How to Boost Your Conversion Checklist

websiteWhen it comes to online business, many people are always concerned about getting more traffic and a bigger list. But did you know there are many things you can do to start earning more money without any extra traffic or subscribers? This handy conversion checklist will help make sure more of your prospects say YES to your product offers.

 

 Website Layout

 

  • Keep Design Simple: The more information, ads, bells and whistles you display, the less likely your reader is to take action. Keep them focused on one topic and a specific conversion goal at one time. As much as possible, keep the items on each page relevant to the actual topic of that page. This generally means keeping a tidy side bar or not having one at all. For sales pages, you may find your best choice is to remove sidebars.

 

  • White Space: Give a generous portion of your web design to nothing at all…white space. Having a clean design and plenty of space in margins makes it much easier for readers to concentrate on your content and sales message and content.

 

  • Limit Navigation: It’s natural instinct to want to showcase all our great content and information, but excessive navigation simply causes confusion and lack of action. If necessary, use sub-categories to eliminate the need for large and complex navigation systems. If you are trying to create navigation that makes it easy for search engine spiders to make their way through your content, use a site map or place the more complex navigation at the bottom of the page, where it doesn’t serve as a distraction for your visitor.

 

  • Limit Outside Links: If you’re blogging and sharing content, that’s one thing. But if you’re trying to convince a prospect to purchase a product, don’t send your traffic away and avoid linking to outside pages.

 

  • Keep it On One Page: While some may abhor the 1-page sales letter, it is placed on 1 page for a reason and that’s reader retention. The more you ask your reader to click through or navigate through multiple pages for more information, the more likely they might just click away altogether.

 

contentCopy 

 

  • Use attention-getting, benefit-driven headlines: What is the one thing your prospect really wants from your product? Highlight that in your big, bold headline.

 

  • Subheadlines: Break up your copy further by using bolded subheadlines to show separate sub-sections of your sales page. It makes it easier to read and can grab the attention of someone who is scanning and about to leave your page.

 

  • Bullet points: Bullet points are also your copy’s best friend. Bullet points are easy to scan and read. Use bullet points to tap into the pain your prospect may be facing, illustrate benefits and more.

 

  • Write directly to your audience: When writing copy for a sales page, email or anyone else, imagine your ideal prospect on the other side of the screen. Say “you” and focus on your reader more than yourself. We all know Internet users have a short attention span, so it stands to reason, if you’re talking about yourself…they will just tune out. But if you’re talking to them and about them, they’re more apt to listen.

 

  • Know and continue to learn about your target: Even though we think we have a good understanding of our target market, there is always so much more to learn. Keep studying them, asking them question and tracking subjects and products of interest to them to grow your knowledge.

 

  • Include enough information to make a purchase decision: Sometimes we might worry about copy being too long, but it’s not length that’s important. It’s about providing enough information on your sales page that fully illustrates the benefits of the product, answers many of the frequently asked questions and even overcomes many of your prospect’s objections. Don’t be wordy as that’s not necessary…be useful and complete.

 

  • Be casual: Obviously, there may be some markets where a casual approach is inappropriate, but you’ll generally find that if you write how you speak, you can connect with your audience effectively. Avoid jargon in most cases and speak in plain old simple English.

 

  • Short, non-complex sentences, short paragraphs: Just as you want to avoid jargon, you want to keep your sentences simple and break up your paragraphs as well. Short chunks of text are easier to read, scan and grab the attention of your visitor.

 

  • Transitions: Keep your visitor reading through your sales page by including transitions between paragraphs and sections of your page.

 

Some examples of transitions:

 

  • And most importantly…
  • As you may already know…
  • As you may have noticed…
  • Aside from that, one thing’s for sure…
  • Bottom line is…
  • Here’s exactly why…
  • I’ll let you in on a little secret…
  • I’m sure you’ll understand…
  • In fact…
  • Just imagine…
  • Let me ask you this…
  • Let me explain…
  • The next step is…
  • Today, more than ever…
  • To prove it, here’s…
  • You’re gonna love this…
  • Power Words: Power words are part of an emotionally-charged language that is used to influence your reader. People react and buy with emotion, and these are words that help elicit emotion. They are often action words and create a mental picture for your reader.

 

Power words can be used everywhere in your copy. Here are a few examples:
  • action-oriented
  • advanced
  • all-in-one
  • amazing
  • breakthrough
  • complete
  • easy to understand
  • free
  • important
  • improved
  • latest
  • limited
  • low-cost
  • no strings attached
  • on demand
  • proven
  • responsive
  • save
  • time-tested
  • transform

 

  • Style Matters: Use selective bolding, italicization, etc to make text stand out. Strategically place images and wrap text so that they not only look aesthetically pleasing, but also draw the eye in and make it easier to read the text.

 

mediaExtras

 

  • Images: Use images to illustrate products. If they are virtual products, create virtual cover images or use other images that illustrate the benefits of the product. Images can create visual appeal, draw the eye in at key points of your copy and more.

 

  • Video: Whether it’s a slide show presentation, demonstration or you talking to the camera, video is everywhere. It can demonstrate things text can’t and can also create a more personal connection with your visitor who can see you as a flesh and blood person. If you’re using it with sales copy, test different lengths, but you’ll likely do well with a short introductory video that gets your visitor interested in learning more about the product.

 

  • Audio: Audio can also provide an introduction and create familiarity with your audience. Try a short introductory audio recording that invites your reader to learn more about your product.

 

analyzeTesting & Tracking

 

  • Track Your Links: Always track your advertising, email marketing and other links to your sales pages. Learn what works and what doesn’t…and do more of what does.

 

  • Split Test Your Sales Pages: Use split-testing software that allows you to test different elements of your sales page including headlines, offers, price and more.

 

  • Split Test Emails: Many autoresponder services come with split-testing capabilities as well. Test different offers and products with segments of your list.

 

  • Review Stats Regularly: Check your website statistics to see what pages people are viewing, where they are coming from and where they are navigating to. Review your link tracking statistics and results of your split test and adjust accordingly.

1 thought on “How to Boost Your Conversion Checklist”

  1. Very informative. This is a great guide for those who want to make an impression on their site and drive traffic to it.

    Reply

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