Posted in Landing Page Optimization	May 9, 2006

By Kim Mateus, Managing Editor Mequoda Daily and Library

With the demand for information about illness and health, it's not surprising that many physicians and traditional publishers have teamed up to begin online newsletters that address these issues. Many of these publications are highly specialized and focus on a single topic or ailment.

Others take a shotgun approach and attempt to address the public's infolust across a wide spectrum of disease prevention, physical ailments and medical remedies. The wider editorial focus that targets a greater number of potential subscribers at a relatively lower price point has a different revenue model from the smaller niche, higher price newsletter. And it creates a special problem for the newsletter marketer and copywriter.

That's because most people don't search for general health or illness prevention information. No, most people search for very ailment-specific information. If you discover that you have hypertension, for instance, you're much more likely to search high blood pressure cure than general health and wellness newsletter.

And you're more likely to respond to a sales letter that promises information about your specific ailment—in this case, high blood pressure—than to a sales letter that promises general health care advice.

That's the conundrum facing the publishers of The Blaylock Wellness Report. One sales letter landing page for that newsletter isn't nearly enough.

Now, whenever I see a URL with a number in the last part of the address, such as the one for this site—www.newsmax.com/blaylock/20.cfm—I always explore what other pages might be available if I simply change the number. You can get a great lesson in advertising copywriting this way. Have a look.

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• The URL www.newsmax.com/blaylock/20.cfm is a general, all-purpose sales letter landing page for The Blaylock Wellness Report. It talks about measles, mumps, chicken pox and all the other common maladies, and evokes concern about "sleeper germs and hidden infections."

• The URL www.newsmax.com/blaylock/17.cfm addresses concerns about a grumbling stomach and the fear of lower gastrointestinal tract ailments and prescribes a subscription to The Blaylock Wellness Report.

• The URL www.newsmax.com/blaylock/14.cfm addresses obesity and recommends a diet of The Blaylock Wellness Report.

• The URL www.newsmax.com/blaylock/12.cfm recommends The Blaylock Wellness Report as a cure for diabetes.

Each of these is a well-crafted sales letter landing page targeted at a different subset, or niche, of health and illness-prevention information seekers.

In a recent landing page review of The Blaylock Wellness Report, Peter A. Schaible looks at just one of this collection of sales letter landing pages. The URL www.newsmax.com/blaylock/13a.cfm targets users concerned about hypertension.

Here are three landing page optimization tips Peter pulled from the review:

1. The headline engages the target user with a compelling user benefit.
   Headline: Discover What No One Else Will Tell You About The Deadly Disorder Hypertension
   Sub-headline: Nearly 50% Of Americans Are At Risk - Right Now - For Blood Pressure Problems...

2. This landing page tells a persuasive story—a good read—especially for someone who wants to be "sold" on a natural alternative that flies in the face of conventional medical wisdom.

3. This sales letter landing page is followed by a usable online order flow, but there is no toll-free number for phone orders, no printable order form for fax orders and no option to have a sales representative contact the user to place orders. These are missed opportunities which, if added, would undoubtedly increase sales and profitability.