10 tips for B2B landing page optimization for better conversion

Landing pages serve as real interaction and transaction points for your organization’s campaigns, be it email campaigns or search engine marketing campaigns. Traditionally when we think of conversions we tend to generally recall selling something using e-commerce as in most B2C cases. In the B2B context though a conversion, through for example a sign-up for a newsletter, is an important step in lead generation and lead nurturing. Given how integral landing pages can be to a marketing campaign here are our 10 tips on how to optimize yours for better conversions.

1. Be focused on a single goal
   Landing pages are created based on a goal e.g. lead generation through sign-ups for white-papers or other offers. This single goal must be kept in mind when designing your landing page so that the page remains focused on getting the visitor/viewer to do what you want them to. The landing page is not like the homepage of your website which serves multiple purposes and needs to provide site visitors with information geared towards those purposes.
2. Be consistent
   Design your branding page to be consistent with your website. Be sure to include verifiable information like your company name and a link to your site.
3. Remove all distractions
   Concentrate on the activities needed for your conversion funnel. Be sure to remove all extraneous links from the page that do not contribute to the conversion funnel. Keep your conversion funnel focused and remove any steps that are not a necessary part of the process. Be focused on your single goal and don’t try to take the opportunity to up-sell all your other offers at the same time.

   Recent scientific studies on eye-tracking have shown that there are certain rules to follow when designing an effective web-page. One of the key-takeaways is that the call-to-action of your landing page must be above the fold. This is supported by the University of North Carolina’s recently released “Effects of Hyperlink Density on News Web Page Reading: An Eyetracking Study” which concluded the following:

   • increased number of links on the page may lead to increase in number of pages viewed on the site but would not necessarily affect conversion rate.
   • If there are more links on the page, people may not see links below the fold at all.
4. Keep forms minimal
   Don’t ask for any information you don’t need. Keep forms and surveys short and to the point. If you need information that is more than 3-4 form fields split it up into shorter forms which can be sent out progressively. This can be incorporated to become a part of your lead nurturing process as well.
5. Copy matter
   Copy is probably an overlooked element in designing a landing page but copy is the design. Write a good headline and a brief description of what the landing page and your call-to-action are about. Writing concisely with a compelling headline is an important part of optimizing your landing page and the conversion funnel.
6. Go Viral
   Have a Retweet and Facebook share button on your landing page to make it easy for visitors to share with their peers. This makes it easier for your message to go viral on the social platforms and drive more traffic to the landing page.
7. Build trust and credibility
   Refrain from using gimmicky sales tactics like “Last Chance” or “Best Sale Ever” on your landing page. A professionally designed page speaks volumes on your organization and goes a long way in building trust and credibility in the eyes of the visitor. If you are incorporating a form in your landing page as part of your call-to-action use a service like Wufoo to ensure a consistent professional look and feel across the board.
   
8. Guide instead of advertise
   Provide the visitor with guiding points that assist the conversion process. Don’t over-advertise or hard-sell your offering. Instead walk them through what they will be getting by providing a video walk-through if its relevant and contextual. In the case of whitepapers you can provide a sneak peek of what the visitor/prospect is going to get once they complete the call-to-action.
9. Use Science.
   Eye-tracking is a science which can help optimize design and should be incorporated in every web page design. For more information on this you can visit, Jakob Nielsen at www.useit.com to find out more about reading patterns.

   

   Heatmaps from user eyetracking studies of 2 websites. The areas where users looked the most are colored red; the yellow areas indicate fewer views, followed by the least-viewed blue areas. Gray areas didn’t attract any fixations.

10. A/B Split Testing
    A/B Split testing has been proven to yield significant results in marketing and design. The landing page should have an A-B split test done to ensure the best results. Currently there are multiple resources available online, e.g. Wingify has compiled a list of 15 free resources which you can use to run your own A-B tests.

These 10 tips should start you on your way to a much improved landing page and aid your conversion rates for your business goals.