5 Landing Page Best Kept Secrets

As both an optimization expert and an educator, it’s exciting to see marketers becoming more experienced and adventurous in tactics they are utilizing in their landing experiences. But, this is a field that’s constantly evolving and because of that, there are always new secrets to be discovered and shared.  

Conversion optimization is rapidly becoming a part of every-day marketing, however there is often still a shroud of mystery surrounding what techniques to deploy and when. While many marketers know landing page optimization needs strategy. Many also believe a bit of magic is helpful as well. And I feel a bit like the magician giving away my favorite, best-kept secrets! 

So here they are, a list of five of my favorite landing page secrets. With these few tips and tricks, you’ll be well on your way to developing high performance landing pages.

1. Specificity can be a “game changer”: Most people are already building landing experiences for specific traffic sources, such as email or PPC. However, few people are taking it to the next level, and that’s where some real conversion lifters live. What about unique experiences for each of your PPC campaigns & adgroups, geographical regions, marketing offers, or even repeat visitors?
2. Let your visitors self segment: Self-segmentation not only provides you important information about your visitors, but it allows them to receive a more relevant experience based on how they identify themselves. If you do segmentation right, there is no need to be concerned about the extra click you’re asking your visitor to make. Many marketers let this fear of an extra click dissuade them from using segmentation and they’re potentially leaving a lot of conversions on the table.
3. Testing happens in cycles: Make sure your testing methodology accounts for both innovative and iterative testing. Big changes (innovations) help you find those diamonds in the rough but it’s the small changes (iterations) that really make it shine!
4. Identify what matters most to you: Optimizing your landing experiences isn’t always just about conversions. In fact, sometimes it’s not about conversions at all. It’s important that you identify the metrics that matter. Is it time on site, average order value, downloads, or video views? Make sure you’re measuring success in a way that resonates with your business.
5. Shrug off your poor performers: One of my favorite adages is that a losing experience is never a losing test. Even if your awesome new page has dismal conversions, you’ve still gained valuable insights into the way your visitors behave and what’s important to them. The secret here is to use those insights in your next test and increase your chances of having a winner.

In reality, conversion optimization isn’t about being a magician (even though I would like a magic wand). Rather, it’s really about being a sleuth, and as any good sleuth you must always be searching to discover a new secret and turn it into your best practice.