1. Make all of your form fields optional

Sales and marketing folk always want to get the best possible leads, so they tend to ask for lots of information on landing pages. Making all of your form fields optional might sound scary, but could actually work out for the better.

Which Test Won shows us an example of a form that left all fields optional. Compared to a form that required the first name, last name, email, and state to be filled out, the all-optional form resulted in a 31% increase in form submissions, and also eliminated the 20% of leads that submitted fake data (e.g., -email-).

There is a potential trade off here – you might get fewer actual leads from a test like this. However, is that a reasonable trade off for getting leads that actually give you the information you want? Keep in mind, too, that if you’re using CRM software to track leads on your site, getting them to fill out one field on this form could make it easier to get more information about them at a later date.

2. Make multimedia autoplay on page load

I know, you’re all sitting there with your mouths agape at what I just suggested. Generally, letting audio and/or video autoplay when the page loads is considered a poor user experience. But that doesn’t mean you can’t try it – that’s the great thing about A/B or multivariate testing, especially when it’s just hitting one small segment of your site traffic.

Carefully consider how this multimedia plays into the overall “design” of your landing page. Is it the one and only piece of content on the page? Does it contain important messaging? Or is it just a testimonial or something like that?

3. Give your prospects a teaser

Nobody really likes giving things away for free, and that includes your prospects. Without really knowing the quality of what they’re getting when they submit your form, they might be more reluctant to give you their information.

So bite the bullet and give something away for free. If you’re offering an ebook, give them the first chapter to download right on the landing page. To get the rest of the book (because it’s that awesome), they have to submit the form.

There’s a catch here – make sure it’s easy for them to get back to the landing page once they’ve finished with the free part. Include a link at the end of the first chapter PDF that takes them right back there.

4. Change the direction people in your images are looking

Where other people are looking is a very strong cue for us humans about where we too should look.

When you compare the ads for SunSilk shown here, most people prefer the bottom one, with the pretty lady looking straight ahead. However, the eye tracking heatmap shows that when she looks at the product, so do the people looking at the ad.

You can try something similar on your landing pages. Instead of your standard, smiling, looking-straight-ahead stock image people (who really should be replaced by people your prospects can relate to anyway), try a picture of someone looking toward your call to action.

You can also try directing your prospects’ attention toward important things by using other visual cues, like arrows, whitespace, or perceived motion.

5. Test your thank you page too

This might seem like a no-brainer, but lots of marketers don’t think about this. Your thank you/follow up/”encore” page is a fantastic opportunity to continue to engage your new lead.

Try testing out additional offers, cross-selling other products, or encouraging social sharing.

There is no wrong answer when it comes to testing

If you have an idea that you think might affect conversion rates, test it! What works for one marketer, product, offer, or company might not work for another. Optimization is an ongoing process, and you should always be trying out new things.

If you’re looking for more information about creating landing pages that really work for you, be sure to register for our webinar on November 9, Landing Page Optimization: Matching Content to Intent.


© 2010 Enquiro Search Solutions.