Create Landing Pages That Convert

You visit them all the time… you just never knew what to call them. A landing page is the designated “go to” page for an online campaign.

Say I’m searching for shoes online. I want a new pair of Nikes, so I type ‘nike basketball shoes’ into a search engine. A bunch of paid advertisements are displayed at the top and along the right side. Clicking on one will take me to that ad’s landing page.

In my search for ‘nike basketball shoes’ I click on the top most link. I’m taken straight to the Nike Store with a page on their latest line of basketball shoes. That’s their landing page for ‘basketball shoes’. I didn’t have to browse all over or click around to see the shoes I was searching for.

Anyone can buy Google ad words, but building a solid landing page that gets people to convert is where things get tricky. The right landing page has to meet your needs instantly. If you don’t see the basketball shoe info you want in your first glance, you’ll take your search to another site… and the advertiser loses the sale. The same thing goes when prospects are clicking on your ad to find health insurance.

Here are the most common landing page mistakes — and the fixes you can make to dramatically improve your conversion.

1. Sending all search engine traffic to your homepage. People aren’t just entering a phrase into a search engine, they’re asking a question. When they click on your ad they’re looking for answers. A homepage is designed to be generic and welcome the broadest base of visitors. Not exactly where you want to send someone who’s already told you what they’re interested in.
   
   Create or designate a unique landing page for each of your different campaigns. It lets prospects move through your online sales process as quickly as possible and with minimal frustration.
2. Inconsistent message. The language in your online advertising sets an expectation for what comes next. Your messaging should be consistent between your ad and landing page. Otherwise prospects will get confused and hit the back button.
   
   If your ad promises “Compare health insurance quotes” then the prospect should see very similar wording in the landing page headline.
3. No links to educational content. Don’t be afraid to link to other pages on your website. According to marketers at GrokDotCom, “Best practices would tell you to minimize the potentially distracting navigation. But, in principle, you aren't going to persuade your customer to do anything unless you meet her buying needs.” And often a person’s insurance-buying needs aren’t going to be met on one page.
   
   Try adding links on your landing page that take the curious to educational pages.
4. Buried “contact us” form. Educational links take care of the tire-kickers… now you need to address the needs of the motivated prospects who want quotes or a call from you now!
   
   Keep your quote or “Contact us” form in the top portion of the screen. The more scrolling around people have to do the lower your conversion will be.

Put these landing page pointers into practice and give your online conversion a boost.

Jeremiah Desmarais and his team have won 3 awards for their marketing initiatives that touch Norvax' client base and carrier relationships on a daily basis. He is author of several white papers and has been a contributor to the Agent’s Sales Journal, Health Insurance Underwriter as well as a guest speaker at various carrier events and workshops. He is a member of the Society of Industry Leaders. He welcomes feedback at jdesmarais@norvax.com.