So, you’ve made the decision to start selling online? There are several factors to consider. You’ll want to make sure your website provides the best user experience, includes engaging content and offers sales pages with the kind of products customers might enjoy. But there is one additional factor that is perhaps the most crucial: e-commerce landing page optimization.
Without e-commerce optimization, how can you ensure that your pages will improve over time? The answer, of course, is that you can’t.
What is a landing page?
If you’re running an e-commerce store, ‘landing page’ is a phrase you will hear often. The term refers to pages that appear when a visitor arrives after clicking a marketing link from an email, search result or social media.
An advertisement generally contains a small number of words, structured in a way that will persuade a user to click a link. A landing page expands on this information, offering more in-depth information about a product or service. Landing pages usually focus on driving a single user interaction, such as signing up to a mailing list or making a purchase.
These pages are extremely important. A good landing page holds a user’s attention and helps to drive conversions.
Want to improve your landing pages? Here are eight optimization tips that will set you on the right path.
How do you measure the success of your landing page?
Once you have created a landing page, you’ll want to know how well it is performing. There are a number of metrics you can track, but the most important is bounce rate, which indicates how often customers leave your site after viewing only a single page. The goal is to reduce the bounce rate and increase the amount of time users spend on your site.
Bounce rate is extremely important to determine the effectiveness of your landing page. With bounce rate google analytics, you can obtain this data easily. Sign up to Google Analytics ASAP to gain more knowledge about your website. And from there, keep the following pointers in mind.
1. Remember your audience
The one indisputable requirement of your landing page is that it must appeal to your audience. If it fails to attract the eye of your customers, it will fail. If you want to succeed in business you need to know your target audience inside and out. This means you should be familiar with the kind of content they enjoy and are likely to respond to.
Is your audience from an older demographic? This will alter the language and media that you should use to appeal to them. If you feel there is room to become better acquainted with your audience, there are several methods that you could use. Surveys, for example, are a free and easy way to find the information you need about your customers.
Creating a generic landing page is never the best approach.
Instead, create multiple pages, each personalized towards different sections of your audience. This helps to ensure a higher conversion rate and the maximum chance of success with your landing page.
2. Know your objective
What do you want your landing page to achieve? Will it be designed to make sales, or to convince a customer to complete a form? Your e-commerce landing page strategy will probably include forms of all these pages, but which should you prioritize? If you only have a small audience, a sign-up page might be a good place to start.
List all the elements within your page that could help you to reach your objective. With a clear plan from the start, you are much more likely to design an effective landing page.
3. Write exciting copy
The goal of your landing page is not to provide every single technical detail and paragraphs of descriptions to your customers. Instead, it should allow them to create an instant connection and trust with your products or services.
They should be able to see how an item or service could improve their day-to-day life. If you’re encouraging a user to sign up for a newsletter, your web page should explain to them in the shortest number of words possible what they stand to gain by subscribing.
As well as convincing, your copy should be well-written. Check and double-check to make sure there are no spelling or grammar errors. If you lack experience in writing persuasive content, it’s a good idea to bring a copywriter on board.
4. Optimize for all platforms
Today, mobile users make up nearly 55% of all online traffic. Yet despite this, many websites are still not yet optimized for mobile users. For a landing page to be effective, it should provide a high level of user experience regardless of the device a user visits from.
A simple test is to visit your landing phone on your mobile device. Is it easy to access, and does it run smoothly? If the answer to either of these questions is ‘no’, then your landing page will need optimizing.
If you want your business to succeed, your entire website should be optimized for mobile users. Google penalizes websites that do not offer mobile users friendly experiences.
5. Use a strong call to action
The call to action (CTA) is arguably the most important element of a landing page. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, a CTA is used to encourage a user to perform an action. Examples include ‘sign up’, ‘subscribe’, ‘learn more’, and ‘try for free’.
When putting together your landing page, ask yourself, ‘what would entice my target audience?’. Your CTA should be persuasive and convey a sense of urgency. The CTA button itself should stand out. Choose brighter colors that will be noticeable to users.
Don’t forget that the main purpose of your landing page is to persuade a user to make a conversion. This means the CTA should be the point of focus for users. Try to keep the number of exits and navigational points to a minimum.
Of course, after a customer has clicked your CTA, you’ll want to make sure they can purchase a product easily. If they encounter glitches or find that an item is out of stock, they may go elsewhere.
If you use the right shopping cart software, you can ensure that customers have an easy checkout experience.
6. Include a video
When visiting a landing page, customers need to feel a strong level of trust before performing a conversion.
To achieve this, you need to provide enough information to convince a customer that your product/service is for them. As we’ve maintained, you should not include too much text, as this can deter and repel a customer.
A video provides an excellent solution to this. The success of video marketing cannot be disputed: 78% of marketers claim that videos have helped them to improve sales.
Like text, videos should be short and snappy. Choose a narrator with a clear voice, include images where necessary, and add music for further engagement. Ensure that you hire a professional editor to avoid awkward jump cuts or other editing-related mishaps.
7. Be consistent
Consistency is an important part of your brand image.
Your overall color scheme and design should be consistent across all platforms. When a customer sees your colors, they should immediately think of your brand. Does your website use a black and white color scheme? If so, your infographics, posters and other forms of advertising should match.
Alongside a clear and professional design, your landing page should be consistent with your brand image. Every element of your landing page should be of the highest quality possible. We’ve already explained that this means good quality writing, but it also means clear images and a well-designed layout.
8. Provide proof
Increasingly, more and more people are turning to reviews to learn about products. A recent study found that 90% of 18-to-34-year-olds use reviews to influence their purchasing decisions. At the same time, people are relying less and less on product descriptions when deciding which items to buy.
While it might sound problematic, this fact can also be used to your advantage. If your business has been established for several years, it will probably have received customer feedback and been mentioned on social media already.
All of this can be used in your landing page. Think favorable customer testimonies, images of customers with products, celebrity or influencer endorsements.
To maximize your chance of receiving strong customer reviews, make sure you provide high levels of customer support. IVR can help support this (IVR is automated speech recognition software that allows customers to be connected with the right support teams).
Your landing pages are essential
Want to increase sales on your site and boost conversions? You’ll need a landing page. It should look professional, filled with exciting copy, and be optimized across all platforms. The 8 steps outlined here can help you to achieve that.
An ecommerce landing page is not the only factor important in the building of a successful online store, but when building your website, don’t its importance. If you apply the right amount of time and attention, you’ll reap the rewards, raise sales, and maximize conversions.