E-Commerce landing pages are like front doors… friendly, easily accessible and an invitation to the visitor to enter. That’s how you want cyberspace visitors to perceive your landing page. You are selling products and/or services on your e-Commerce site, and you need to have a landing page that invites readers in to take a look. There are some tips that you can consider as you build your front door to make it as friendly and inviting as possible.
Once the visitor clicks on your well-placed ad, he enters your landing page, your front door. His/her eyes go immediately to the area above the fold and to the upper left side of the screen. Put the information there that you want your visitors to see first. Write headlines that pop. Don’t add fluff; make sure the visitor knows what you are about. Your message should be clear to the reader, and it should define the value of your product or service. Remember that pictures always speak louder (and frequently more effectively) than words.
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify. Content on your page needs to be organized so it’s easily followed. Columns help visitors browse your pages, and they help search engines identify who you are. But research suggests a single column produces more conversions than multiple columns on a page. Take a look at the composition of your page and minimize columns if at all possible. Keep your copy easy to read and understand. If your visitor has to wade through a morass of language that is difficult to follow, you will lose him/her.
You will also lose your visitor if you require a sequence of clicks on several pages to complete a purchase. If I’m in a store trying to purchase an item and find the process lengthy or otherwise frustrating, I’m likely to leave and go somewhere else. There are too many options in the world of commerce to have to put up with being challenged when trying to make a purchase. Try to make buying your product or service as easy as possible; preferably, one click on the landing page should get the customer to the page to complete a purchase. No eCommerce site reaches 100% CTR. But yours will increase if you make the process simple.
Finally, it’s important to remember you are promoting your brand. Some of the tips will need to be individualized for your particular site. You won’t want a page full of energy if you determine a less forceful approach is desirable. Likewise, don’t create a calm and pastoral page if you want an edgy feel. Your brand needs to be compatible with the tone of your page; each needs to complement the other for maximum appeal for visitors.
If you keep the ‘front door’ concept in mind as you create your landing page, your chances for visitors to become customers will improve.
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