Want to Improve Conversion Rates on Landing Pages? Lower the Points of Friction
We encounter friction every day. It can be beneficial or create problems. I’m grateful for the frictional force when driving and I want to stop. Alternatively, friction causes engine wear and lead to decreased performance or shortened life of your car engine.
Your landing pages exert friction on your visitors and prevents pages from converting at a higher rate. The more points of friction on your landing page, the lower the conversion rates.
If your landing pages are not converting, consider Difficulty Based Friction and Length Based Friction. In this post I will review sources of Difficulty Based Friction and offer recommendations for overcoming this frictional force to improve your conversion rates on your landing pages.
Difficulty Based Friction
Difficulty based friction results from the aesthetics and layout of your landing page. These points of friction make it difficult for your visitors to understand what they will receive or how they benefit from the offer. Here are four sources of Difficulty Based Friction:
1. Eye path
You have seconds to make an impression on your visitor. They will decide almost immediately if they will read further or bounce off your landing page. It is the same with your landing page.
Does the layout make it easy for your visitors to readily track what your offer is and to quickly learn how they will benefit?
Is the layout clear and aesthetically pleasing?
Most people ready left to right, so if your form is on the left hand side, it may not convert as well if it is on the right.
2. Button Design
The button Design will have an impact on your conversions. This includes both the color, design and text used. A poorly designed, difficult to read or bland call to action button can result in low conversions.
Text can also be a point for friction for your call to action button. Phrases like Download Now, Submit, Click Here, may not convert as well as Reserve My Spot, Yes, Send Me My Information, Help me Save Money Now.
Be creative with text and make the call to action about your visitor. Use the call to action button to reinforce what they will be receiving and how it benefits them.
3. Organization of Content
How your content is laid out is critical to increasing conversions. Your visitors need to quickly understand what the landing page is about, what it offers and the value proposition your present. If it is not clear, poorly laid out and not clear with the “What’s-In-it-For-Me principle they will quickly bounce out. M
Make it easy to read so they understand and what your value proposition. Use the headline a sub-headline to convey what they will receive and how they benefit. Use 3-4 short key bullets about the benefit your offer provides. Your goal is to generate enough interest and value to them so they fill out the contact information and receive your offer.
4. Flash Video
Video can be great on a landing page, but not if it is poorly done, does not work or causes our landing page to load slowly.
Polish the Landing Page and Reduce the Friction
Here are some tips for improving your landing page to reduce Difficulty Based Friction and increase your conversions:
- Make sure your content is logically laid out
- Your value proposition and how the visitor benefit should be conveyed in the headline, sub-headlines and in 2-3 short key bullet points. This should be above the fold.
- Use great and compelling images that convey your offer. It is scientifically proven that individuals more quickly process images than text.
- Be careful with wit and sarcasm. Not all your readers have the same sense of humor as you or understand the meaning behind your message. In many cases wit, humor or sarcasm can turn-off or even offend your visitors.
- Finally when developing and designing your landing page, consider the Buyer Persona the page is targeted at reaching. If you do not know what a Buyer Persona is, you can go to my blog post: Developing Your Buyer Personas to learn about them.
- When trying to connect with more than one buyer persona consider setting up other landing pages that will appeal to your other buyer persona(s) by changing the headlines, sub-headlines, content or images.
- When you implement some of these suggestions, please share your success with us. We would love to learn how our recommendations allowed you to increase your conversion rates and result in increased sales for your business.
