Blogs about landingpages:
Click Here, I've Been A Jerk to You.
I've fervently believed that using "click here to whatever" on one's links is always a terrible idea. After all, "click here" doesn't mean anything; it doesn't tell the visitors (or the search engines) what's on the other side of that link. "Click here" seemed to me to be a completely useless, lazy, and dangerous forerunner to mystery meat navigation. Even Jakob Neilsen said don't use it.
Recently, I've read an article that convinced me that I'd been unfairly harsh to "click here". It's still true that "click here" isn't appropriate for navigational use, or for informational pages. But landing pages have a completely different goal - getting the visitors to do one specific thing - convert.
When a web page has a specific goal, many of the general rules of web design don't apply. When on a landing page, users very quickly decide whether they are interested in the goal, and if interested, will try to do it. In this case, best to tell the users what you want them to do, and why they should do it. Being direct is generally quite effective, and there's nothing more direct than "click here to whatever".
"Click here", I hope you'll accept my apologies. I will be nicer to you in the future, and I pledge to remember that the actual goals of a website determine what user navigation (or herding) techniques are appropriate.
0 comment(s).
Permalink
When to Use a Split (or AB) Test.
Hey marketeers; here's a little blog on page optimization and testing. Are you wondering whether to do a split page test or a multivariate test? These are the situations where split testing is appropriate:
- A split test is the best choice for campaigns with a smallish volume of conversions - about 100 conversions or less per month. If you have more volume than that, you're wasting time by not testing all of the elements that a multivariate test would get you. You never know what will drive conversions unless you test.
- Page layout tests (multiple pages with the same content, but different layout and styling) are also perfect for split tests. Be sure to keep the content exactly the same between all the candidate pages, or you won't know which part of the winning layout was actually influencing the conversion rate.
All other situations really do call for multivariate testing. You can get a lot done by using multivariate (not full-factorial) testing.
Remember that any testing campaign should be run for a minimum of two weeks. Doing so is a critical step to smooth out traffic spikes due to the season and statistical anomalies.
0 comment(s).
Permalink
Superbowl 42.
It seems fitting that The Answer is also the universe's answer to Tom Brady. I had a great time watching the Superbowl. We really wanted the Giants to win; I much prefer the underdog story to perfection and alleged cheating. But it had been so long since our team had won that we thought we were cursing the teams. It was very exciting and heartwarming watching Manning the younger and his stunning defense shut down Pretty Boy Brady.
The ads were okay. No monkeys — not even a Trunk Monkey. There were only a few dot-come ads that stuck out to me. The Career Builder "Follow Your Heart" ad was very good. GoDaddy's implication that you might see some boobies if you went to their site was... odd. I'm not sure how large the crossover between Superbowl-watchers and domain-name buyers is. At this point, I think that Go Daddy keeps buying Superbowl Ads because owner Bob Parsons has a major bone to pick with the network censors. On the other hand, perhaps the strategy is simply to keep a reputation as the thought-leaders in domain registration. Lastly, there's SalesGenie. They dropped a few million on their ad last year, and did a couple ads this year. They've got a very confusing homepage - I keep thinking that they should get some landing page optimization from Widemile. But Salesgenie's already using Omniture, so I guess that's working out for them.
2 comment(s).
Permalink
Chance Pays Off.
Movie Gallery, which owns Hollywood Video and Game Crazy, filed for bankruptcy today. Almost a year ago was my last day working for Hollywood, where I was developing web reports for the Inventory Control. The company mood was concerned but optimistic back then, I guess things haven't gotten better.
Netfix is a tough opponent to beat, but I thought that the Moviebeam set top boxes were going to help Hollywood out. The initial price of $149.99 is too much for a consumer to pay. I'd love to do some landing page optimization on it, and test the offer, headers and call to action buttons.
Speaking of landing page testing, my current company is doing quite well. We've got a new pile of funding, and Widemile is hiring. We do really need to fill all of the positions listed there; though I'm most interested in getting the web developer position filled with an excellent candidate. Are you interested? Do you know anyone who is? Drop my name in your cover email. :)
0 comment(s).
Permalink
Pony Up Slackers.
Over in the left side navigation, I've put up a few new links recently. I'll be expanding the articles section with some of the techniques I've discovered in the future. But for now, I'd like to draw your attention to the "Free High Quality Icons" link - this will take you to my Icon Buffet Landing Page. A landing page is a webpage designed to drive visitor actions such as purchasing or signing up for something. This page contains several good elements designed to get you to sign up for the Iconbuffet service.
- I answer the visitor's question of "What's in it for me?" Free icons of course, for websites and applications; for favicons and branding. In any marketing call, it's important to remember that you must appeal to the visitor by solving one of their problems, not by
- One eye catching call to action - the giant 'click me' button. It's an orange button too; orange has consistently proven to out-perform other button colors.
- I answer a common visitor objection about too much email.
- I've even got an interactive slide show (some unobtrusive JavaScript, thank you) where the visitor can see what they could get by signing up. This is rather like when a car dealership mails you some kind of scratch off ticket. Any kind of action is likely to encourage the desired outcome.
- I repeatedly mention the price. (It's free.) Tom Peterson always got attention by saying "Free is a very good price."
I notice that I have made a few common landing page mistakes here - I'll have to address those in the future. Briefly:
- I should strip the header and sidebar. Visitors are like butterflies, easily distracted.
- Too much space is wasted by the header and sidebar. Hmmm... My call to action button isn't even above the fold!
You all had better sign up now. Seriously, I need the referral bonuses. Next week I'll bring on the guilt.