This is a guest post by Harry Maugans. While I am away I will be accepting guest posts. Email them in html format to jeremy at shoemoney.com. We ask they be original and not published anywhere else.
It’s possible to make a lot of money in arbitrage, but some small mistakes could cause you to lose a lot as well. The most critical pieces in arbitrage are your landing pages, and this post will try and help you smooth out the rough edges and increase conversions through a few simple psychological tips.
Direction – Give the visitor a clear sense of direction to move forward. Landing pages should only have one exit… text boxes to be filled in for the close. Giving too many choices or options will subconsciously be processed as “work” and the visitor will try to find a quick way out… usually closing the window. You can always add more options later, but on the first page, try to get the user to fill in anything just to move forward, even if it’s just an email. After the visitor has entered any information, they’re now engaged in your process and are much more likely to hang around and finish the rest of the forms on the next page, rather than sacrificing the time they have already spent with you. The K.I.S.S. principle definitely applies to landing pages.
Verbiage ñ The wording your landing page uses is key in motivating the visitor subconsciously to engage in your process and be converted as a lead or sale. When writing landing page text, always keep an optimistic tone and assume every single visitor is going to be converted. Furthermore, never ask the user for information- politely instruct. Rather than, “Will you fill out your email address below…” try “Please fill in your email address here:” or simply say the text “Email Address,” followed by a textbox. Also, positive reinforcement of your campaign can be twisted into instructions well, such as “Email address of a future millionaire:” or “To half your mortgage, enter your email here.” The most important aspect of the wording is the optimistic tone. Rather than saying “If you decide to participate in our program…” try this assumed-conversion wording, “When you begin participation in our program….” See the difference? A small change, but very psychologically powerful.
Color Schemes – Choosing the color themes on your landing pages is very important as well. Usually, try to match your product’s color (ie, green for money, pink for female products, etc), however if in doubt, go blue. Studies have shown the color blue is powerful for subconsciously encouraging the mind to engage and buy whatever is being sold. It’s professional, relaxing, yet provocative. Obviously a blue page won’t guarantee conversions, but it’s a microscopic change, that when bundled with others, will add up and could turn the scales.
Animation – Flashing buttons, moving arrows, glowing text, fading pictures… animation sells. In normal web development animation is avoided, however for a landing page, it’s a night and day difference. When a visitor sees a static flat landing page, they feel no rush or excitement. If they see motion, they’ll less often dismiss the window as an advertisement and close or minimize it. It’ll grab their vision and actually force their mind to process what it’s seeing, before making a decision to dismiss or continue. Now, animation can grab their eye, however without properly directing their vision, it’s wasted. Either use the animation to strike a chord of interest in your topic (pictures, headers), or use it to help the visitor find direction (point 1) by using arrows to highlight the entry point in the conversion process (textboxes or what-not). Be cautioned however, it is possible to use too much animation and seem unprofessional, or drive off potential customers. The trick is finding the balance where its just enough to catch attention, but not so much that it’s overwhelming.
Harry Maugans is the co-founder and lead developer for Desktop Nexus
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September 4, 2009 at 7:22 am
Thank you for this post, I was in two minds as whether to add a static page or animations. I think simple animations are the way forward.
August 5, 2009 at 11:27 am
Landing pages are hard. Just when you think you understand you find the page you’ve just sweated over doesn’t convert worth squat. Thanks for this advice, would love to hear more on this topic.
December 23, 2008 at 12:18 am
Thank you for the advice! I think my page could use some animation.
July 23, 2008 at 11:02 am
I don’t like animation. Every time I see animation, I know there’s a scam, and something to be sold.
July 17, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Very useful post. Psychology is definitely very important when it come landing page conversion
July 14, 2008 at 8:39 am
I suck with landing pages, mine never convert. There is an art to it and I am no artist apparently!
July 12, 2008 at 2:32 pm
In other words…its a fine line between clever and stupid!
July 12, 2008 at 7:33 am
Enjoyed this fresh perspective very much! Keep them guest posts coming please!
July 12, 2008 at 7:32 am
That is the commonly accepted norm, but we must realise that our target audience is continually being fed by ADD types from the bottom, and bells and whistles appeal to them, which in conjunction with increasingly faster and cheaper broadband is rendering this argument obsolete.
July 12, 2008 at 7:27 am
Agreed! Some interesting perspective on boosting conversions here! Goes against the grain of the commonly accepted norm, does make loads of sense however. Some tricks to go and try on a trial site.
July 11, 2008 at 5:41 am
I do not know, I love animation on the site. However, animation must be in the measure.
July 11, 2008 at 1:51 am
Animation and flashing lights are generally considered no-no’s by most webmasters, however the casino effect could well impact positively on optimising conversions. Something that begs exploring….
July 11, 2008 at 1:47 am
Welcome Harry, and thanks for your post while Jeremy is in absentia. Refreshing to get a new writing style and information from you. Hope to see more in future. Have visited your site too, and given you a StumbleUpon thums up and review. Cheers!
July 11, 2008 at 12:09 am
Great tips! Thank You!
July 10, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Yes, I agrre and also the page that conain a lot of animations requierd more time to load and that may force your visitor to leave! So I try as much as I can to avoid animations and graphics.
An advice from me: Keep it simple.
July 10, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Interesting, not sure about the animation as they irritate me on websites.
July 10, 2008 at 6:24 am
Quite an interesting post! Motion on pages really grabs much attention (I experienced that!)! I haven’t thought about the importance of using special colors – special thanks for this tip!
July 10, 2008 at 1:36 am
It a very interesting tips! Write more!
July 10, 2008 at 1:20 am
Great article for newbies. If you want to go in deeper on this subject then I will recommend The Landing Page book from sherpastore which costs a lot but also is very good
July 10, 2008 at 1:00 am
Those are some great tips. I’ve heard them before, but it never hurts to validate others’ ideas. Thanks.
July 9, 2008 at 10:22 pm
thanks for your article.it is very useful.Thanks again.
July 9, 2008 at 2:58 pm
yeah, your right, pretty weird! lol.
July 9, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Thanks for the tips!
July 9, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I read the post and enjoyed it even though I nearly started laughing at the part about people considering clicking on links as “work”. It is funny how the mind works.
July 9, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Well thought out and put together write up. Thank you for your perspective on landing pages. Besides your home page landing pages are obviously the second most import part of your website layout, imo.
July 9, 2008 at 11:24 am
The bigger trick is knowing your audience. If you’re selling to webmasters those flashing gimmicks will annoy them, but to someone clueless about web design they actually do draw attention to the right places quickly.
Ever product and every site has unique challenges imo.
July 9, 2008 at 10:37 am
Great post! Really helpful for newbie affiliates like me!
July 9, 2008 at 9:26 am
Good tips and advices for a perfect landing page that convert 100% ( Never exist )
July 9, 2008 at 9:14 am
I just had my site redone and i think it needs to be redone again after reading this. I think the title bar/picture header should only be an inch, maybe an inch and a half so users can see content. However mine is about three inches deep. Color choices are interesting. I see shoe has blue background and he’s successful, though not only because of the color of his background.
July 9, 2008 at 8:40 am
Considering that I’m spending a lot of time right now reading up on effective landing pages and trying to get into the affiliate marketing, this article was quite helpful! Thanks Harry!
My only thing with landing pages that I don’t understand is that they all tend to look exactly alike and people claim they are “highly effective.” It seems that if all of the offers look exactly the same, more people would walk away from them?
July 9, 2008 at 8:26 am
Nice post and some useful
info about landing pages!
I really need to make better (better to say new, this one is just plain text page) page for advertisers: http://www.makemoneytalks.com/advertise/ , what could i include on such page? Traffic, PR info, what i write…