Your marketing is in order and your site is getting traffic. People are visiting your site but for some reason other numbers aren't really moving up. When this is the case it's worth taking a good hard look at your landing page - where people eventually end up after browsing your site and deciding that they like what they see.



You've successfully completed the hard part of funnelling people to this page. They will now either be spending money and buying your product or service, or they will be going back to their day to day lives. Lastly mentioned is what you don't want to happen. The old saying goes "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink". In this case, you can make it drink, "it" being the visitor and your potential client. If your landing page is a let-down, the horse simply won't drink.

Of course you want people to visit your page but you also want them to take action once they are there. You have to cater to the different types of personalities visiting your site. This might seem daunting but it's easier than you might think.

Elements that CONVERT

First let's look at a few basic elements that will convert your visitor to a lead.

1.Clear Call to Action:
Make it as easy as possible for visitors to take the desired action, it should be embarrassingly obvious. The page should highlight only one CTA as not to be distracting or confusing.

2.Offer:
An offer is what you give visitors in exchange for them taking the action. This could be anything from discounts and coupons to a free product trial. Remember, people like free stuff.

3.Narrow Focus:
The more choices people have, the longer it takes for them to make a decision, so keep it short and sweet. If your landing page is simple and tidy, visitors will take action.

4.Very Important Attributes:
Visitors will need good reason to take action. You have to present your most essential and impressive features in order for people to become interested.

5.Effective Headline:
You already have the visitor on the page but now you need to convince him or her to stay. You basically have a split second to do this and your headline is the way to go. Tell visitors, in simple and plain language, what you're all about.

6.Layout:
Keep your layout simple but striking. The most essential parts of your message should be visible and supporting messages should be placed lower down on the page.

7.Tidy Visuals:
Design your page so that visitor's eyes are lead to your CTA.

8.Social Proof:
People are inclined to place more value on things that others have already accepted. This is why many sites have a list of customers, press mentions, usage statistics and so forth readily available.

Types of leads

Now that your landing page is sorted out you have to decide how you are going to acquire information from visitors. Should you have only a form, contact number and email address or a combination of the three? We've come to realise that all of these are important to have on a landing page - you simply cannot do without one or the other.

People are different and have certain predilections when deciding to part with valuable information. Signing up to a site is a big commitment to most and they want to feel in control while doing it. Some like filling out forms, while others prefer a to-the-point phone call because filling out a form just seems like too much work.

• Form Fillers: Your landing page form should be kept short. Numerous studies have shown that the more fields there are, the lower the response is. Some people, however, like filling out forms because it is straight forward and tells them exactly what is expected of them it's organised. A form also makes the company's work load less because structured data is received that can be automatically managed.

• Emailers: Email addresses are important because of the people who don't like filling out forms or talking on the phone. There's always the hassle of being placed on hold or spending ages just trying to get through. Email addresses seem more personal than a form but still not as personal (and intimidating to some) as a direct phone call.

• Callers: There should be a telephone number on your landing page as many people want an answer when they want it - immediately. They do not want to wait for a response or a call-back. Calling a company for a quote or general enquiry is (usually) quick and simple.

• Live Chat: Instant gratification, without the hassle. If you have a live chat on your site people can get direct answers quickly, without having to spend time on the phone. Just make sure to maintain your chat system - there's no point in having one if there won't be any chatting.

Keep it simple

In essence, it is important to have all of the above on your landing page as it gives prospective clients freedom of choice when deciding how to move forward. Sound Idea Digital leads are made up of a balanced mixture of these different types of people and as such it's important to cater to all of them. So keep your landing page simple but make sure to tailor to the needs of ALL your prospective clients - you don't want to be losing your leads.


Carina Claassens is a Writer for Sound Idea Digital l carina@soundidea.co.za l Sound Idea Digital l www.soundidea.co.za