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.

Head, Torso & Long Tail keywords

In 2008 has been good when it comes to keyword research. The major search engines have started to opening up in providing insight into keyword search volumes and as a result there have been a couple of great tools that can be used for conducting keyword research.

• Microsoft has been beta testing their Ad Intelligence tool that communicates search volume based on MSN/Live Search data.


• Google added a new layer to Google Trends where they introduced normalized search volume numbers and made updates to their keyword tool


• Yahoo finally killed off the Overture keyword suggestion tool.
  

Improved tools and more accurate search volume counts should lead to better keyword research and it has, but there is still a strategy that is required for keyword selection. Over the past 12-18 months you've probably heard of the phrase long-tail, long-tail of search or long-tail keywords, well this is but one component of your keyword research that should make up your keyword strategy for your online campaigns.

Let's talk about the "keyword body" that make up an effective keyword strategy. This "body of keywords" consists of three parts; the head, the torso and the long-tail. Here's a little explanation of each component.

Head Phrases - these are more common key phrases that are more general in nature that may be used by searchers earlier on in their search experience. Due to the fact that these phrases are more general in nature you can expect to see a lot of single words that make up the head component of keyword strategy. As it relates to search, "head" words tend to have higher search volumes, are extremely competitive and have a lower conversion rate. An example of a head type word that a searcher might query in a search engine is "electrical".

Torso Phrases - torso phrases tend to be a little more specific and as a result are less competitive while still having a decent amount of search volume happening. Torso phrases tend to be better converting than head words as the searcher has refined their search looking for a more specific set of information. An example of a torso phrase that a user might type into a search engine is "electrical conduit", while it is not as general as "electrical" it is more refined and identifies a sub-topic of the head word "electrical".

Long-Tail Phrases - long-tail refers to phrases that are not nearly as common, are more specific and as a result have less search volume. The phrase "long-tail was coined by Chris Anderson in late 2004 to describe businesses that sell a large variety of unique items in small quantities. Long-tail has also been referred to as the 80/20 rule where "for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes...". When it comes to keyword research, long-tail keywords are those that tend to be very specific, consisting of 3-5+ words, are less competitive in the search results and tend to be higher converting. Using our example from above, an example of a long-tail phrase that a user might search for is "2 inch EMT electrical conduit". Youcan see how the long-tail phrases are more specific as the user gets close to making a more informed decision about their original topic of search.

Performing keyword research is more than just trying to optimize or bid on keywords that have high search volumes.

• It's more about optimizing for the right keyword at the right time.


• It's understanding that there is a need to optimize or bid on head, torso and long-tail phrases combined.


• It's determining when it's best to use a sponsored campaign to augment an organic one.


• It's understanding which phrases you target marketing are searching for as they prepare to make a purchase


• It's understanding that there is more to keyword strategy than simply bidding on keywords or optimizing keywords.

Keyword strategy should mean looking at head, torso and long-tail keywords and seeing what is right for you and what is right for the searchers who are looking for your website and your products or services that you offer.

Being Successful in e-mail marketing

Today's email marketing strategies and tactics have changed from a couple of years back. There's a lot more to a successful campaign than just looking at open and click-through rates. In this day and age it has become crucial for marketers to employ a well-rounded online marketing toolset, that includes everything from Web analytics to behavioral analysis of respondents to gain valuable insight into just how effective their email campaign is -- or is not.

To be successful in e-mail marketing here are the key components of your campaign:

1. Send
2. Analyze
3. Target
4. Resend

1. Send. Many marketers consider conversion the Holy Grail. If the email generates a lead or a sale, it's considered successful -- if it doesn't, it's considered a bust. But a lack of conversion doesn't necessarily constitute a failure. By using Web analytics tools that are tightly integrated with online marketing campaigns, users can examine key metrics such as visitors' average time on-site and campaign exit rates to understand where the conversion process needs improvement, and use those valuable insights in their follow-up campaigns. The first step in getting to marketing nirvana is to send, so marketers need to press the button, and then be prepared to refine their campaigns as they go.

2. Analyze. Analyzing data from email campaigns is the most important strategy for successfully improving email marketing. By taking a look at many metrics together, marketers will gain greater insight into the bigger picture of user behavior.
"Time on-site" measures the ability of a company's Web site to maintain visitor interest. It also indicates how well the site is meeting visitor expectations. If visitors are spending a reasonable amount of time on the site after clicking through, they've generally found -- and engaged with -- what they sought. Using average time on-site for "all visitors" as a benchmark, marketers can analyze the average time on-site for visitors that came in from an email campaign and can compare the two.
The Web can be a very transient experience. We may start in one place to purchase something but, as we all want to get the most for our money, it only takes a few clicks to move from store to store or to a review site to validate (or decide to rethink) our choice. That's why a higher than average time on-site is a pretty good indicator of interest.
If companies have large groups of visitors with high average time on-site but few conversions, they can examine their campaign and look for ways to create a sense of urgency and reason for quick action in a follow-up campaign - such as a 25% off coupon. Giving those lingering window-shoppers a catalyst to convert is key.
A campaign exit rate is a second effective way to gauge whether visitors' expectations have been met. For example, if an email message is sent out with a free shipping offer, the company's landing page should clearly restate the offer that got the recipient to click through in the first place.
If dealing with high exit rates, a first course of action should be to see how well the landing page reflects the promise made in your campaign. Using the same (or at least similar) graphics and promotion wording is a good start.
By analyzing average time on-site and campaign exit rate data, along with other metrics, marketers will be well on their way to adjusting and improving their marketing efforts.

3. Target. Segmentation is the key to gaining useful insight into any marketing activity, including email campaigns. However, segmentation can only happen if data is available to analyze for insights and trends in user behavior, which can then be grouped according to similar habits. Marketers need to focus on visitors who share common behavior when responding to a particular campaign, and in targeting future campaigns. Using Web analytics to segment campaign respondents will provide valuable information in formulating targeted follow-up campaigns.

4. Resend. The best advice to marketers is: Don't look at any one metric in a vacuum. Instead, take a holistic look at metrics -- including average time on-site, campaign exit rates, ROI, conversion, and visitor volume/response rate. Viewing key metrics together with the proper analysis will ensure an accurate picture of the value of each campaign and will enable marketers to achieve the best results when they refine and resend (but don't abuse your list).
Combining strategic email campaigns and utilizing Web analytics to analyze campaign metrics, marketers can better target and improve the experience for customers both in their inboxes and on their site. It's an important step, as the world continues its journey toward integrated online marketing.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

KPIs are:

1. a metric that an organization measures to help determine its progress towards a goal;
2. a reflection of the tactical performance of an organization;

It is important that as you manage your online campaigns that you are able to gauge success of your program by using KPIs here are some examples:

Percent Returning Visitors: percentage of retained visitors returning to your site
Cancellations: the likelihood your subscriber cancels their subscription through an unsubscribe form
Average subscription length - how long are users subscribing to your news letters or subscription based content?
Active subscriber base (based on different time weekly, monthly, etc depending on model)
Visits per month (or quarter or week).
RSS Syndication - how many people are subscribing to your feeds?
Blog Stats: (ie. Technorati, Digg etc)
Conversion Rate: the likelihood of successfully driving a visitor to purchase. You will need to track online purchase vs. offline as a result of visiting the site. The percentage of visitors that download white papers, sign up for mailings, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.
Cost Per Visitor: the cost of each site visitor to your business.
Average Order Value/Size: changes in the overall audience makeup and the affect on the online revenue patterns
Percent New Visitors: the number of potential new customers landing on your site each month. Are these visitors qualified? What stage of the buying funnel are they in?
Ratio of New to Returning Visitors: the ratio of new to previously acquired visitors as well as a measure of customer loyalty and repeat online business.
Page "Stickiness": the likelihood of successfully retaining a visitor who arrives at a key landing page
Customer Life Time Value: the likelihood that satisfied customers will tell their friends resulting in an increase in online/offline sales. This is more intangible and may be difficult to track.
Add/View Items in Cart: as well as cart abandonment
Effect on Offline Sales - how many offline sales were a result of an online engagement?
Unique toll-free numbers called
Store locator views - how many times did users visit your online store?
Order printout
Conversion Path Analysis: How are users converting on the site?
New Account Signups: how much time and money are these new account signups spending on your site?
Contact Us Form Completions: for products or services that are purchased offline and have an extended sales timeline, Contact Us Forms should be treated as a conversion
“Get a Quote” Requests: this can also be a conversion
1-800 Tracking: the number of calls to the (preferably unique) toll-free number listed on your site
Ratio of Leads to Close: the likelihood a lead will complete the transaction – this is an offline ratio
Length of Visit: the amount of time a visitor spends on your site in a given visit
Percent of Visits by Entry Page: measures the efficacy of your marketing messages at driving visitors to the site
Conversion by Campaigns
Ad Clicks: measures how successful your PPC campaign is; however, try to remember that CTR is not as important as Conversions/Click – I would rather have a 2%CTR and a 100% conversion rate because this indicates that my online marketing message is bang on; meaning I am driving both my sponsored and organic traffic to conversions
Site Abandonment
Information Conversion Rates: In this case a "conversion" would be something like the likelihood that a user will successfully locate the information needed
Percent of Visits under 90 Seconds: you want to make the site efficient, but not difficult to use. Measure the percent of your audience that is unlikely to have found the information they sought
Percent Returning Visitors: percentage of retained visitors returning to your site
Top Internal Search Phrases: not a KPI in the "traditional" sense, but very important to identifying new trends in support needs. Tracking which phrases users type into your internal search will help indicate what type of information they are seeking.
Videos/Podcasts Accessed: including technical support videos or podcasts
Bounce Rate: Exits from the first page that the user arrives at when they land on your site. A lower bounce rate is better.
Customer Satisfaction/Engagement Metrics: determine if the site is successfully handling problems and engaging the user in a successful site experience.
Ad Clicks
Exit Surveys - how many times has your "Thank You" page been served up?
Forum Logins - how many times have users logged into their accounts?

Identifying the proper key performance indicators can help ensure that you are accurately measuring what is important to your organization's bottom line.

Very Simple Keyword Discovery Process (VKDP)

A very simple 6 step process on how to come up with relevant keywords for your business. I will use KinConsult as an example in a question and answer format.

Step 1 – (Q) Describe the type of business you are in one word (A) eCommerce

Step 2 - (Q) Describe the type of business you are in two words (A) eCommerce consulting

Step 3 - (Q) Describe the business in any other words without using the keywords in step 2 using the following format:

a. Common synonyms
b. Similar (but not exact) or complementary services
c. Layman definitions
d. Other brands / providers / businesses

(A)

a. ebusiness services, online marketing, eConsultancy
b. E-mail marketing, affiliate marketing , online surveys, search marketing, PPC, social media
c. Internet business, online services, internet marketing,
d. Google, Yahoo, ebay, Amazon, constant contact

Step 4 – (Q) Where is the Geographical location of your business (A) USA, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda

Step 5 – (Q) Combine the geographic location with the keywords you came up with (A) Kenya online surveys, Kenya internet business

Step 6 - With the combination of keywords you have come up with plug them into a keyword generator. KinConsult recommends Google Keyword Suggestion

In summary steps 1 to 3 has enabled coverage of the most common and generic keyword and longtail variations based on definitions, alternative keywords, complementary keywords, brand keywords, and competitor name / competitor brand keywords. Step 4 & 5 of the Keyword Discovery Process ascertains the catchment area. Is the business universal, nationwide, regional or local. This then allows one to expand every one of the keyword sets with location combinations of a potential catchment area. Step 6 now allows use of common tools to expand on the keywords above and in a simple 6 step half hour process you have come up with a comprehensive list of keywords. Magic Huh!

Africa is discussing electronic commerce!

KinConsult believes the time for eCommerce in Africa has arrived. Find attached a very interesting article in the local dailies of Kenya where the Head of Delegation European Commission - Kenya is advising the tourism stake holders to embrace online strategies.

Kudos to those leading the discussions. However discussions are meaningless without execution. We at KinConsult believe we can provide practical solutions for eCommerce in Africa and setting up shop in Africa is an important strategic move for our organization. We are confident Africa is ready to embrace the online digital revolution. However there are practical questions as to whether the people in Africa have the infrastructure to support eCommerce. This may not be the case for now however investments should be made. It is time for organizations in Africa such as tourist board to take advantage of eCommerce and market their products and services to the West where the infrastructure is readily available. For example why invest millions of dollars in putting TV advertisements to lure tourists to Africa or spend millions of dollars inviting celebrities when you can simply invest in a simple online marketing strategy where you can get the most bang for your advertising dollars. This is an important message that we need to deliver to the stakeholders in Africa.

Please find below the link to the article given you can never tell how long the link will be available I have also pasted the full length of the article.

Link: http://www.eastandard.net/business/?id=1143987808&cid=14

ARTICLE:

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Adopt e-tourism, European Union tells players

Published on June 4, 2008, 12:00 am

By John Njiraini

Stakeholders have been urged to adopt e-tourism to market the country.

The Head of the European Union (EU) delegation, Mr Eric Van der Linden, said without the move to online marketing, tourism would be severely hampered.

"We must all take note of the new channels and opportunities to communicate our tourism products. If we lag behind in this area, other destinations will benefit at Kenya’s expense," he said.

Linden was speaking after opening a series of e-tourism workshops organised by the Tourism Trust Fund.

The four-day workshops are designed to aid the recovery of the sector that was most affected by effects of post-election violence.

Statistics indicate the sector lost a whooping Sh13 billion in the first quarter of the year, earning Sh8 billion, way below the anticipated Sh21 billion.

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A worthy cause using Paid Search Campaign

Distilled is running a PPC competition to help assist the victims of the cyclone in Myanmar. The task assigned is to create an ad copy that will drive traffic traffic to the world vision page. Distilled will bid for the keywords “Myanmar Cyclone Appeal”

Once you create the campaign you are supposed to post it on your blog and link to the distilled blog page. Now that’s a worthy cause:

On that note find Kinconsult’s entry:

Myanmar cyclone appeal
Make a donation now!
world vision will respond
http://www.worldvision.org.uk/

Distilled Blog: http://www.distilled.co.uk/blog/distilled/distilleds-big-ppc-competition-use-your-ad-powers-for-good/