| If you're paying for click-through's from | | | | |
| Google or another search engine, you want to | | | | It seems odd that we have to put out so much |
| make sure your investment provides a return. | | | | effort just to give something away - but we |
| You do that with a landing page. | | | | do. The only difference is that you can |
| | | | usually make your pitch relatively brief. |
| Searchers click-through to your page because | | | | The key is to have a good giveaway. If the |
| your ad captures their attention and creates | | | | searcher really wants it, you don't have to |
| interest. Your landing page now needs to | | | | say as much. |
| build on that interest, turn it into desire | | | | |
| and, ultimately, get action. | | | | That's especially true when you've featured |
| | | | the giveaway item in your pay-per-click ad. |
| To be effective, your landing page needs to | | | | You can usually just... |
| work like a sales letter. It needs to be | | | | |
| designed around a very clear objective - the | | | | -- Confirm in your headline that the searcher |
| action you want - and it needs to employ all | | | | has arrived at the right place to claim their |
| the motivating and persuasive tools necessary | | | | prize |
| to get the job done. | | | | |
| | | | -- Prove it's worth having with a |
| Whether it actually is a sales letter | | | | benefit-heavy bullet list |
| depends... | | | | |
| | | | -- Explain briefly that their email address |
| YOUR GOAL GUIDES THE APPROACH | | | | is required because of your delivery method |
| | | | |
| You have to clearly define what it is that | | | | -- Present an easy to use form for them to |
| you want the visitor to do. The format you | | | | input their email address. |
| use to achieve that varies depending on the | | | | |
| objective. Even though dozens of variations | | | | You can ask for anything on your form, but |
| exist, there are really only two objectives . | | | | most marketers restrict the required blanks |
| You're trying to get the visitor to either... | | | | to capturing an email address and a name. |
| | | | The more you ask, the more you have to sell |
| -- Give you their email and possibly other | | | | why you need it. |
| information for your mailing list, or | | | | |
| | | | The actual email form is most often linked to |
| -- Buy | | | | an autoresponder service these days. You |
| | | | use the autoresponder service to handle your |
| If you want them to buy, then throw all the | | | | follow up and ultimately sell the prospect |
| logs on the fire. Put a long-form sales | | | | who's just been added to your mailing list. |
| letter on your landing page that they just | | | | |
| cannot resist. Be sure it uses an appeal | | | | FINAL WORD |
| that matches up to what the visitor was | | | | |
| originally searching for. That will increase | | | | To see a good example of a landing page, |
| your chances of making a sale. | | | | check out master marketer, David DeAngelo's |
| | | | minisite: You may even want to sign up and |
| But don't expect a high rate of conversion -- | | | | get on his email list to see the kind of |
| even if your letter is strong enough to bend | | | | email marketing campaign he conducts. |
| steel. Research keeps telling us that almost | | | | |
| no one buys immediately when they're shopping | | | | It's a mistake to pay for traffic and then |
| online. | | | | send it to a generic home page. Create a |
| | | | landing page that sells exactly what you |
| Conventional wisdom says a prospect has to | | | | offered in your ad. |
| see your message at least seven times! | | | | |
| | | | And if you really want to reach the heights |
| The reason you won't often sell straight off | | | | of Internet Marketing achievement, focus on |
| the landing page goes back to the very reason | | | | building your e-mailing list. Like the |
| the visitor got there in the first place -- | | | | (richest) guru's say, "the money is in the |
| the search engines. When a visitor arrives | | | | list!" |
| from a search, it's just too easy to back up | | | | |
| and compare prices, find other sources, and | | | | Copywriter and Designer, Ronald A. Murphy is |
| shop around. | | | | an Internet Marketing specialist -- on the |
| | | | net since 1996. Murphy writes mini-site |
| MOST MARKETERS WANT AN EMAIL ADDRESS | | | | sales letters, landing pages and order pages, |
| | | | sales emails and autoresponder copy, online |
| Which is why so many landing pages just try | | | | newsletters and articles for marketing, |
| to collect email addresses. It's still not | | | | joint-venture proposals, web site content and |
| EASY, but it's eas-ier. And actually, it | | | | other marketing focused materials. |
| leads to more sales in the long run. | | | | |
| | | | One of just a handful of talented web |
| The tried and true approach is to offer a | | | | professionals who can deliver both copy and |
| free "something" in return for signing up for | | | | design, Murphy offers clients unique |
| the e-mailing list. It used to be enough to | | | | advantages of faster turnaround, lower costs, |
| offer a free subscription to your newsletter, | | | | and easier control because he handles the |
| but that rarely works these days. Too many | | | | complete project for them. |
| newsletters flood the e-waves and few contain | | | | |
| any useful information (present newsletter | | | | For more information on copywriting and |
| excepted, of course). Seachers realize | | | | design for Internet Marketing, visit his site |
| they're just signing up to get a lot of sales | | | | at There you can subscribe to his |
| pitches. | | | | newsletter, R A Murphy's Copywriting and |
| | | | Design Tips. You can also read Murphy's Blog |
| No, you have to offer something more. A book | | | | on Copywriting and Design for Internet and |
| or software or an audio or video tutorial -- | | | | Direct marketing at |
| something with real, immediate value. | | | | |
| | | | Copyright 2005 Ronald A Murphy. Permission to |
| And that's what your landing page copy sells. | | | | reproduce this article in any form is freely |
| | | | given so long as the text and this credit |
| YES, YOU EVEN HAVE TO SELL YOUR FREE OFFER | | | | stays as is without modifications. |