Last week I attended the “Live Landing Page Optimization” webinar presented by the American Marketing Association, with presenters Jimmy Ellis and Aaron Rosenthal of Marketing Experiments. I visited with Jimmy and Aaron in December here in Chicago, and am impressed with their passion for these types of events. It has to be tiresome to continually be shown web pages and be expected to tell them “what to do to make more money.”

I can imagine that from conference to conference their presentations do not stray from the usual small, niche business owner (yes owner, not marketer) asking advise for selling more of their product. Their words are always nice but critical - almost brutal at times. But their suggestions always theme across these five points from their case study Landing Page Confusion:

5 Key Principles for Maximizing Landing Page Clarity

1. Focus on one objective for each page. Drive everything on the page to that one objective.
2. Sales pages should use a vertical flow through the center of the page. For commercial offer pages, vertical single-column body copy through the center of the page consistently performs better than other layouts and should always be tested.
   * Left or right columns should be used to support movement toward the objective such as testimonials (to reduce anxiety at clicking the Order button).
3. Eliminate elements that may distract eye path from flow toward the objective. Remove page elements such as photos and graphic images that do not support the primary objective.
4. Use visual elements (size, motion, color, position, and shape) to draw attention toward the call to action.
5. Avoid using off-page links. Use passive pop-ups or launch new browser windows when needed to provide details or supplemental decision information. Once visitors have left the page, their forward momentum is interrupted and must be re-established even if they do return.

As a follow up to the webinar, I found the afore mentioned case study and it exemplifies the basics of landing page optimizations. Keep it simple. Remember who your customer is, what you want them to do, what the customer wants, and be authoritative.

I’m hoping to post several Landing Page related posts this coming week. Feel free to email or comment on any topics that concern or make you go Hmmmm?

Filed under: Landing Pages, SEO, Usability on March 21st, 2008