by Roy Furr, Author, The Taguchi Testing Handbook

1. Headline -- 999,999 out of 1,000,000 effective advertisements, online or off, have a headline. It draws attention, makes promises, selects qualified prospects, and serves as an advertisement for the rest of the ad or landing page. Headlines get 4 times as many readers as the rest of the ad. They’re absolutely vital. Good headlines can boost response by 1,000s of percent over bad headlines. So include a headline -- and make it count!

2. Story and content -- your landing page must be engaging, and stories engage prospects. The story you tell can be of a prospect’s current condition, or of their ideal future. Both can work, it’s up to you to test which works better for your prospects. Identify what stories you can tell related to your product, and test them. And remember, they should follow the formulas I outlined above -- and read well from beginning to end. A good copywriter can be of benefit here.

And if you’re this far into this book you can probably guess my approach to the eternal long copy vs. short copy debate: test and see what works with your audience. I've seen short copy out-pull long copy (often when the prospect is searching for a specific item and you're delivering it), and I've seen long copy out-pull short copy (usually when a customer needs to be told or reassured of the content of your product, the trustworthiness of your company, and the benefits they'll receive by doing business with you).

3. Visual appeal -- a good visual appeal can be almost as important as your headline. Pictures can almost hypnotize prospects into reading at least the beginning of your landing page. Just make sure your most visible picture in some way identifies the problem prospects are having, makes a promise related to the benefit of your product, or proves that your product can fulfill that promise. It shouldn’t just draw attention for attention’s sake -- if you don’t “pay off” the picture in the rest of the landing page, readers will feel jilted and certainly not respond. Also, for good visual appeal, make sure your landing page has balance between text content and supporting graphics. Give each graphic a caption for extra punch -- captions have high readership, can serve as an advertisement within the landing page, and are a great place to point out exciting benefits.

4. Email capture -- online, you should have an email capture mechanism on pretty much every page of your website. Visitors will be infinitely more valuable if you can contact them repeatedly, than if they just come to your site and then leave. Just make sure that it’s useable and doesn’t interfere with a positive customer experience. This goes back to the "baby steps to the sale." Many marketers find it's more valuable to get an email address from somebody on their first visit than to just try to make the sale. The regular contact you can have with these prospects will pay off many times over down the road. (For a much more thorough treatment of email capture mechanisms, see Appendix 3, which is an article called "5 ways to capture e-mail addresses of landing page visitors," written by Bob Bly.)

5. User testimonials and endorsements -- include your most powerful testimonials at crucial decision making points in the sales process. They reassure the prospects that they are making the right decision in moving forward with you. Make sure to either highlight or pull the most powerful points from the testimonials -- most prospects won’t strain to read a page-long letter on how awesome you are, even if it is from your best customer. They want to know in a couple quick sentences the big benefit other people like them got from using your product. Pull out the most powerful quote from your testimonial and put that up front (then you can link to the full testimonial for those prospects who want more).

A quick note related to testimonials to remind us of the power of testing. I got an email recently from copywriter Doug D'Anna about the results of a test he ran. He tested replacing all testimonials with actionable tips in one of his direct mail letters. All traditional wisdom says that by removing the testimonials, he'd decrease response. Actually, he increased it! This reminds us all that there are no certain rules -- these are only guidelines. Be ready, willing, and -- with this book -- able to test your options, and apply what you learn. Testimonials, like all other elements, may work better or worse with your audience. You won't know until you test!

6. Identity devices -- if you have an established brand identity with your prospects, it can boost response to have your logo included on your landing pages. But in some cases it can suppress response. Be willing to test this -- you can build your brand in your product, as much as you can on your website. And don’t be upset if removing your logo actually encourages more prospects to respond!

7. Trust icons -- icons for your web security company, payment processor, shipping service, and other recognized institutions have proven powerful over and over again in increasing response. Especially on the internet prospects are wary and want to know that you are who you say you are, and that they can trust you to fulfill your promises. Using icons such as the Visa and MasterCard logos, trust seals, the Better Business Bureau logo, and others can help break through this inherent uneasiness -- and have been proven over and over and over again to increase conversions.

8. Action mechanisms for quick and easy ordering -- here’s where you can break the "baby steps to the sale" rule. Some prospects just want to get in, get what they want, and get out. Putting ordering devices near the top of your sales message can often -- but not always -- increase response. That’s because it makes it easy for prospects to order as soon as they’ve made their decision. Also, in long copy, you may want to place order devices (add to cart buttons, etc.) throughout your sales process -- because different prospects will make their buying decision at different times. It can increase response when you make it possible for prospects to act on their buying decision quickly, and without searching for how to do it.

9. Familiar labeling and language -- using language that prospects understand is key to getting them to do what you want them to do. Why say “place in order queue” when your prospects just want to “add to cart?” By using the language your prospects understand -- throughout the sales message and in the ordering process -- you make it easier for them to understand exactly what you want and what they can expect. And this will increase response. Also, knowing the lingo of your target market is priceless. It builds instant trust, and goes a long way toward moving them to the sale.

10. Easy readability and content design -- it’s easy to design a confusing web page. If there’s too much going on, your prospect may not understand where to look, what to do, or what to read. Then they can’t and won’t respond. Look at the websites you shop at most. It’s easy to see how to move through the buying process. Each element on the page is where it’s at for a reason -- and it makes sense with the other elements. Remember -- people read from left to right and from top to bottom. Use this as a guide to move them through the landing page, straight to the sale.

11. Content freshness and urgency -- always be re-evaluating your content to make sure it is relevant to what your prospects are thinking right now. By speaking to current news stories, cultural trends, or popular concerns, you can instantly build rapport and trust with your prospects.

12. Load time -- not all prospects will have blazing fast internet connections. First, know your audience, and through analytics software identify what speed connection the majority of your prospects have. Then, generate web site content that is appropriate for their connection speed. Fancy graphics, flash, and video are more appropriate for faster connections. Web sites that are primarily text and other elements that load quickly are more appropriate for slower connections. This can impact response -- so even if you don’t test it, be aware of it and factor it into your design decisions.

13. Order options -- this goes back to knowing what you want from prospects. Be sure you make the ordering options obvious when appropriate in your sales message. And if possible, try different payment options. Often times a multiple payment option will out-pull a single payment option. Also, it's common for a 30-day hold on payment ("I won't cash your check or charge your card for 30 days") to increase response drastically, while only slightly increasing the rate of bad payment... leading to much greater profits. It's worth testing. Ultimately though, it's important to make it clear what your prospects can get by ordering and how to do it.