Review Landing Pages
One of the best converting landing pages you can create are product review posts. The visitors to this pages already have some familiarity with the product. Most will have found your site by searching "(product name) review" and want to make sure that the product really is going to solve their problem and is a good buy. Now it's up to you to push them over the edge and get them to complete their purchase.
Expert Advice
The image that you want to come across to the visitor is that you are an expert in the field. You know the products in the niche inside and out and can list the pros and cons for each. You need to spend some time on these landing pages so they look professional. Nobody is going to trust an expert who doesn't put the time into his review to spell check his work.
No Hard Selling
Hard selling on review pages isn't going to work very well. You have to soft sell by accentuating the positives and even pointing out that the product won't be a good fit for some people in certain situations. You do want to make sure that you add your affiliate link to several different points in the copy. No sense getting the visitor interested and have them leave your site to search for the product they want to buy because they couldn't easily click through to purchase.
Limit to 3-7 Reviews
You can either do a review of a single product, or you can do a comparison of several different choices. When comparing products, you should limit yourself to 3-7 different options. If you do fewer than that, it appears that you only know or researched a limited number of options. If you go with more than seven you will most likely overwhelm the visitor and see your conversion rate drop.
Rankings
A lot of affiliates arrange the products in order of commission percentage when doing a review page of several different products. They are thinking in the short term, trying to grab a small amount of additional money up front while not caring about the end user.
My approach is to do an honest review, even if that means putting the most profitable product last on the list. Your visitors will trust your opinion and be more likely to come back for your advice in the future.
Design Template
Again, make sure this page is clean and professional. You want to put your reviews high up on the page with a small amount of text, then have the longer copy below the reviews. This converts best. Someone wanting a quick answer doesn't want to have to read through a bunch of text to figure out who you are recommending.
Landing Pages
When you talk about search engine optimization (SEO) or Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising the term "landing pages" comes up quite a bit. So what exactly is a landing page? Technically, it is any page on your site that a visitor arrives at after clicking through on a link.
However, landing pages normally are targeted by the site owner as a place where you want your traffic to be sent in the hopes of either earning a purchase or capturing the visitor's information. Here are a few examples:
- PPC ads - The traffic you are buying is sent to a specific landing page depending on the keywords the user searched for.
- SEO - you are targeting your landing pages with your link building campaigns using the specific anchor text you want the page to rank for.
- Email Blasts - You send newsletters to your email list driving them to landing pages that are designed to encourage purchases.
- Organization - A landing page can be used on your site as a navigation tool to organize specific posts around a central topic.
If a user clicks through to your site then you have their attention, but only for a short period of time. Your landing page then needs to get them interested quickly in what you have to offer, build a desire in that offer, and then get the visitor to take your desired action.
The best way to use landing pages is to tailor them specifically to the visitor's desire. You need to know what the searchers issue, problem, or question is and why there are searching for it at this time. What do they expect to find when they click through to your page? You need to show them how you can provide the answer or solution. A quality landing page is very targeted and tailored to what the visitor wanted to find.
Homepages are not good for this. Only small niche sites are targeted enough to have a homepage tailored to specific requests. Generally your index page should be built to allow visitors to easily navigate to different sections of your site and will appeal to a more general audience.
Your landing page copy should drive the user to a specific action. Ask yourself "what do you want them to do?" This can mean a purchase but it doesn't necessarily have to be. You could also drive the reader to sign up for your newsletter, subscribe to your RSS feed, like your Facebook page, or follow you on Twitter. It is VERY important that you get some kind of response out of them so you can contact them for follow ups in the future. Buying traffic only to have it bounce off the page is wasteful and will have you leaving money on the table. If you can gain an email address from the visitor it is very easy to build a relationship with that person and continue to send them quality offers that you can make additional money off of over and over again.
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Effective Landing Pages
You have heard how great landing pages can be for capturing leads and increasing the amount of money you make online so you are ready to start writing. If you want to get the most out of your landing page then follow these best practices:
Testing
The single most important thing that you will learn is to test everything. If you read about a new trick online that increases conversions, DO NOT put it into place immediately. Instead, test it against what you are already doing. Some changes that you make will work out great, some need tweaked a bit, and others will leave you worse off than before. You know the only way you can be sure? Test everything.
Limit Navigation
You want your users to take your desired action. Visitors are easily distracted so you must keep them focused on your copy, visuals, and the offer. Menus and links give them a chance to leave your landing page never to come back again. Hide your site navigation on landing pages and increase the number of leads that you capture.
Deliver Value
Your landing page has to match up well with your visitor's desire. You should write in the second person (you) to make it clear how you can solve their problem, answer their questions, or benefit them in some way. The more you can demonstrate that you can do that, the better your landing page will convert.
Provide a Clear Call to Action
Tell the visitor what exactly you are expecting them to do. Do you want them to submit their email address in order to download a free ebook? Do you want them to purchase your product for x amount of dollars? Let them know, over and over again.
Keep it Short & Simple (KISS)
The form that you use to capture leads needs to be as simple as possible. You only want to ask for relevant information. If you ask a visitor for a phone number, they are going to worry that you are going to call them. If you ask them for their address, they will suspect you are going to send them junk. Generally speaking, the more information that you require from them the less likely they are to give it to you.
Additional Resources:
Hosting Landing Pages
If you are just starting out with Internet marketing then you are probably trying to cut down your costs as much as possible. One way to do that is by hosting your landing pages on Web 2.0 properties that are free. The alternative is to buy a domain and hosting account to set your landing pages up that. You won't see too many of the serious marketers using free sites because there are a lot of benefits to building up your own domain, but everyone has to start somewhere. Let's take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of using each.
Web 2.0 Properties
The best thing about using the Web 2.0 properties that are out there is that it's easier to get ranked in the search engines. These sites have tons of incoming links pointing to them, and millions of pages already indexed.
If you are using someone else's site then you are going to have to follow their rules, which means you might have limited options in the look of the site and if you can have an opt-in list. You are giving up some control in order to use their space.
Self-Hosting Sites
You can host your own sites for around $100 per year and with that you get complete control over the look and feel of the design. As long as you don't spam or do something illegal, you can pretty much do whatever you want. You can sell hard, make better use of images, and change the design of your site to increase your conversion rate.
If you have been to any of the free sites you'll notice that a lot carry ads on their site. You could have a great landing page created with an enticing offer and then off to the side there is a banner promoting the same product. If the visitor clicks through the banner and purchases you don't get create for the sale! That kind of thing won't happen if you are hosting your own site. Sure, you can still have the banner, but you'll earn every commission on sales coming from your pages!
I've already wrote about how important I think email marketing with a company like Aweber is. With free sites you don't get to include your opt-in forms, which means that if a visitor doesn't click through your links right away, they are lost forever. While getting visitors to buy the first time they come to your site isn't likely, getting them to opt-in to your newsletter can be. This way you can build a relationship with them, offer them something of value, gain their trust, and promote to them for years down the road! Imagine how much more money you can make per visitor that way.
The problem with self-hosted sites is that they are completely unknown to the search engines. You have to put a little more time and work in to building your site up so not only will it cost more to start, but it will take longer for you to start seeing a return. However, when you do start getting links to your site your authority builds and the longer your site is around, the more content that you post to it, the more traffic you will start seeing flow your way each and every day.
After weighing the pros and the cons, I hope you can figure out why I'm so big on owning my own domains. Sure, Web 2.0 properties have their place in terms of link building and traffic generation, but not for your landing pages. They are too important not to have total control of.
Creating Landing Pages
We've already talked about the benefits of hosting your own landing pages: complete control, building up authority over time, and starting a newsletter. Today we are going to talk about how you can get started with a landing page on your own site. It's not nearly as hard as a beginner would think.
The first thing that you are going to need is a domain name. A lot of hosts offer free domains if you sign up for a hosting account and while that can be nice, I don't want to be tied to a host any more than I have to be. For like $10 per year you can buy your domain at GoDaddy. See How to Pick a Domain Name for tips on coming up with ideas for your site.
WebHosting Provider
There are a ton of hosting providers out there these days. Some of them are junk and some are great. If you find something that is working for you, then you should stick with it. Myself, I use HostGator and have never had a problem so it's easy to recommend them to everyone starting their own site. I've tried others and seen my site go down, be slow to load, have problems with emails getting through, you name it.
Landing Page Templates
There are a lot of options out there if you are looking for free landing page templates. When you are looking through that list to find what will work best for your offer, just remember the effective landing page tips I offered and use limited navigation and a clear call to action.
Sales Copy
You have to make sure you are speaking to the visitor and relating to them. An easy trick to do just that is speak in the second person (use you or your). Get into their mind, address their worries and concerns, and quickly talk about how you are going to solve their problem. There are a lot of different ways to do this: testimonials, reviews, and videos are just a few.
That's it! Creating landing pages on your own domain is as easy as following the four steps outlined above. Of course, once you get started and visitors start coming to the page you are going to want to test, test, and test again to make sure you create the highest converting page possible.
Affiliate Product Reviews
I have had a lot of success making money online by writing reviews for products with affiliate programs. These pages are the probably the most common copy used for promoting products.
Make it Easy for the Visitor
Reviews are an easy way to save the visitor time comparing products that propose to solve the problem they are having by listing the positives and negatives of each one. You want to make sure you list all of the information that the person will be looking for when making a purchase decision. Make it clear to them how each product can help them solve their problem whether it be to save them money, time, or increase their overall happiness. If they read your review and still have questions, they are going to go looking for answers somewhere else without having clicked through your affiliate links.
Headlines
You have to grab their attention with the headline. The best way to do this is to put yourself in their shoes and describe their pain. Are you tired of feeling insecure due to acne, do you want to build muscle quickly, get rid of those extra pounds, whatever it is that your products do.
The Reviews
I have found that is works best giving a brief description of each product with it's positives and negatives. How well does it solve the problem? How much is the cost, customer support, and money back guarantee? Have a call of action as the last sentence of each review and at the bottom of the page itself.
Rank them in the order of the best solution to buy (actually use #1, #2). People will see right through your copy if you are just trying to push the one that offers you the highest commissions. Your analysis on why the top product is the best out there should be convincing enough that the visitor will purchase it even if it's the most expensive.
Limit the number of products on the page from between three and seven. You'll want to use the most common products in the niche, but you can also add a few of the lesser knowns as well to differentiate yourself from other reviewers.
If you can use images next to the products you are reviewing then do it. It breaks up the text and gives the reviews a more professional look. Just remember to link to the site from all images using your affiliate link.
Testing
In order to write the highest converting review page possible you are going to have to test any change you make. The metrics that you will have to monitor are your overall traffic to the review page and then how many people purchase after going to that page.
If you are using advertising to drive traffic to the page you will be testing changes in your advertisements in order to increase the number of people to the page. If you are testing conversion rates, you want to see how changes you make on the actual page increase or decrease the percentage of people that purchase after coming to your page.
Your goal when writing product reviews is to convert your visitors to buyers. You have to motivate people to purchase one of the products and to click through your link to do so.
Testimonials on Landing Pages
Adding testimonials to your landing page can be a great way to increase your conversion rates. Buyers want to feel validated when they make a purchase and testimonials show that others have bought the product or service and have been very happy with the outcome. This gives you social proof in the visitors eyes.
Credibility
A testimonial is an endorsement or form of praise from a satisfied user of your product. The trick with testimonials is that they have to be credible and believable so use the customer's own words. Even if there are issues with grammar, don't over-edit the piece. This adds a realism to the comments.
Full Identification
If possible, identify the buyer as completely as possible. A testimonial by Justin S. doesn't work as well as Justin Sage, Internet marketer from Clive, Iowa. If he will submit a picture, voice recording, or even a video that is even better.
Connection
You want your testimonials to connect with the visitor. The person offering the testimonial has had a similar problem and was in the visitor's shows trying to find a solution. If a customer overcame some kind of worry, it's great to have that in the testimonial.
For example, they didn't know if your dog training videos would work for them since they have a seven year old lab that has never had training, but the dog was trained really well after going through your program. That kind of statement is going to increase your chances of converting owners of older dogs who want to buy a training course but aren't sure if it's too late.
Be Detailed
Specific information works well. If you are selling an SEO product instead of having a testimonial that has "our traffic has made huge jumps" it's better to have something like "our traffic is up 432% since buying this ebook four weeks ago."
Work Into Copy
When placing testimonials into your sales copy, it's important that it flows within your content and accentuates your key points when you are trying to make them. This format obviously works best when your landing page is centered around one product, as it could be confusing to the visitor who is endorsing what if you are trying to sell multiple items on one page.
Ask for More!
If you ever get an email from a happy customer, ask them for a testimonial! They are in the perfect mind set to help you in return for the service that you provided for them.
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Free Landing Page Templates
Creating a landing page from scratch is no easy task, but luckily there are all kinds of sites out there that offer free landing page templates to site owners. I have compiled a list of a few that I think are worth taking a look at. Just remember that you have to find the one that works best for your offer and your site. Don't use a landing page that requires video if you aren't going to put something up there, that kind of thing. No matter which template you go with, keep testing it over and over again until you get your conversion rate as high as possible.
Landing Pages Using Text
Socialeers
An excellent free landing page for capturing leads.
Cash Revolution WordPress Landing Pages
Don't use these as your normal blog themes, but if you are creating a domain just for a landing page then this is an easy WordPress theme you can use that comes in several different colors.
Cash Revolution Clean Landing Pages
Nice and clean, simple landing page that can be customized to maximize effectiveness. Has a testimonials section, bullet points, and a clear call to action.
DotComPreneur
Not only do they put together a clean looking landing page with everything that you need, but this site also adds quite a bit of tips and tricks on landing page design.
FreshSqueeze
Can't be used for any kind of adult content, pirated or illegal software downloads, or anything insulting. Must keep their links in place, but it's easy to customize. I don't recommend allowing visitors to download your offer without giving you their contact information.
Michael Pehl
Not the best landing page in terms of capturing leads, you'll have to do some modifications to get it to work for that. It's a clean design though and would work for a homepage.
Strategic Profits
Kind of older looking, but I've used these and had decent results.
Jay Styles
If you are specifically looking for landing pages for: gaming, online dating, credit repair, anti-aging, or get cash now then he has five good looking templates.
LP Designers
Weight Loss, Fitness, and Dental are all free, but they come out with some solid packages each month that you can pay a small amount for.
Learning with Leslie
Several free landing pages all kind of centered on the make money online theme.
Landing Pages with Video
Albert Hollado
Nice looking video squeeze page with the Tweet button and lead capture form. The one I like the best.
Socialeers
Easy to use with YouTube and WordPress. They also have an older one available here.
Squeeze Page WordPress
Another easy to install video landing page theme. All you have to do is add the headline, copy, opt-in form, and your video.
Cash Revolution Video Page
A video squeeze page that looks really good. The only thing that I would change is that instead of a sign up button, you actually put your sign up form on that page to eliminate an extra step. Here is a list of 5 more free video templates from them as well.
Small Landing Pages for Popups or Mobile Sites
Cash Revolutions
These load fast so can be used where speed is essential.
Facebook Landing Pages
Orange Copper
Where "fans" will land at.
Mark Gould
Stylish, branded splash page to help boost fan conversion.