Simple Changes that Explode Your Response Rate

[Alli]

A recent study by Nielsen/NetRatings reported that Amazon.com converts 12.8% of its visitors into sales. Now, why does Amazon have such high conversion rates while the majority of sites on the internet are only obtaining about a 1% conversion rate? It's simple. Amazon invests lots of time and effort into improving their conversion rate. They know that small changes to a web site can make huge impacts to your bottom line. Here are some simple changes that can make a dramatic difference in your own profits.

Headline

A change in your headline alone can produce a 1,900% increase in your income. This is one of the most crucial parts of your sales page and can pull in 80% of the orders if done correctly. Your headline should concentrate on the biggest benefit of your product. In addition, it should create enough curiosity to compel the reader into the sales copy.

One of the most powerful words in sales copy is the word you. This is also true for headlines. Using the word you or your in your headline and sales copy transfers ownership and makes your writing much more personal.

Color of Your Background

The color of your background is a very simple change that can raise your sales by up to 30%. The most effective color is dark blue, but grey, black, and white also work pretty well. All aspects of your sales letter must be tested because different market segments respond differently

Audio Marketing

Adding audio to your order page could catapult your sales by 437%. Audio makes your message much more personal and adds to your credibility. People also like to associate a face with a voice. Place a small picture above your recording and see how this affects your sales conversions.

Pop-Ups

Pop-ups are a powerful tool for collecting the email addresses of potential customers. It is also a good way to catch your visitors by the tail before they leave your site. You don't want any of your web site visitors to go to waste. So, before they leave, grab them with a pop-up. With a pop up you can introduce them to your other products, subscribe them to your newsletter, or find out why they didn't buy your product. It is crucial to know exactly what your visitors are looking for. When you know what your targeted visitors want, you can target your marketing and catapult your conversion rates.

Font Colors

Colors play a big part in online marketing. You can crank up your conversion rate by using red font for your heading and subheadings. Yellow highlighting can also rev up your response rates.

Make sure that your copy is fast and fun. Use yellow highlighting, underling, and bolding for things that you want to emphasize. All readers on the internet are scanners. Your sales letter will not be read word for word. Because of this, you must make sure that your most important points stand out.

Number and Text of Your Order Buttons

Long sales letters have proven to be the best for online sales letters because they limit a visitors navigation choices, they are focused on one product, and they provide potential customers with every bit of information they could want about a product. However, if you only have one order button at the very end of your sales page, you are probably losing out on a number of sales. The key is to place multiple button links that direct the user to the order page.

Place a red border around your order buttons. This has proven to increase conversion rates. However, nothing can take the place of testing.

Another important factor influencing click-through rate is what text you use for your order buttons. Some of the most effective text that have been used on the internet are below.

Click here to order
Click here to grab your copy of _____________

There are so many sites that still do not include a call to action. You must clearly explain to your visitors what you want them to do. Marketers have proven that you will increase your sales by at least 80% simply by asking for the order.


Newsletters / Autoresponders

Unfortunately, not everyone that comes to your site will be ready to buy. Actually, this is usually 90% or more of the visitors that arrive at your site. However, to be successful, you must be able to stay in contact with potential customers. In order to do this you must capture their email address by offering a newsletter or autoresponder. You can do this through a pop-up or subscription form. Some of the best places for a subscription form include the top-left hand of your sales page and the very bottom of your sales copy.


Limited Choices

Limit your visitors to a single choice. Your sales page should have one main goal: to sell one, individual product. You may have a secondary purpose of subscribing visitors to your newsletter, but this is not the main point of the page. The more choices you give people to surf around your site, the more confused they become and many will often just click away to somewhere else. By focusing your potential customers, you can crank up your conversion rates.


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[brian.mark]

I have no idea why you started this with a reference to Amazon and then pretty much list everything that they don't do. That doesn't seem to lend credibility to the article one bit. If you're going to start an article with Amazon, at least tie them in at some point.

They don't use headlines for their products.
They use the standard white background for everything.
They don't use audio marketing (unless you consider the audio clips from the CD's audio marketing).
They don't use pop-ups.
They don't highlight in yellow or use red headlines.
They don't have a red border on their only add to cart button on any product page.
They don't have a lengthy no-way-out sales letter.
They do send out a newsletter, but they don't use autoresponders.
They give lots of options for additional products you may be interested in on every product page.

Basically, if anyone were to follow the advice in that article because Amazon has a good conversion rate then they're doing everything the opposite of Amazon for no good reason other than this article had referenced Amazon at the beginning. Don't try to reinvent the wheel here by doing everything the opposite of what Amazon does. They're successful because they invest a lot of time and effort into improving their conversion rate. Take what they do well and incorporate it into whatever site you're currently working on.

I'd agree that the changes suggested could make a huge impact on your bottom line. It's recommending dark blue background with red headlines and yellow highlights. That's a sure-fire way to lose any bottom line that you currently have. Those colors just shouldn't be used in that combination. Red over blue is rough on the eyes.

Please, in the future don't use Amazon's name unless you're actually giving advice that is based upon their site and business practices. This article seems to show how the "Get rich quick" people do things successfully, but a real business such as Amazon wouldn't do these things.

Brian.