In the online world, your website’s landing page is your first impression. And many businesses not only fail to realize how important this impression can be, but how vital search engine optimization (SEO) is to lead eyeballs from the likes of Google, Bing and Yahoo to your landing page. Ultimately, SEO strategy has one of the most powerful effects on your overall success and most importantly, bottom line revenue figures.
We interviewed “Internet marketing guru” Jason Hennessey, the Director of SEO specialists at Everspark Interactive, a full-service SEO agency on how small businesses can improve their overall landing page convergence rates.
1. Link
Do you link to relevant pages? It is a common mistake to aim every link to the homepage, but does this actually relate to the link visitors click on in the first place? For instance, if you are trying to sell lawnmowers then it makes sense to point your lawnmower ads and links to your actual sale pages. Do not think that by merely directing traffic to any page on your website, visitors will go to the trouble of searching further for the actual information they want.
2. Content
How much information have you provided on your pages? How have you titled you pages and more importantly, named products? Always optimize your pages, particularly product pages with the names or titles most commonly searched for. These you should have identified as your highly targeted keywords as part of your SEO strategy. Also, try to include as much useful information as you can, including prices or fees. Do not leave anything to the imagination.
3. Your Calls to Action
If you assume that visitors will not scroll down the page then you need to ensure you include the attention grabbing content at the top (what we call above the fold), along with links or buttons to either purchase your products or request further information about your services. Make these nice, bright and truly stand out. Remember that landing pages need to call for one specific action and not clearly asking visitors to take action could be the biggest cause of your lack of conversations.
4. The Aesthetics of Your Page
Imagine stepping into a store filled with poorly organized, untidy looking shelves and unreadable signage. Chances are you will simply turn around and walk out. The same thing could apply to your website and the overall look and feel of your landing page. Just like a brick and mortar store, you want to enhance your visitor’s experience and instantly make them feel that they have come to a website that is both credible and trustworthy.
5. Your Overall Site Design
Try to avoid cramming every available space on your website with ads, flash graphics and other irrelevant information. It is both confusing and a big cause of the loss of conversations. Try to keep your site design and landing pages clean and uncluttered, especially when you want a particular call of action.
