Landing Pages-Conversion/Sales

Recently I read the book Landing Page Optimization by Tim Ash, great read if you are interested in creating a website that converts, but it got me thinking a bit deeper into my own ideas and examples for landing pages. For most people reading this article, you probably know what you want your website to do, and work non-stop to find new ways to get your visitors to convert (or take one specific action). Conversions can happen in so many different forms it’d be hard for me to even attempt to explain how they differ in the actions you should take on your Landing Page, or mission critical pages. I would; however, like to voice my opinion on some things that could help make your landing page a bit more user friendly (remember, this advice is worth what you pay for it, but in all reasonable ways I believe it makes sense).

When designing your landing page there are a few issues to keep in mind from “jump street”. Issues like; what the end action you want this user to take is, what information you want them to retain when they leave, should you be seeing multiple purchases from this person, would you rather them buy multiple low cost items or one high price item, how can you use this users information to create more revenue in the long term, just to name a few. I think one of the most important things to remember is that if a viewer doesn’t feel comfortable they will not be likely to purchase from you. To remedy the comfort issue you COULD create individual landing pages that will gain their trust based on marketing form (ie. women would feel more comfortable with certain language and images then men would). However when you drill down and need to get your main sites landing page I think it’s ok to assume you are marketing to everyone (within your targeted realm of the internet). So if you are marketing to every person who is in the “market” for your information/ product you might assume that certain issues affect everyone, such as: the economy, the weather, etc.

If looking at how the economy can effect peoples decision making it’s an open and closed case. Right now most of the people out there are going through rough times, either lost their job or are walking on egg shells not to. Comforting them into feeling as though you aren’t going to break their wallet, and that you understand their pains will make them feel like they aren’t the only ones and creating that sense of belonging is very essential to performance. My main message in this section is remind most of you of something you already know, to stress the issue of belonging. If you visited a website and felt out of place, you would be MUCH more likely to leave that webpage and go back to your google search (most likely where they came from) and go to the next advetiser in hopes that this website will see purchasing the way you see it.

My example of weather just fits into the psychology of people. We all realize that marketing isn’t easy and that there are thousands of different forms of media and designs you can use to create comfortable atmosphere for your clients. However, one thing that I’ve seen getting overlooked is seasonal changes. During certain times of the year people are looking for different items. For example, you might want to take that nice jacket off the featured items list come June (if you are marketing to the majority of the US population at least). We can even take that as far as saying that the emails you run, banners your create, and keywords you bid on SHOULD be different judging on the time of year.

In a nutshell I believe that when creating a landing page there needs to be a decent amount of time and effort spent on making the visitor feel like they belong, and when promoting your website try to update based on as many factors as you can as time changes (holidays, weather, economic issues, popular fads, etc.). I think just by using those forms of insight you might be able to add some success to your daily routine because I feel like those two issues sometimes get lost in advertisers trying to sell too much. In times like we are seeing now we have to be very aware of social issues and adapt to the end users, don’t make them adapt to you. Most of these points can be found in different vernacular in the pages of the book I mentioned above, this was simply my blabbing about some things I’ve noticed along side of that information.

Student loans…

I would like someone to help me figure this out…

I am in a fortunate situation, I am not one of the thousands of people who have a college degree and cannot find stable work. That being said I am still not happy about the fact that my generation is finding ourselves in one of the worst situations yet. Yes, the economy as a whole is not as bad as it’s been in the past. For the most part there probably aren’t too many recent college grads that are living on the street, or waiting in the soup line to be able to eat. However, I would like to express that when America was going through the Great Depression the college grad rate was MUCH lower. So now we are being told that in order to get a good job, you must have a degree. In order to get a degree we are having to put ourselves in MASSIVE debt (not just tuition, but credit cards to be able to buy groceries while going to class full time, because there just are not enough jobs in college towns to employ everyone who needs the help). 

Am I saying not to get a degree? Absolutely not! I learned SO much in college and feel like I spent some of the best years of my life getting my education; however, it’s a known fact that up to 80% of college students leave their school with debt up to $15,000. 

So basically, what it all boils down to is this: We have to go to college to get a “good job”. So we do, we go to school and take on a sizeable amount of debt. When we graduate we have a degree and no experience. When the economy is tanking the way it is employers are looking for experience (if looking at all) and not a degree. So now we are in debt, and find it almost impossible to find work. Six months later, we are having to pay back these loans. 

Oh don’t worry, if you can’t afford to pay your loans back, they will let you put them in forbearance. For those who aren’t clear on what that means, it’s basically making it so you won’t have to make any payments for a short period of time.Good news right? Not necessarily because the loands do still acrew interest so when you DO start paying them back (once you’ve gotten your job, IF that happens) you will owe more. 

Another issue I have with the education system is that if you go to a “good school” you get more financial assistance in the form of grants and scholarships (you don’t have to pay these back, convenient). So if you go to a more expensive school you can leave with less debt than someone who goes to an average state school. So not only do you leave with a “better” degree that will earn you more money than had you gone to a state school, but you can leave with less debt. 

I think what bothers me most about that is that America doesn’t think you are responsible enough to smoke or drink while in high school, but they are basing the path for the rest of your life on high school. What I mean by that is if you work hard in high school, learning the basics, you will get into a “good” college and hense have a better developed path for getting a good job. I’m not trying to underplay those who graduate from schools that are hard to get into, you’ve earned it. I can respect that you did what it took when it counted. I just don’t see how we place so much emphasis on a period of our life that we aren’t old enough to make our own decisions (so society says). 

So is it just me, or is there a flaw in this system?

Please feel free to comment on this rant of mine, I’ve just come across several articles that talk about this pool of educated post grads who can’t find good work and it is greatly upsetting that we’ve gotten to this point. 

Alright…I’m pretty sure that’s a rambled version of my thoughts on THIS topic. I’d love to hear some feedback if you’ve got any. 

All said and done…I’d like to thank those selfish stock brokers on wall street that helped us get where we are…It’s not easy ruining thousands of lives while also destroying yours…good work.