papers and reports for some bedtime conversion optimization reading.
Download our free opinionated guide to landing page conversion.
Using Twitter to enhance, promote and measure your landing page campaigns.
