book

Landing Page Optimization For Dummies®

Name: Landing Page Optimization For Dummies®
ISBN: 9780470502112

by Martin Harwood, Michael Harwood

October 2009

Beginner

408 pages

9h 28m

English

For Dummies

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Copyright
About The Authors
Authors' Acknowledgments
Publisher's Acknowledgments
Introduction
About This BookConventions Used in This BookWhat You Don't Have to ReadFoolish AssumptionsHow This Book Is OrganizedPart I: Landing Page BasicsPart II: Building Landing PagesPart III: Getting to Know Your CustomersPart IV: Increasing Your SalesPart V: Driving More Visitors to Your SitePart VI: The Part of TensIcons Used in This BookWhere to Go from Here
I. Landing Page Basics
1. Introducing Landing Page Optimization
1.1. Introducing the Landing Page1.1.1. Understanding what a landing page is not1.1.2. The function of landing pages1.2. Choosing Your Landing Page Focus1.3. Identifying and Knowing Your Audience1.3.1. Web analytics1.3.2. Identifying customer expectations1.3.3. Identifying product benefits
2. Understanding Online Marketing Basics
2.1. Understanding Online Marketing Terms and Definitions2.2. Tracking Down Online Marketing Myths2.2.1. Myth #1: Build a great Web site or landing page, and visitors will come2.2.2. Myth #2: More visitors to your site translate into more sales2.2.3. Myth #3: The more content on a site, the better2.2.4. Myth #4: Offering a broad range of products/services on a landing page translates to more sales2.2.5. Myth #5: The right product/service will make me rich2.3. Understanding the Customer Life Cycle2.3.1. Acquisition2.3.2. Conversion2.3.3. Retention2.3.3.1. E-mail retention2.3.3.2. Newsletters2.4. Managing Your Expectations
3. Preparing for Your Landing Page
3.1. Developing Your Landing Page Plan3.1.1. Writing your business summary3.1.2. Market analysis3.1.3. Marketing and landing page performance goals3.1.4. Financial resources3.1.5. Your detailed financial plan3.2. Researching Your Competition
II. Building Landing Pages

4. Identifying Key Landing Page Elements
4.1. Working in the Fold4.1.1. Three fold secrets4.1.2. Must-have fold information4.1.3. Defining your resolution needs4.1.4. Testing your fold viewing area4.1.5. Checking out your competition4.1.6. Troubleshooting your fold4.2. Working with headings4.2.1. Placing your heading4.2.2. The secret to creating perfect headings4.2.3. Determining heading effectiveness4.2.4. Troubleshooting your heading4.3. Understanding Body Text Essentials4.3.1. General body text guidelines4.3.2. Avoiding text pitfalls4.4. Creating a Call to Action4.4.1. Keeping it simple4.4.2. Troubleshooting your call to action4.5. Using Images in the Fold4.5.1. Using animated images and videos4.5.2. Placing your image in the fold4.5.3. Image mistakes to avoid4.6. Creating Trust4.6.1. Establishing trust4.6.2. Common trust errors to avoid4.7. Using Eye Path (Heat Maps) in Your Design4.7.1. Identifying a heat map4.7.2. Heat maps as a marketing analysis tool4.7.3. Comparing current heat maps4.7.4. Doing your own heat map testing
5. The "Best Practices" of Landing Page Aesthetics
5.1. Enticing (or Repelling) Visitors with Color5.1.1. The nutshell overview of color wheels5.1.2. The vocabulary of color5.1.3. Selecting your color scheme5.1.3.1. Who's your target market?5.1.3.2. How long is the design expected to last?5.1.3.3. What message do you want your design to convey?5.1.3.4. What's the competition doing?5.1.4. Getting help online5.1.5. Being practical with color choices5.2. Attracting Visitors with Buttons5.2.1. Speaking with your buttons5.2.2. Pushing all the right buttons5.3. Choosing the Right Fonts5.3.1. Selecting reader-friendly fonts5.3.2. Managing font sizes and spacing5.4. Using Images to Focus Attention5.4.1. Sending the right message5.4.2. Directing with images5.4.3. Selecting images for your Web site5.4.4. Working with photographers5.4.5. Doing your own photography5.4.6. Using stock photography
6. Writing for Landing Pages
6.1. Introducing Landing Page Writing6.1.1. Writing for the Web readers6.1.2. Structuring your online communication6.1.2.1. Grammar6.1.2.2. Paragraph development6.1.3. Highlighting landing page hot spots6.2. Writing Controlled Content6.2.1. Stage 1: Planning6.2.2. Stage 2: Drafting to capture reader attention6.2.3. Stage 3: Revising6.2.4. Stage 4: Editing6.2.5. Stage 5: Proofreading6.2.6. Stage 6: User testing6.3. Developing Persuasive Content6.3.1. The ethical appeal6.3.2. The rational appeal6.3.3. The emotional appeal6.4. Writing the Three Key Landing Page Components6.4.1. Writing enticing headings6.4.2. Writing calls to action6.4.3. Writing a value statement6.5. Five Awesome Landing Page Writing Tips
7. Building Customer Trust
7.1. Developing Trust with Visitors7.1.1. Dealing with (cynical) realities7.1.2. The scourge of malware7.2. The Elements of Trust7.2.1. Using the correct language7.2.2. Incorporating trust words and phrases7.2.3. Protecting customer information7.2.3.1. Sample Client Privacy Agreement7.2.3.2. Securing personal information7.2.4. Using trust icons and logos7.2.5. Using testimonials and customer comments7.2.5.1. Using customer comments7.2.5.2. Using negative comments to your advantage7.2.5.3. Editing comments7.2.6. Adding content pages to build trust7.2.7. Using Terms of Sale and Terms of Use as trust tools7.2.7.1. Terms of Sale Agreement7.2.7.2. Sample Terms of Sale Agreement7.2.7.3. Offering return policies & guarantees7.2.7.4. Terms of Use Policy7.2.7.5. Sample Terms of Use Policy7.3. Placing Trust Elements in Your Landing Page7.4. Five Trust Building Tips7.5. Trust Element Checklist
III. Getting to Know Your Customers
8. Getting to Know Your Audience
8.1. Creating a Customer Profile8.1.1. Getting the information8.1.2. Pre-profiling your ideal customer8.1.3. Defining your customer demographic8.2. Market Segmentation8.2.1. Personas: Putting a name to the group8.2.2. Applying market segmentation and personas8.3. Establishing Your Customer's Surfing Habits8.4. Understanding the Customer Decision-Making Process8.4.1. Stage 1: Need recognition and problem awareness8.4.2. Stage 2: Product/service information search8.4.3. Stage 3: Evaluation of alternatives8.4.4. Stage 4: Purchase8.4.5. Stage 5: Post-purchase evaluation8.4.6. Taking advantage of the sales cycle8.5. Knowing Your Audience Checklist
9. Meeting Your Visitors' Expectations
9.1. Dealing With the Impatient Visitor9.1.1. A little more on bounce rates9.1.2. Tracking your bounce rate9.1.3. Bounce rate reduction: The top 10 list9.2. Keeping Customers Happy: Final Thought9.3. Creating Multiple Landing Pages9.3.1. The need for multiple landing pages9.3.1.1. Keywords and phrases9.3.1.2. Visitor demographics9.3.1.3. Education and occupation9.3.1.4. National and international9.3.1.5. Language9.3.1.6. Testing new markets and products9.3.1.7. Deals and promotions9.3.1.8. Ad types9.3.2. Creating effective multiple landing pages9.4. Advantages of Creating Multiple Landing Pages9.4.1. Building techniques for multiple landing pages9.4.1.1. Automated landing pages9.4.1.2. Creating manual landing pages9.4.2. Strategies for matching multiple landing pages to your advertising
10. Improving Customer Communications
10.1. Communicating with Your Visitors10.1.1. One-way communication10.1.1.1. Customer reviews10.1.1.2. Getting reviews ahead of time10.1.2. Limited two-way communication10.1.2.1. Surveys10.1.2.2. Using feedback forms10.1.2.3. Placing form elements in your landing page10.1.2.4. Pop-ins and pop-ups10.1.3. Full two-way communication10.1.3.1. Phone support10.1.3.2. E-mail communication10.1.3.3. Writing professional e-mails10.1.3.4. Tips when returning e-mails10.2. Using Forums
IV. Increasing Your Sales
11. Understanding E-Commerce and Closing Online Sales
11.1. Understanding E-Commerce Basics11.1.1. Reviewing e-commerce components11.1.1.1. Landing page11.1.1.2. Shopping cart11.1.1.3. Merchant account11.1.1.4. Payment gateway11.1.2. Fitting it all together11.2. E-Commerce Mistakes: Ten Ways to Lose a Sale11.3. Strategies for Closing Online Sales11.3.1. Create urgency11.3.2. Show confidence11.3.3. Remove obstacles to sales
12. Fine-Tuning Your Landing Page
12.1. Locating Five Problem Areas with Your Landing Page12.1.1. Checkout procedures12.1.2. Page presentation12.1.3. Page information12.1.4. Landing page technology12.1.5. Site navigation12.2. Getting the Information to Fine-Tune Your Landing Page12.2.1. Usability testing12.2.2. Focus groups12.2.2.1. Preparing for focus groups12.2.2.2. Surveys, forums, and blogs12.2.3. Tracking software12.2.4. Google Analytics12.3. Making and Evaluating Changes to Your Landing Page12.3.1. Using split-testing12.3.2. Split-testing with Google Analytics
V. Driving More Visitors to Your Site
13. Using Keywords Effectively
13.1. Reviewing Keyword Basics13.1.1. Benefiting from long-tail keywords13.1.2. Understanding the connection between keywords and search engines13.1.3. Searching basics13.2. Getting on the Right Keyword Track13.3. Picking the Right Keywords for Your Landing Page13.3.1. Step 1: Identifying a general short-tail keyword (and then expanding it)13.3.2. Step 2: Identifying associated keywords13.3.3. Step 3: Researching your related keywords13.3.4. Step 4: Putting it all together13.3.5. Step 5: Choosing your best keywords13.4. Placing Keywords in Your Landing Page13.5. Placing Keywords in Your Advertising13.6. Reviewing Online Keyword Tools
14. Understanding Search Engine Marketing
14.1. Understanding Search Engine Marketing14.1.1. Crawling, indexing, and sitemaps14.1.2. Deciding on your search engine focus14.1.3. Submitting an XML sitemap14.1.3.1. Third-party sitemap creators14.1.3.2. Submitting XML sitemaps with Webmaster tools14.2. Ranking and Search Engine Optimization14.2.1. Creating search friendly landing pages14.2.2. Using <TITLE> tags14.2.3. Using <DESCRIPTION> tags14.2.4. Content, content, and a little more content14.2.4.1. Keywords14.2.4.2. Headings and sub-headings14.2.5. Monitoring your HTML file size14.2.5.1. Optimizing images14.2.5.2. Link text14.3. SEO Checklist
15. Driving Traffic with Ads, Articles, and Other Tricks
15.1. Driving Traffic and Its Considerations15.1.1. Driving traffic comes at a cost15.1.2. Driving traffic precautions15.2. Driving Traffic When You Have Writers Twitter15.2.1. Finding gold in Q&A sites and forums15.2.2. Submitting articles15.2.3. Doing the blogging thing15.2.4. Tweeting and Twittering15.2.5. Social networking15.3. Driving Traffic Traditionally15.3.1. Using banner ads15.3.2. Running classified ads15.3.3. E-mail marketing15.3.4. PPC advertising and contextual ads15.4. Driving Traffic in Ways You May Not Have Thought Of15.4.1. Videos and rich media is everywhere15.4.2. Cross-linking15.4.3. Affiliate networks15.4.4. Picking up where others left off
16. Paying for Your Clicks
16.1. Introduction to the Inner Workings of PPC16.1.1. Changing forever how marketing is done16.1.2. Putting together the pieces16.1.3. Spotting PPC ads online16.2. Wrapping Your Mind around PPC Marketing Campaigns16.2.1. Stepping through the process16.2.1.1. PPC campaign provider16.2.1.2. Strategy development16.2.1.3. Management16.2.1.4. Tracking and reporting16.3. Being Realistic about PPC Marketing16.3.1. Seeing whether PPC really is an option for you16.3.2. Examining the pros and cons to PPC16.3.3. Watching your costs — a cautionary tale16.4. Using PPC for Testing Purposes16.4.1. PPC testing strategies16.4.2. The five biggest mistakes with PPC testing16.5. Where Can You Find Out More about PPC?
17. Running a Google PPC Campaign
17.1. Starting with Google AdWords17.1.1. Laying the groundwork17.1.2. Choosing between the Starter or Standard Edition17.1.3. The Standard Edition account structure17.1.4. Working within the AdWords interface17.1.5. Getting off the ground with campaigns17.1.6. Entering your first ad17.1.7. Adding keywords17.1.8. Taking care of billing17.1.9. Managing your campaign with AdGroups17.1.10. Using Google Analytics17.2. Using Google's Free Advertiser Tools17.2.1. Website Optimizer, a split-testing tool17.2.2. Using the AdWords Keyword tool17.2.3. Using the Ad Preview tool (and checking on your competition)
VI. The Part of Tens
18. Ten-Point Landing Page Inspection
18.1. Are You Effectively Using Audio Greetings and Background Music?18.2. The More Testimonials, the Better, Right?18.3. Have You Verified that Your Trust Elements Are in Place?18.4. Are Your Headings Crafted Carefully?18.5. Have You Removed or Explained Any Jargon?18.6. Do You Have Any Urgent Language on Your Page?18.7. Is the Price Right?18.8. Have You Conducted a Focus Group?18.9. Does Your Landing Page Look Like a Home Page?18.10. Is Critical Information Above the Fold?
19. Ten Surefire Ways to Increase Conversion Rates
19.1. Keywords, Keywords, and Keywords19.2. Be Up Front19.3. Use the Fold Wisely19.4. Develop Persuasive Content for Body Text19.5. Focus Your Efforts on the Customer19.6. User-Friendly Layout19.7. Spend Time on Your Headings19.8. Entice and Focus19.9. Be Visible19.10. Focus on Gaining Visitor Trust

Overview

Turn landing pages into profits with the right tools

Successful landing pages don't happen by accident, they follow a carefully crafted formula. If you want to convert visitors to your site into sales, it's crucial to understand how to design, monitor, and maintain your landing page. This straightforward, plain-English guide shows you how to cover all the bases-from the visual layout, to using language effectively, to linking strategies, and more. The book is packed with practical tips and techniques, it also identifies common mistakes and pitfalls you should avoid. The book features a valuable $50 coupon off the price of a site diagnosis and webinars on the author's website.

Discover the power of language and how to use it as a call to action
Start predicting customer browsing behavior
Diagnose current problems with your landing page
Create a unified marketing message between the search engine result and landing page
Examine common optimization approaches
Master specific tools for tracking results and follow strict maintenance procedures

If you want to make your landing page more appealing, this book provides clear, hands-on explanations and information that you can put to use immediately.

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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