Happy New Year to everyone, despite the fact that the year has just started it may prove to one of those pivotal years. I feel that during the course of 2008 the Internet is gong to see a lot of changes and whilst that is true of every year, now a large economic shift is underway.
The sales on the Internet are going to be huge this year. However sales are changing, a quarter of India's youth are online connected through Orkut who has more than 8 million users in India. Now that represents some spending power. The twentieth Century was the golden age of America but the Twenty First Century is definitely going to represent the golden age for Asia.
However whoever is spending the money a good lading page is imperative. A landing page is the page that your consumer will arrive at, once he has been directed to it from an e mail, a promotional site, a newsletter, or of course a search engine. Any means that you are using to promote a product or a service should direct your client to a landing page.
If you have planned your campaign correctly by the time that your client reaches a landing page he should have been informed of the benefit of the product, however that does not mean that a landing page should not inform. The more pertinent your information the more certain the customer will be that this is the correct product for his uses the more likely he is to buy. There is nothing magical about this formula, it is not nuclear physics. The customer will have a few lingering doubts when he arrives as to whether the product does what it says on the tin or whether or not it represents value, it is your job to push your client into buying. if you fail that is an opportunity lost for a sale forever.
1. Make the internet More Sensual!
When a customer is in a shop they can feel a product, be aware of its texture, because it is their hand. Demonstrate the potentialities and all of the functions of the product you are promoting. Never leave anything to the imagination, because that will lose you a sale. Stimulate the customer's desire and need for the product.
2. Every Customer is An Individual and Each and Everyone of them will Approach your Page with a different Agenda.
Everyone processes information differently I would never waste my time looking at a video, others would never read the test, whilst others may be visually impaired and prefer an audio format. Present your information graphically, visually and with audio as well as text. If all of this is too much trouble then get yourself another job.
3. Increase the Perceived value of your product, By Dangling a Carrot
When I say make the perceived value higher I do not mean I can sell this information for twenty times this, you clearly cannot, other wise it would be on sale at that price. Add other offers free of charge. If you are selling an e book about dog training, add a free e book about home made dog food, Training your dog not to be aggressive. Research your keywords carefully here and dig into a niche. For instance the e book you are selling is about training dogs, but certain dogs have specific problems. Find the keywords that the consumer is looking for when they are searching. Make sure that your research is accurate, there is no guesswork here at all. your giveaways here do not have to be full e books but fifteen pages should be about correct.
4. Repeat Your message.
If you do not think that repetition is necessary, how many of these tips do you actually remember? I rest my case!
5. Increase your Credibility.
In theory is you have used your product research correctly linked your blog, to your sites, whether they are on Squidoo or hub pages or your own pages, the customer should be primed when they reach your landing page. However your customer is not falling over themselves to give you money. Reinforce the facts, if your product offers more say so clearly and succinctly. Make clear you are aware of competition and give something away even if the product you are offering is not yours. Dangle that carrot again. if you have nothing to give away them make a separate web page and write up a series of reviews on compatible products.
6. Minimise the Element of choice, make the customer make a decision to buy or not.
if you give the customer a choice the chances are that they will leave your site confused not knowing whether the product is right for them. Make them choose to purchase or to leave forever and not to purchase. This can be achieved by a limited offer, it may be an extra giveaway, for a limited time or a discount. the important thing is to reinforce the sense of the offer being limited.
7. Reinforce the Problem Solving Aspect.
Force the customer to acknowledge that this problem will solve an immediate problem he has now. Not next week but know explain why the product solves the problem, you can use testimonials here. It is my view that they are of limited value, however opinions are divided on this point.
8. Assist those that have never paid before on the Internet
If you are promoting someone else's product choose products that give as many payment options as possible. Not everyone has a credit card, some countries do not accept Paypal. Also even if you promoting someone else's product offer to talk them through paying on the Internet. There will be many consumers for whom there first transaction is your sale. Never underestimate that fact.
9. Reduce the Risk.
Many people may not be nervous about spending money even though they have paid out money many times over the Internet. Give a guarantee that what they are buying does what it says on the tin is not enough, give them something more such as a full refund in eight weeks.
10. Have More than One Landing Page.
First of all create your page and wait until it has had a number of visitors, say three hundred and fifty. Have a second page ready that differs in one detail. Take the first page down and analyse the results from your tracking. After the second page has been up and received the same amount of visitors then take that down and analysis the results. Make your third page reflect the lessons you have learnt about which converts into the most sales.
It goes without saying that your page should be perfect, free from grammatical errors, typos and anything else that will put a customer off.
