convert.md

Convert

Ben Hunt shows us how to make web sites that converts visitors. This is broken up into two parts: getting traffic and designing for conversion.

How to Transform Your Web Site's Success

The "First Best Guess" approach to web design doesn't work anymore. It involves too much guesswork when we can measure results. If you build it, they will not come.

Instead you need two things: traffic and conversion.

Success = Traffic * Conversion

Zero traffic means zero success. Zero conversions means zero success. The sweet spot is finding where investing minimal effort on traffic and conversion will result in success.

Hunt advocates testing different approaches - multiple landing pages - and continually measure the response and altering.

Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals

SEO falls into two categories: what the page says it's about and what the rest of the web says it's about. The latter is more important in terms of your search engine rankings.

Do keyword research. Use the Google Keyword Research tool to estimate the amount of traffic using a particular keyword phrase. To measure competition, use the Google query format:

allintitle: your potential keyword phrase

This finds pages where your keywords are in the title tag - these are the websites you're competing with. Consider the amount of sites and check the top sites' Page Ranks. Competing with ~100 sites where the top site has a PR of 1 or 2? Not a problem. Competing with ~100,000 sites where the top sites have a PR of 7 or 8? Big problem, don't even try.

Be sure to use synonyms and different phrases to try to find phrases that are less competitive.

The Long Tail will usually produce more results for you in the long run. These are the less competitive keyword phrases that are longer. Instead of competing on "bookkeeping software", think "how to use bookkeeping software for estimated taxes". Instead of "New York lawyers" think "New York City lawyers specializing in divorces".

Hunt recommends using Market Samurai or WordTracker.

For on-page SEO, make sure your keyword density (the targeted keyword phrase repeated on the page's content) falls around 2% to 4%. But optimize for human readers, not the search engines. Also make sure the title tag, URL, and h1 uses your keyword phrase.

To build inbound links, write great original content that people will link to. Email blogs and other relevant sites your content. Relevancy matters. Internal links are also helpful, but not as powerful as backlinks.

Expanding Your Reach

You're selling solutions to a problem. Your product is a solution. Research your market and identify the problems they have. List many problems and a solution (using your product) for each.

Flip products to propositions and flip features to benefits.

Instead of selling a flint tool, sell "how you can carve meat in less time before the wolves show up."

By concentrating on benefits instead of features, you're concentrating on the customer more than yourself. A feature is all about our product and what it does. A benefit is something your product does FOR your customer.

Flip "Us" to "You".

Hunt gives an example of an inexpensive web hosting provider. They view themselves as "inexpensive" or "low cost", but the term "cheap web hosting package" delivers a lot of traffic with low competition. That's what customers are searching for. Is it worth changing the brand from "low cost" to "cheap" to attract more traffic?

Using the Awareness Ladder

The old website model was to have one homepage, individual pages dedicated to each product/service, and one checkout page:

H -> (P/S) -> $

But putting up a landing page is so cheap. Having a single homepage that lists out all your features dilutes the message. You're not targeting a single problem anymore, you're listing out problems that your product can solve. It's better to create multiple landing pages, each highly specific to a single problem. This serves customers much better (a hyper specialized message targeting a specific niche offering a solution will convert much better):

(multiple O) -> (P/S) -> $

What sort of landing pages should you make? First think about the Awareness Ladder, everyone in the market of your product:

0. Experiencing problem, but don't think it's an issue.
1. Experiencing and realizing it's a problem, but unaware of any solutions.
2. Aware of some solutions, but don't know about your product.
3. Know about your product, but don't know why it's better than your competitors.
4. Convinced of your product's benefits, but not committed to purchase.
5. Ready to purchase your product.

As the website designer, you need to have insight into the ladder. Which level is this particular landing page targeting? Its job is to get the visitor to take a step up to the next ladder.

0. No Problem ->
1. Problem ->
2. Solutions Exist ->
3. Your Solutions ->
4. Benefits ->
5. Convinced -> Sale

Every product/service usually has a bulge on the ladder, where most of the market exists and where you should concentrate. Launching to a new market? Everyone is at step 0, you have to convince them it's a problem worth solving. Launching a product competing with other products? The bulge is around steps 3 and 4. Answer these:

• what's their current level of awareness?
• what are they looking for right now?
• what are they open to at this point?
• what will get their attention?
• what next step can you invite them to take?
• what do you need to convince them of for the next step to make sense?

The lower on the ladder, the harder and more expensive it is to market to. You should consider if it's worth it. On the other hand, perhaps your competitors are ignoring that portion of the market - so it could be ripe for you.

Building a lot of landing pages goes hand in hand with SEO. Each landing page is targeted towards a long tail keyword phrase. The competition is lower and long tail searches will make up the majority of your traffic over the long term.

Step 0 pages usually won't exist on your own site, it creates a sense of a need and guides the reader to step 1 pages. Step 0 doesn't even have to be web pages, it could be done in advertisements.

Step 1 pages should communicate that solutions exist and link to Step 2 pages. They may also introduce your solution (Step 3) - steps can be combined onto a single page (but don't combine too many!)

Step 2 offers solutions. They should target keyword phrases like "best and repellent".

Step 3 introduces your product as a solution. Don't just put a generic list of problems, be specific and target a niche.

Step 4 lists out all the benefits of your product, which can also be specific towards a niche problem. Convince the prospects with your proposition. Resolve their fears and doubts (maybe use testimonials or logos). Establish trust.

Step 5 is to close the sale.

Visitors can come into your funnel from any step, they don't have to start at the beginning. To create a lot of content, think about:

(Problems) x (Treatments)

The permutation of the two will create a matrix of content you can use. A third variable can be geographic references.

Working through the Awareness Ladder

This chapter is full of examples where Hunt applied the Awareness Ladder model. I'll just include notes on the first site, Save the Pixel.

Save the Pixel is Hunt's first ebook on web design. First, where is the market on the ladder? This market bulges around Steps 1 and 2, where the majority of markets will bulge. People know of the problem and that solutions exist, but they don't know of your specific product.

Do some keyword research to target that bulge. Some examples are:

• "learn to be a web designer"
• "how to make better web sites"
• "learn web design"
• "web design training course"
• "web design ebook"
• "web design books"

At step 1, visitors are told the best way to learn to make better web sites through worked examples/case studies. At step 2, visitors are steered towards his ebook. For each group, he introduces the ebook as a must-have solution and explains the value they'll get - taking them to step 3/4.

Making Your Site Sell

Use direct marketing techniques, which applies the scientific method to human behavior. Measure everything, use data to back up redesigns instead of intuition.

Some metrics to measure:

• bounce rate - pct visitors who arrive and leave on the same page
• exit rate - pct visitors who leave site from a particular page
• funnels
• goals (identify what your goals are: purchase, sign up, watch video)
• conversion rate
• attrition rate - leak at each step of the funnel
• profitability, cost per visitor, earnings per visitor

Once you have metrics in place, make the changes to optimize your funnel:

1. identify leaks
2. generate alternative ideas
3. test to see what works
4. repeat

When generating alternative ideas, consider these:

• use conventions that are already used on other sites (layout/design/copy)
• use your intuition/experience/creativity/insight, but back it up with data

There are three elements of conversion:

• get their attention
• keep them engaged
• call them to action

Get their attention with a clear, specific proposition. Make sure it's customer oriented with a clear benefit. Make sure it offers an immediate gain for them.

Keep them engaged and build momentum. Ensure that visitors keep discovering new things that's interesting. Do this by affirming positive signs, resolve fear, use testimonials/logos/about the author. They must identify with the proposition as it unfolds.

The call to action has to be bold and contrasted, the timing has to be right (don't do it too early before trust is established) and there must be enough momentum.

Get Their Attention

Get their attention with your proposition. Re-use proven patterns (copy) and improve it with your own specific product once you have data. The main header should confirm that the visitor is in the right place. Headings should:

• stand out above all other text
• confirm the visitor is in the right place
• grab interest and give a reason to look further
• its purpose is to grab attention, not to tell the whole story or convince

Example headlines:

• "How to Attract the Perfect Partner"
• "5 Proven Ways to Succeed at Interviews"
• "How I saved $4,000 Tax - Legally"

Keep it simple and direct, avoid being cryptic or intriguing. If you go down this route, it MUST offer value to the reader:

• "One Thing I Wish I Knew Before I Bought a New Car"
• "5 Money-Saving Tips Your Parents Didn't Tell You"
• "How I Doubled My Salary With One Phone Call"

Ensure it's the reader's self-interest and not your own. Direct promises work well. Hunt suggests three major factors: relevance, self-interest, emotion. Also ensure that it's targeted to a specific market. Try slicing your offerings even thinner to make it even more targeted.

Some other tips in this chapter:

• use you-oriented language ("we do web design" vs "web sites you and your customers love")
• match the promise of the link
• distinguish your unique value proposition, positively differentiating from the competition
• write for the undecided prospect
• appeal directly to the reader's self-interest
• no one cares about you, they care about themselves (more self-interest)
• benefits not features
• show the end result for an emotional connection
• use fear - "are you losing $ every day?"
• add credibility

There's a lot more design tips in this chapter. Check out my notes on "Bootstrapping Design" for more.

Keep Them Engaged

The four elements of an engaging web page:

• affirm positive signs visitors are looking for
• resolve their concerns and build trust
• build interest
• make it easy to keep engaging

Visitors fall into different categories depending on their personality:

• Dominance - values competency, results, and action
• Influence - values action, enthusiasm, and relationships
• Steadiness - values relationships, sincerity, and dependability
• Conscientiousness - values dependability, quality, and competency

Cover all the bases. For (D), state your expertise to deliver results. For (I), show passion and enthusiasm. For (S), establish trust. For (C), provide the facts/evidence.

Some other tips for affirming positives and building trust:

• use details like statistics
• show evidence like "We delivered 26,309 pizzas last year" or "Best Take-Out Award"
• build trust by considering objections and answering them (secure shopping guarantee)
• make promises (like "No spam")
• make guarantees (like "Money back")
• use third party validations
• ask for feedback
• place testimonials for max effect (shipping pages - put testimonials on how quick package arrived, payment page - testimonial to reinforce product)
• use audio and video testimonials
• remember the individual, don't think of people in mass
• be human

Some tips for building interest and keeping visitors engaged:

• keep content fresh
• keep delivering value, try ending with questions
• each page should deliver value
• make it easy to engage with the website, use consistency and be brief
• keep forms as short as possible
• avoid dead ends, always have a call to action

Call Them to Action

Every page on your site has one or more preferred next steps:

• sell or squeeze pages wants visitors to commit to buy a product
• form pages wants visitors to submit the form
• content pages should include prominent next steps (next on awareness ladder)

Define your goal, whether it's to purchase a product or clicking an affiliate link. Don't waste real estate but having too many call to actions on a page. Focus on the ones that matter the most.

Consider offering call to actions that require less commitments (and perhaps less upfront business value). Instead of selling quickly, how about a newsletter sign up. It's a mistake to go for the conversion before building enough momentum.

Tips for making call to actions convert:

• ask! (don't have dead ends)
• be clear/strong (make it easy for the visitor to see)
• repeat the appeal
• nudge over the line
• place at appropriate time
• don't stop there
• front-load (put important/impacting words in front, Talk to Us vs Next: Talk to Us)
• phrase actions as commands
• show one clear path
• use you-oriented language
• focus on benefits instead of costs
• inject urgency (eg. sales)

Executing Your Web Site Strategy

Here's the process to use:

1. target early opportunities (market/keyword research, define offerings)
2. create core content (around research)
3. add more funnels (and add additional content, focus on different steps of awareness ladder. The homepage can cover one or two steps of the ladder)
4. generate traffic
5. consider step 0 market
6. keep going

Every page has common features:

• must promise value at first glance
• visitors should see signs that they're in the right place
• design of each page should match and convey the right theme (cheap, classy, etc...)
• clear navigation (where visitor is, where they can go, what kind of site is it, what they will find, what they can do here)
• page should be interesting/valuable and encourage third parties to link to it

Hunt offers some suggestions for building backlinks:

• relevant forums
• blog comments
• squidoo.com
• social sites
• directories like DMOZ
• mailing lists
• ebooks
• youtube