10 landing page tips for turning visitors into customers

1. Tell them why they should buy from you - Clarity of your value proposition is the most important factor in determining whether a customer buys from you or not. Ask the question: "Why should I buy from this site?"
2. Keep them with with you - Protect your landing page from the #1 threat to conversions: site flow disruption. After identifying a unique and compelling value proposition, you must ensure that you express it throughout your sales process in a clear, consistent and compelling way. Eliminate site flow disruption to help maximize conversions.
3. Don't say too much - Don't clutter your landing page with unnecessary details. Instead (a) Clearly state your key message using few words as possible. (b) Use summary descriptions, sub-headings, bulleted lists and short paragraphs. (c) Adopt a standard one-column format for easy reading.
4. Make it simple - Improve the user experience with a site that is easy to navigate. A simple page layout that employs a clean visual and straightforward design is best. Here's how- Dos: (a) Design your site with clear hierarchy with color and contrast for easy legible text. (b) Use meaningful and high quality graphics (don't clutter) (c) Use breadcrumbs to let visitors know where they are on your site. (d) Employ a clickable logo that takes visitors to your homepage. (e) Use color to distinguish Don'ts: (a) Employ horizontal scrolling. (b)Direct links to new browser windows. (c) Have flash-based content unless required.
5. Call to action - Focus on one primary action per screen (don't stuff too many products onto one screen). Make the call-to-action button clearly visible without having to scroll; don't bury it under pages of information. Consider using tabs or pop-up box to consolidate information.
6. Get specific - Provide product details and a large product image while displaying incentives e.g free shipping and warranty information high on the page and close to the product. Don't discourage visitors by requiring registration to your site.
7. Flaunt what you have - What differentiates you from your competitors? Free shipping, discounts, 2 year warranty, price protection, privacy and security, customer service? If you have it flaunt it.
8. Search yourself - Make your site easy to navigate by helping potential customers find what they are looking for as quickly and easily as possible. A search feature box should be simple and visible with a type in-field, not a link. To help increase conversion, make sure your search results link to product pages.
9. Rally the believers - Credibility is a true testament: people don't buy from websites, people buy from people. Thus testimonials from devout customers persuades the doubting Thomases.
10. Let them make the choice - "Why should I buy this specific product?" Almost every e-tailer forgets about this, but it's the question that's key to the customer's mind. Prove to your customer why they should buy this over the competitor's by offering reviews, ratings and comparisons.