How to Write a Landing Page (or Micro-Site)A landing page, which is sometimes also called a "micro-site," is a special web page specifically designed to sell a product or a service. It takes great skill and knowledge to write a micro-site because it violates all the rules for neath, short, fast web writing. A good micro-site has no fluff. The only choice left to you is either to buy the product or click and go to somewhere else. There is a good reason why landing page copy is usually pretty long: the potential customers demand it. We all love to be convinced and sold something, no matter how vehemently we deny it on the surface. Why? Because we have needs that we want to meet. We have issues and problems that we’d like someone else solve with that product or service. But while doing that, we’d also love to be convinced that we are doing the right thing and ordering the right stuff; that this magic thing will actually work as advertised. We are ready to be vowed, impressed, and seduced. But we won't give the vendor the satisfaction of an easy win. We want the vendor to go to hard work at winning our patronage. That’s why we’ll just sit back and challenge the vendor to make his or her point. That’s why in a microsite not only we are ready for long-winded arguments and testimonials, but we actually demand that. That's why top Internet marketers routinely use landing pages with copy that run thousands of words. Five or six thousand word copy is not unheard of. I've once seen a landing page published by a famous publishing house which ran over 11,000 words, all printed on a single (and very looong) web page! So keep that in mind that if you are writing a microsite, brevity is not the rule. (More about this later on.)
1) Provide visual and content unity between your landing page and the message or link that led the reader to that page. For example, if you steer your readers to your landing page through an email or Google AdWord ad copy, then the copy of the email invitation or the ad should be identical to the header of the page. Otherwise the visitors may think they have landed in the wrong spot and leave. For example, if your email message reads "Click here for Our New Fall Collection at 25% Off" you should repeat that message at the top of your landing page as well: "Our New Fall Collection at 25% Off". If the page instead starts with "Welcome to the Best Collection of Ann Smith Jackets and Shirts" the visitors may be confused and question themselves if they've clicked on the correct link. The studies strongly recommend a continuity between the landing page text and the text of the link that leads to it. The visual continuity should extend to the images used and color palette as well if you are sending HTML email. The visitors should feel that your invitation is truly a part of the landing page itself. Otherwise your conversion rates will suffer. 2) Provide a catchy title with a bold BENEFIT CLAIM, presenting a unique, specific and useful offer. The benefit claim cannot be false but it needs to BOLD all the same or else, why should people read it? You need a hook to grab their attention right away. 3) Share your credentials as a person of integrity and accomplishment. Don’t hesitate to flaunt your track record here, especially if it’s a prominent one. Don’t forget, people will buy your product; that much is true. But they will buy it from YOU. So if they don’t like you, if they can’t trust you, they won’t trust and buy your service either. Don't forget to include your photo to personalize the message. Sell yourself before you sell the offer. 4) Provide a folksy and unpretentious copy explaining both the FEATURES and BENEFITS of the offer. Copy text should be presented in easy digestible chunks under easy-to-read subheaders. Provide a bulleted lists of features and benefits. 5) Provide testimonials, the more the better, singing praises of your product/service. Photos, videos and sound files are great. Real names and locations are even better. Provide proof or evidence that the promise works. 6) Provide an ironclad no-questions-asked money-back guarantee. 90-day guarantees work the best. The more expensive the product, the longer must be the guarantee period. A well-known web-site editor vendor, for example, offers 365-day money-back guarantee. 7) Ask for the order. Don’t forget or be shy to do that! Place multiple "Buy" buttons all along the copy, offering multiple chances for the reader to take action. Mention a deadline on the offer to create a sense of urgency. Offer a Free Bonus to rewarding immediate action. 8) Don't forget the all-important Post Script! Did you know that Post Script is the most-frequently read part of any letter after the Title? A landing page in essence is nothing but a long web letter.
People new to direct marketing are a bit reluctant to send long letters for fear of "boring" their prospective customers. And that sounds like a valid point indeed in this day and age of soundbites, short video clips and lightning-fast music video editing. A lot of consumers have very short attention spans. However, there are also a lot of vendors making serious money by sending really long sales letters. For example, I've received one from the "The Daily Reckoning" group, a subsidiary of Agora Publishing from Baltimore, MD. The letter is for selling Steve Sarnoff's option trading newsletter and it is exactly 7825 words! Seven thousand eight hundred twenty five words, including not one (P.S.), not two (P.P.S.) but THREE (P.P.P.S.) Post Scripts!!! So if your message is good, if you have a lot to say to convince your prospects, if you need room to display your wares and advance logical arguments that use a lot of empirical data, feel free to write as long a landing page copy as you want. More sophisticated and well-informed people than you might believe actually do read all that to make up their minds, especially in the financial newsletter sector. Here are the TOP 7 SECRETS of a great landing page, regardless of the word count: 1) Personalized content (unpretentious language, photo of the vendor(s), real mailing address at the bottom, etc.) 2) A unique, useful, irresistible offer. 3) Proof of the claim or promise made in the offer. 4) A deadline on the offer. 5) A reward for taking immediate action on the offer. 6) A foolproof click-easy way to place an order which is repeated multiple times throughout the copy. 7) Testimonials of satisfied customers.
Did you know that almost 50% of people who visit a landing page leave it within 8 seconds, and over 60% of the landing pages fail to "create visitor engagement", according to a recent Forrester Research survey? Here are four suggestions to improve the conversion rate of your landing pages, provided by Sue Chapman , director of merchandising solutions at Mercado Software, and Brian Beck, CEO of Broadspan Commerce: 1) Make it easy for the visitor to find the product and buy it. Do not make the customers fill out an information form on your landing page. For retail stores, present the products with good visuals and limited text. Reflect the latest availability or sale information right next to the products. 2) "Create targeted merchandising zones." Group products by collections. Use banners. Create dynamic pages with real-time updated information for first-time visitors, search keywords, best-sellers, etc. 3) When you are using a keyword-search ad (like Google AdWords), test and see what the customers are actually seeing. Sometimes customers are served irrelevant search results that do not maximize your chances of getting a clickthrough visit. Identify the "long-tail" keywords and fine-tune your strategy. 4) Provide as much information as necessary to keep your visitors clicking and moving deeper into your web site. Such additional information may vary from privacy notice and various disclosures to shipping information and consumer reviews.
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