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Landing page is perhaps the most ignored and neglected part of online marketing campaigns. Marketers spend million of dollars in trying to bring traffic to their websites but most of them do not spend any time on improving the quality of their landing page. Studies show that most people judge a website in the first 5-10 seconds of their visit and based on that judgement they abandon or continue surfing the website. This is where landing pages are important. Landing page is the element that provide users a first hand impression of your site. This further results in users sticking or leaving your website.

Designing a landing page that meets your objectives is a tedious process. It involves defining your requirements and having a clarity on what you want a visitor to do on the landing page. Getting a visitor to take an action is the basic prerequisite from any landing page. This is also known as a conversion in online marketing methodology. A conversion happens when a click on a ad leads to some valuable user action such as a lead, purchase, registration, signup, or view of a important page. But how do you make sure that a person visiting your landing page actually converts? There are a number of things online marketers can do to improve overall ROI from their landing pages. Following are 11 ways that will help you improve conversions from your landing pages:-

1. Call to action - There should be a definite call to action on your landing page. Call to action can be best compared to a roadsign, where the user is directed to perform an activity. Without a proper call to action phrase or buttons, the visitor tend to get confused and is not able to engage with the landing page, which distracts him from performing any activity on the landing page. Examples of call to action can be Register Today, Buy Now, Order Now etc.

2. Connect with creatives - You can choose to have a connect between your creatives and the landing page. For example, you can have the same look and feel of your creatives as the landing page. Use the same colors, fonts, pictures and most importantly similar call to action.

3. Information in points and bullets - Always present all information in points and bullets. People have a habit of not reading entire paragraphs on the Internet. They want to go through your content faster. Representing information in points and bullets help them to read important things while weeding out not so important info.

4. Use facts and figures - Facts and figures have always been a great idea to use on the landing page. People get impressed by facts and figures easily. If your brand is No.1 in a particular area, its important to tell it to your users. If you sell 1000 items daily, its a good idea to include it on your landing page. Similarly you can include other interesting trivia about your brand which actually helps you to convince your visitor about the quality of your brand.

5. Use pictures - There is a very old saying, A picture is worth a 1000 words. It holds true even in the case of a landing page. If you sell T-shirts, you would want to show your best T-shirts on the landing page. Pictures helps the user to understand your product. Even if you sell a book on the Internet, its important to show the book cover on your landing page. If you sell holiday packages, you should never mind showing a picturesque scenery on the landing page.

6. Testimonials - Testimonials helps you to connect your future customers with your existing customers. Most importantly it builds a trust factor for your brand. Before trying a new product many people often ask friends and relatives who are already using that product. Testimonials work similarly in the sense that they tell your would be customers that your existing customers are satisfied with your product. Moreover, your existing customers feel happy when you show their faces and comments on your landing page.

7. Maintain consistency in communication - Consistency is critical when it comes to landing page communication. You can not have two-three different communications on the same landing page. Asking the user to do more than one thing at a time is as good as asking him to do nothing. Therefore, the communication needs to be focussed and to the point.

9. Use analytics software - All modern online marketers should definitely think of using analytics software on their landing page. This help the marketers to understand user behaviour on the landing page. Things like bounce rate, time spent on landing page etc. are critical to any landing page success. Some of the analytics software that one can use for this purpose are webtrends, google analytics and clicktracks.

10. Use bookmark/forward to friend buttons - It’s not a bad idea to use bookmark and forward to friend buttons on your landing page. This way a user can engage with your landing page later whenever he has the time to do it. Also, forward to friend buttons help in spreading your landing page URL to new users. Thus, your landing page acts like a viral and you pay nothing to catch new users.

11. Ask the user to perform more actions after the thankyou page - This can be a little tough to implement but can act as a great idea for marketers with multiple or similar websites. Once a visitor reaches your thankyou page after performing the required action on your landing page, you can still ask the person to do more stuff on your website. This way you ensure that the visitor engage with your site from the first day. Also, if you have multiple websites, you can redirect the user to your 2nd website once the user has already made a conversion on your primary site. This will work best if you have two closely related websites.

These are some ways which have personally worked for me in the past. If you know any other ways for improving landing page conversions, please feel free to add those in comments section.

I was reading one of my MBA books recently and came across some beautiful lines which the author has included for the sake of motivating and inspiring people. I thought I should share them on my blog. So here it goes…

Do you have hard work to do? Do it Now!

Do you have a kind word to say? Say it Now!

If you have missed an opportunity in the past, it is not worth regretting, and it is unwise waiting for a future moment to do anything, for future cannot be trusted. Now is the time to act. Only Now in yours. Seize it and make full use of it.

If you have hard work to do,

Do it now,

Today the skies are clear and blue,

Tomorrow clouds may come in view,

Yesterday is not for you;

Do it Now!

If you have a song to sing,

Sing it now,

Let the tones of gladness ring

Clear as song of bird in spring,

Let each day some music bring;

Sing it Now!

If you have some kind words to say,

Say them now.

Tomorrow may not come your way,

Do a kindness while you may,

Loved ones will not always stay;

Say them Now!

If you have a smile to show,

Show it Now.

Make hearts happy, roses grow,

Let the friends around you know,

The love you have before they go;

Show it Now!

Work, for the night is coming,

Work through the sunny noon,

Fill brightest hours with labour,

Rest comes sure and soon,

Give every flying minute,

Something to keep in store,

Work for the night is coming,

When man works no more!!!

A few weeks back google changed the look of their top ads from a blue background to yellow. Google today announced via its adwords blog that it is changing the formula for top ad placement on google.com. According to google the main reason for this change is to give advertisers complete control over their ad placement on google search.

Uptill now the top position was based on a factor of ad’s quality score(CTR X relevancy of the ad and the keyword/s) and the actual CPC that an advertiser pays for a click. According to folks at google, this does not give an advertiser full control over the placement of his ad since actual CPC is influenced by bids of advertisers below you. Thus, in order to provide an advertiser more control over its ad positioning, google will now take into account the max cpc for the keyword instead of actual cpc in the placement formula.

Google further adds that this step would also result in increased quality of top ads since more quality ads will be competing for the top position as a result of this algorithmic change.

What does this change means for advertisers?

- Advertisers who normally bid high would benefit from this change since their ads would now be more eligible to show in the top position. Such advertisers would see their average positions going up as and when this new placement formula gets implemented. This would directly mean more clicks for such advertisers.

- Small advertisers who rely more on their ad quality for achieving higher ad positions would bear the burnt. Small advertisers who compete with large advertisers on certain keywords might see their ad postions going down as a result of which thier clicks might also go down.

What does this change means for Google?

Huh! Thats not too hard to guess. It would only increase their revenues. Wall street and investors would really welcome this move. Be prepared to see google stock going up and improved earnings from google in the next quarter.

India is currently the 5th largest country in terms of Internet usage. This piece of information does not sound too bad considering the fact that India is ahead of countries like UK, France, Canada and Australia. But, what if I tell you that Internet penetration at only 3.5% is lowest in India. Yes, it means there are only 3-4 people in a scale of 100 which have access to Internet in India. On the other hand Australia, Japan and Canada have close to 70% Internet penetration. Even china, the 2nd largest country in terms of Internet usage, is way ahead at 10.4%, thats about 3 times more than India’s Internet penetration.

Out of a total population of 1 Billion only 4 crores people in India have ever used the Internet. Of these lucky 4 crores only 2.5 crores are regular internet users. Clearly there is a lot of scope of Internet growth in India. So what can be the factors that may drive this growth. Some of them can be:-

• Cheaper Internet Rates.
• Inexpensive Computers.
• Mobile Internet.

The last point in my list seems to be the most interesting. Just imagine, A rickshaw puller using Internet on his mobile, sounds crazy? May be now, but who knows after 5 years this might be a reality. Everyone knows mobiles are getting cheaper by the day. A GPRS mobile starts from around 3500 INR in India, that just less than 100$.

With new technologies like 3G emerging in a big way, it will sooner rather than later that people will start accessing Internet on mobile in a big way. Thus, most people won’t sit infront of the pc/laptop to access their emails. Simply because email will become one of the most basic requirement of most human beings in years to come and thus its accessibility would not remain limited to PC/Laptop and it won’t make any sense to carry your laptop all the time just to check your email. Mobile phones will provide people an easier option to recieve and send emails as it is a personal device and it is with us wherever we go. Many CEO’s and top professionals in industry are already doing it, in next 5 years even children may adopt this trend not because of any other reason but because it will become a necessity for everyone to always stay connected and communicate.

I like listening to Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google. Now a days, he talks a lot about what would happen when the next 1 billion people come online. He however knows, these 1 billion users would mostly consist of people from India & China. 1 billion users can never be added on the Internet without a solid contribution from these two countries. Everybody knows there are more mobile users in these countries than PC/laptop users. So a large part ofInternet growth will actually come from mobiles and not computers. With things like local content coming up in a big way, people not knowing english will also be able to use the Internet and contribute to its growth.

In short Mobile Mobile Mobile, this may be the only mantra for reaching out to masses through the Internet. Companies should get ready now for the next big wave which will be called Mobile Internet.

While marketing a website, most marketers tend to look online and spend most part of their marketing budgets on the Internet. In a way this strategy is good, since online is where most of the Internet audiences spend their time. But that does not mean one should not spend their advertising dollars offline. Offline advertising has its own advantages and benefits. If you are serious about marketing your site, you cannot afford to ignore offline advertising.

Here I am listing 6 new effective ways to advertise a website offline.

1. Automotives - Automotives are a great way for advertising your website. You can place a sunshade on the backside of your car’s windshield. Ask your family and friends to do the same. Now, every time you or your friends move on the road, people will get to know about your website. Make sure you provide the full Internet address and a telephone number, if applicable. Not just cars but scooters, bikes and even buses can serve as a good advertising medium.

2. Mobile Ring tones - Today, wherever you go, you will get to hear the sound of a mobile phone. Mobile penetration is increasing day by day and therefore marketers are thinking of new techniques to advertise through mobile phones. If you have a radio/television ad you can use it as your mobile ring tone. Also, set your ad as your caller tune, so when somebody calls your on your mobile, he hears your ad. You can also set caller tunes for your organization’s main contact number. Whenever somebody calls on your company’s front desk, he/she will hear your ad.

3. Advertising in community radio and pod casts - Now a days community radio and pod casts are becoming very popular. One can locate communities and pod casts, which are related to the theme of their sites and advertise on shows aired over radio and pod casts. This way you get to reach a very targeted audience. Also, this advertising method is very effective yet cheap when compared to traditional television and radio.

4. SMS Marketing - SMS has invaded our lives in a big way. It is a short yet effective way of communication. If you don’t wish to speak to people, but still want to get your message across, than there is no better way than an SMS. Off-lately, marketers have started recognizing the opportunity that it provides them to market their website. One can easily run a contest, build awareness, or announce special offers, new product launches or services by sending SMS to relevant audiences. The biggest advantage of SMS marketing is it is cheap and ensures that the person actually gets to read your message.

5. Alliances with newspapers and magazines - Today, many newspapers and magazines carry weekly supplements on specific topics that relate to niche audiences. A website marketer can look out for such opportunities which relate to his website. The website can power content of a certain section of a newspaper or magazine. The website thus can garner some good branding as the website address will be displayed next to the article. Also, a website can offer counseling or answering service for a newspaper or magazine, where a senior person or a counselor can answer questions and resolve common problem and queries for newspaper and magazine readers. This activity creates awareness of your brand amongst your targeted audience, which might result in people visiting your website and showing interest in your product or services.

6. Offline Communities & functions - Advertising in community functions and social get together is picking up with time. A website can look to sponsor such functions and get-together’s where they think their target audience would be present. This way they can reach their customers and at the same time provide on the spot information to interested people. Examples of such functions can vary from school/college functions; alumni get-together’s, wedding functions, job fairs, corporate parties etc. This is by no means an exhaustive list of places where marketers can look to advertise. It depends on the opportunity and the kind of audiences visiting specific functions/places which marketers believe can become customers for their website.

All the above advertising options may or may not be suitable/feasible for certain websites. It’s for the marketing team of your organization to determine which of the methods listed here could work for them. A proper feasibility study and marketing plan can go a long way in a successful advertising campaign, which will help your site attract more visitors and customers from the offline advertising space.

Getting good links to your site is very critical for SEO. One of the most important thing to be kept in mind while building links is that quality always prevails over quantity. If you get 20 links to your site which are highly relevant and focused towards your site’s content then they are always better than 100 links which lack relevancy or have nothing to do with your site.

Following are the things which I think are important for getting and locating good links for your website.

1. Know your keywords - Before going ahead for a link building campaign, it is very important to decide which keywords you to wish to optimize. This is perhaps the most important phase of any link building campaign. Group your keywords by most important, important and not so important.

2. Look at the content of the link page - Give a hard look at the page on which your link will be placed. View the source code of the page, look at the title, description and even the keywords. Try to locate your keywords there, more the occurrences of your keywords in title, meta-tags and content, more relevant it becomes for your site.

3. Try getting different kind of links - One should try and get different variations of the link. For example,

• Get some links from high PR directories.
• Some from authority sites in the same domain.
• Some through link exchange with sites, which are ranking well for your keywords.

Like wise from other sources such as article sites, PR sites, forums etc.

4. Look at competitor links - This is a well-known strategy that holds good even today. Try searching for your keywords and make a list of sites which are ranking well in google, yahoo and msn. Now go to yahoo and locate backlinks of these site, make a note of sites/pages with which you think you might get links.

5. Avoid link farms and bad neighbourhoods – You should avoid links from sites/pages with a lot of outbound links. Link from a page with less than 10 outbound links is ideal, but this rule may not apply in all cases. For example, a page with PR 7, and 20 links might be an exception to this rule. There is a simple formula for judging the value of a outbound link, the same is given below.

Value of 1 outbound link = (Total number of links on the page) / (Google PR)

The lower this value the better it is for your site.

The above formula is just for the sake of undertanding the value of an outbound link, in real terms things like content of the page, structure and many other factors influence this value.

This concludes the first part of my post on getting and locating good links for your website. Stay tuned for my future post which will cover more details and facts on this topic.

Many people believe that google’s search network provides better conversions and ROI than the content network. While that may not always be wrong, but in certain cases reverse is true. If you follow some rules for optimizing your content campaigns, you can get a pretty descent and sometimes better conversions than the search network.

Following are the main things one should keep in mind while optimizing for google’s content network.

1. Use lesser and more binding keywords in an adgroup - One should try and use very related keywords in an adgroup, do not add keywords which might dilute your theme in any way. There is no hard and fast rule for the number of words which one can use, but 9/10 times it should be less than 50.

2. Try more general ads on the content network - When you write ads for the search network they tend to be more specific in the sense that people use dynamic insertion and keywords in their ad title. But when it comes to the content network, one should be a little more general. Since content network has a very wide reach it makes sense to relate your ads not just to your most relevant audience but also to your semi-relevant audience.

3 Try negative keywords - Try and use as many negative keywords as you can, that do not relate to the product/service that you are selling. e.g. if you are selling gsm mobile phones you might wish to add ‘cdma’ as a negative keyword in your ad group. You can also you site exclusion if you don’t want your ads to show on a particular site.

4. A/B test your ads - Once your ads are live its important to analyse which ad are working and which are not. Try and perform this analysis for at least 3-4 days. This way you will get a clear picture about your ads. Experiment with your ad text that’s working by making a few other variations of the same ad text.

So try out this suggestions and I am sure you will get a descent return from the content network as well.