Posted in Landing Page Optimization	January 24, 2006

What criteria would four of America's most successful copywriters use to create better sales letter landing pages? And how would 26 landing pages from a variety of large and small publishers and authors hold up under their intense scrutiny?

Over the past 12 months, John Clausen, Peter A. Schaible, Robert W. Bly and Peter J. Fogel have used a list of 12 guidelines designed to increase landing page conversion rates to critique 26 successful (and a few not-so-successful) sales letter landing pages for a variety of books, magazines and newsletters for Mequoda's Creating Landing Pages That Sell.

What follows is a summary of their results and a brief review of the 12 criteria they used to score the 26 carefully selected landing pages we put under the Mequoda Landing Page Scorecard™ microscope. Suffice to say, most of us have a lot of work to do!

Download our 8 Master Landing Page Templates special report for free and learn the concepts, tips, tricks and techniques that will increase your landing page conversion rates by 30 to 50 percent. Download the report for free!

Mequoda: Creating Landing Pages That Sell Landing Page Scorecard Summary Ranking - Q1 2006
Rank	Product	Grade	Points	Reviewer	URL
1	American Writers and Artists Institute	A	3.66	Clausen	landing page
2	Investment U	A	3.5	Schaible	landing page
3	Sit Stay Fetch	B	3.33	Bly	landing page
4	23 Most Costly Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make, And How To Avoid Them	B	3.25	Clausen	landing page
5	Tax Loopholes of the Rich	B	3.17	Bly	landing page
6	Doctor Douglass' Real Health Breakthroughs	B	3.17	Clausen	landing page
7	Instant Real Estate Newsletter	B	3.17	Fogel	landing page
8	Next Generation Agent Newsletter	B	3.08	Bly	landing page
9	The Complete Encyclopedia of Natural Healing	B	3.08	Fogel	landing page
10	The Whole Dog Journal	B	3	Clausen	landing page
11	eBook Secrets Exposed	B	3	Fogel	landing page
12	21st Century Investor	B	3	Fogel	landing page
13	The 7 Great Prayers for an Abundant & Blessed Life	B	2.92	Bly	landing page
14	Rukeyser Mutual Funds	B	2.75	Bly	landing page
15	Super Affiliate Handbook	B	2.75	Clausen	landing page
16	Baby Modeling Secrets	B	2.75	Schaible	landing page
17	The Richebacher Letter	B	2.67	Clausen	landing page
18	America's Test Kitchen	B	2.66	Bly	landing page
19	Morningstar FundInvestor	B	2.5	Schaible	landing page
20	Mayo Clinic Health Letter	B	2.5	Bly	landing page
21	Cleveland Clinic Heart Advisor	B	2.5	Bly	landing page
22	Jose Silva's UltraMind System	C	2.33	Bly	landing page
23	Web Usability for Senior Citizens	C	2.33	Schaible	landing page
24	Harvard Health Letter	C	2	Bly	landing page
25	Hideaway Report	C	1.92	Schaible	landing page
26	Hume Group	C	1.92	Fogel	landing page

12 Ways to Increase Landing Page Conversion Rates

1. Landing Page Headline (Strategic Intent)
It may seem hard to believe, but far too many landing pages fail almost immediately by offering up lackluster headlines and subheads. Think benefits and features when putting up your headlines. The visitor who's reading your landing page wants nothing more than the answer to this question: “What's in this for me?” Answer that question well and you will make a sale.

2. Landing Page Story and Content
Make sure your landing page contains an interesting, engaging, believable story told by someone your audience can relate to and appreciate. After all, you're asking them to spend their valuable time reading your pitch... you owe them a good time. Plus, a compelling story will move them smoothly along to the purchasing decision.

3. Landing Page Content Webification
By “Webification” we mean the most efficient use of all the multimedia and interactive technology available. This does not, however, mean using technology just because it's there. Never let the technology outshine the sales message. Don't let your readers be so dazzled by the bells and whistles that they forget to buy. Technology should be used to enhance the sales message, not to replace it.

4. Landing Page Email Capture (Relationship Building)
Once you've captured your prospect's interest, it's important to keep your name, product, and/or service in front of them. Offering a free newsletter or a free report is a handy, non-invasive way to accomplish that. These items have a high-perceived value and are amazingly cheap to produce and distribute. Using effective pop-unders as a mechanism for drawing them in once they've decided to abandon you is crucial.

5. Landing Page User Testimonials
A good, credible testimonial is an extremely valuable part of any sales letter. The most credible testimonial messages are those told in the individual's own words and include a full identification of the person giving the testimonial. Kind words from Tom S. in North Carolina are obviously less valuable than those from Tom Smith in Boone, North Carolina. In fact, under-identified testimonials can inspire suspicion and work against your sales message.

6. Landing Page Links to Order Flow
Links and buttons are the vehicles that allow a prospect to navigate your landing page. Make them as easy as possible to understand and use.

7. Landing Page Labeling and Language
Have you ever seen a sales letter that included a bulleted list of items... and the last item in the list said, “and much, much more?” Well, here's a news flash… nobody with a higher-than-room temperature IQ believes that there is “much, much more.” If you actually have more benefits or features, put them in the list. Clear language and good grammar are part of good storytelling and so is telling the truth. Don't try to bamboozle your prospect with tired ad copy cliches.

8. Landing Page Readability & Content Density
This is fairly self-explanatory. If a page is comfortable and easy to read, prospects are far more likely to keep reading and take in your sales message.

9. Landing Page Content Freshness & Urgency
Few things destroy the credibility of a landing page sales letter more quickly and effectively than content that's out of date. How can we expect the prospect to take our message seriously if we're not even interested enough in the content to keep it up to date?

10. Landing Page Load Time
Nobody wants to wait for any website to load. Call us spoiled or impatient, but the fact is that the Web-using public doesn't want to wait at all. If your landing page loads with anything less than instant gratification, you run a serious risk of losing your customer.

11. Landing Page Aesthetics
The way a landing page looks and feels is almost as important as what it says. A favorable decision to purchase your product or service is almost always the result of a sales effort that made the customer feel comfortable and safe.

12. Landing Page Order Options
Posting a landing page with a confusing or inadequate order mechanism is like opening a new Wal-Mart, but forgetting to install cash registers. What's the point? In direct mail advertising, it is generally conceded that one of the two most important elements of the package is the order form (the other being the outer envelope). If you get everything else right and blow the order mechanism, your sales letter landing page will almost certainly fail miserably.

Mequoda Library Members Only: If you are a Mequoda Library Member, you have full access to each of the above 26 reviews plus new reviews that are published each week. Peter A. Schaible and I have also just completed writing 12 in-depth best practice guidelines (one for each of the areas) that will be published as a Mequoda Library 12-part series starting February 1.

COMMENTS

This is an impressive list of landing pages. It would be interesting to return to each of these in a year or so to determine if any have changed and re-evaluate. Perhaps we should put that on our to-do list. I'd be delighted to raise the grade for any of these who made improvements based on our critiques. Also, because I take pride in my abundant humility, I'd also be happy to hear from anyone who disagrees with the criticisms and wants to argue that we (or I) was mistaken. I'd certainly give a second look to any of these on that basis, too. This is a process. Things are fluid. There aren't many "absolutes" yet. We're all learning. Let's share what we have learned with each other. -- Peter Comment by: Peter S | January 30, 2006 As much as I enjoy criticizing other people's work, I can't find anything to complain about. I found the information very useful. On the other hand, if any of these ideas turn out not to work, I'll come looking for ya! Comment by: Greg J | January 31, 2006

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