First Impression is the Last Impression!
I don't know how many times I have heard this quote and how many times I have questioned it's validity. But all I know is that this age old saying certainly holds true for the Internet at least! How??
Well, your first impression about a web page, is a major factor in deciding whether you like a web page or not and how long you are going to stay on it! Although, one might argue that the impression of a page is totally an individual thing and is hence, respective in nature. But you will be amazed to know that you can actually guide some one's behavior on the Internet through your own actions!
This where the concept of Landing Pages come in. Landing pages, as the name suggests, is the page where your visitors "land" or first come to. Hence, this is one of the most important part of your whole marketing campaign, which can actually make or break it for you. I can bet, that a good landing page can easily double your sales (A conservative figure)!
Here are some good tips of what you should do with your landing page to create a good first impression about your website and the business.
1. Don't Sell - Guide: You shouldn't start selling your products right away on the landing page. This will make your visitors feel that you are running only after their money. Instead, guide them! Touch their pain points and then guide them how to over come it.
2. Have a clear and definitive call for action: This is a major problem with most of the landing pages I have seen. They don't have a clear call for action. I have read the whole thing and yet, I don't know what to do next!! Another problem is that sometimes, we try to sell all of our ideas at place only! Your landing must ideally have only one definitive call for action.
3. Use bullets, headings and sub-headings: I have often seen webmasters write long articles with boring first paragraphs, which promises to make me a millionaire over night! I mean if they have that trick with them, why aren't they millionaires yet!! The moral of the story is, don't use heavy concepts / ideas and don't write them in long paragraphs. Use short, concrete points using bullets, as far as possible.
4. Browser Compatibility: You should always check your landing page for browser compatibility as IE and Safari are not the only browsers prevalent in this world. Their are others popular browsers like FireFox (My personal choice), Chrome and Netscape.
5. Loud Designs: I often find people choosing a website design which is shouting out loud that it the creative bull dog of a, so called, talented designer! Who is interested in the website design?? (Unless you are a design company yourself ;) ). Designs should always compliment your site's content and the usability and not hamper them!
6. Proper navigation and a link to the sitemap: The first fold of your landing page must always have a proper and user-friendly site navigation and a link to the sitemap. This will help those in a hurry to quickly make their way to the page / information, they are looking for.
These are the few, very basic tips of how to work on your landing page. But trust me, it demands more attention than what I have provided! Thus, I strongly recommend that go through the following as well for more details about the landing page:
Copy Blogger
Google Adwords Tutorial
Clickz
SEOmoz.org
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