Landing pages : Targeted sales makers

Via Blog Business Business World

Website landing pages are often one of the most neglected sales points for many website owners. As a result, thousands and even millions of dollars worth of sales are lost. The potential customers and clients often never return to the site. Like the sales, they are gone forever.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Targeted landing pages are a powerful tool to increase a online business’s sales conversions. Turning even a few extra visitors into paying customers or clients, can mean a substantial increase in the company bottom line. Instead of wasting the click throughs to your website, put them to work for you, and increase your business revenue.

As everyone is aware, the landing page is the entry point on a website where a visitor reaches from an inbound link. That link could be from an e-mail newsletter offer, a paid or free advertisement, a pay per click or sponsored listing, a blog link, or even from another page within the website itself.

Of course, any specialized to an offer landing page is superior to having the potential customer enter through the site home page. All too often, however, that conversion opportunity is wasted by weak marketing copy and unfocused content, on the landing page itself.

The importance of landing pages

E-mail marketers have long known the value of creating a specialized landing page to receive the click throughs from a newsletter promotion. As part of the process, a unique new web page is created that repeats the offer to the prospect, and carries through to the final sale closing. The page’s only purpose is to sell the product or service highlighted in the e-mail newsletter.

Most e-mail newsletter editors understand, after countless attempts, that the site home page is not the best place to send prospective customers. The page is simply too general, and is not focussed directly on conversions to paying customers. The home page is more of an introduction to the business in general. The landing page is a targeted sales page. That’s the difference.

The uses for a targeted landing page are not limited to e-mail marketers. Specialized sales pages should be utilized by every serious internet marketer. The ways to use the landing page are virtually unlimited. In fact, almost any incoming link can be aimed toward a page, especially designed to convert any visitors who click to it.

Even more emphasis should be placed on the landing pages for pay per click programs or from paid advertisements. Obviously, because every paid ad or click through costs real money, the onus is on the website owner to ensure as high a conversion rate as possible.

It’s strange to see many pay per clicks land helplessly on a site’s home page. Instead, the link should be to a targeted sales page, specifically selling the product or service being offered. The conversion rate of a sales page should far exceed that of almost any homepage.

Help the landing page make conversions

The purpose of the landing page is to sell a targeted product or service. Nothing else. For that reason, the page should be focussed strictly for sales. It should not be treated as a general visitor introduction page.

The language and content of the page, especially if reached from a newsletter offer or pay per click, should have only the goal of conversion in mind. Stick to the product or service being offered. Don’t bring in peripheral topics. Save them for their own targeted pages. Keep your eye on the sales prize.

Write the sales copy to lead the prospect directly toward becoming a paying customer. Throughout the page, provide hot links to the shopping cart or order form, as some people will reach their buying point earlier than others.

Take advantage of that buying tendency, and make it easy to buy, at the point when the prospect is ready. When a new product benefit is introduced in the copy, it should be accompanied by a buying link.

Be upfront about the benefits of purchase, while being entirely honest about the price, and about the shipping and handling charges. Avoid surprises at the shopping cart stage, as they could scuttle the sale.

Assure the prospect that their purchase is fully guaranteed. Don’t be afraid to provide a complete money back guarantee. Very few people will request it, and the reassurance of standing behind the product will create vastly more sales than will request a refund. The numbers favor a strong money back guarantee.

Conclusion

Stop throwing away precious advertising and pay per click dollars, and losing potential sales from your e-mail newsletter by sending the customer to the site homepage.

Create a well written, marketing oriented landing page for receiving the click throughs.

Your business bottom line will thank you.