Eight B2B Landing Page Conversion Tips

Driving prospects to your website is only half the battle. What can B2B marketers do to entice visitors to take desired online actions…and improve conversion rates? Here are eight easy-to-implement tips designed to improve landing page relevance, persuade action, build credibility, and maximize response rate.

Improve relevance. Searchers like nothing more than to see an ad or a natural search listing that exactly matches their query. And it’s even better when these same words are visible on the page they click through to. A tight alignment between a searcher’s query, the search listing, and landing page copy conveys—in a word—relevance.

To improve alignment and relevance, marketers must, at a minimum, repeat the searcher’s query (i.e., keyword) in their ad headline, and then again, if possible, in the ad copy. Better yet, repeat the word or phrase in the headline on the landing page.

This strategy requires a large number of finite ad groups and multiple, unique landing pages, but I think you’ll find the results are worth the effort…especially for your most important search words and phrases.

Use persuasive calls to action. Just because someone clicks on your ad or listing, it doesn’t mean they are going to take the desired action on your landing page. Marketers must continue to give prospects compelling reasons to engage. Don’t stop “selling” on the landing page. Here are three specific ideas on how to persuade visitors to take action.

Focus on benefits. Answer the visitor’s question: “What’s in it for me?” “What is the benefit I can expect to receive if I register for this white paper or webinar?” Be as specific as possible. Use benefit statements such as Download our 3-page case study which illustrates how CompanyABC reduced IT expenses by 30% in four months.

Alleviate concerns. People worry about wasting time, the value of what they will receive, and their privacy. So, do all you can to proactively alleviate these concerns. Provide a link to your Privacy Policy. Clearly state the number of steps or the time an online action will take. For example: Qualify for a personalized demo in 3 quick steps, or Take our 60 second Virtual Tour.

Ask a compelling question. Appeal to your audience’s curiosity. Entice people to take action by posing a leading question, such as “Are you spending too much for IT services?, or “Is IT Outsourcing right for your company?” These are great statements which entice people to take action to discover the answers.

Build credibility. Don’t forget, website visitors (especially first-time visitors) don’t know your company as well as you do! The truth is, even large firms and big brands must establish credibility, and landing pages are a great way to do this.

To this end, test landing pages that include product photos, guarantees, customer testimonials, client case studies, team bios, and executive videos. In general, these items boost conversion rates.

Maximize response rates. When it comes to registration forms, test everything! Test what you call the downloadable asset, test where you place the form, and test how many fields are required.

I have experienced dramatic differences in conversion rates based solely on what the asset is labeled. For example, Virtual Tour, Video Demo, and Online Demo can all refer to the same piece of information, but may deliver quite different results.

Also, test placing the registration form directly on the landing page as well as an internal page. Some audiences seem to appreciate the streamlined approach. But, others don’t want to be confronted with a form immediately; they need to learn more about a product or company before they are willing to provide personal contact information.

I’ve previously written about the importance of testing shorter forms, collecting data, and then making an informed decision regarding lead volume versus lead quality. There is no doubt about it…overall, you will collect more inquiries with shorter, simpler forms. Each business needs to experiment and find their “sweet spot” — the registration form that provides the maximum number of inquiries at an acceptable quality level.

Implement both pre- and post-click improvements for maximum results. When it comes to landing pages, I urge marketers to take steps to actively test and improve relevance, persuade action, build credibility, and maximize response rate.

Only by combining pre-click campaign management techniques with post-click landing page improvements can marketers maximize search marketing results.