Conversion Optimization – How To Make Money Online

9 Simple Tips to Creating a Killer Call to Action Button

Jabed Hasan — Sun, 07 Aug 2016 18:26:03 +0000

Do you have the best Call To Action Button possible on your website?

I mean, when people come to your website, you definitely want them to do something?

Right?

What Is Your Call To Action?

Whether you want them to sign up for your mailing list or purchase a product but in order to do that you need to have an actionable call to action button in your website.

A perfect Call To Action [CTA] button communicates with your visitors and encourages them to take the action immediately on your website.

In spite of knowing that, many website owners are using effective CTAs to engage their ideal customers. Even worse, some of them are not using any CTA button into their website.

A study by Small Biz Trend revealed that, 70% of small business B2B websites lack a call to action.

Craft a Killer Call to Action Button That Works

Believe it or not, crafting a call to action button that will compel your visitors to take the immediate action isn’t an easy task. Today, I will explain nine simple tips to simplify the task for you.

Let’s get started!

#1. Use actionable text for a killer call to action!

The text of your call to action button should be action-oriented and striking. Your button text should answer the following questions-

Why people should click on your CTA button?
What will happen after clicking on it?

Don’t just use the boring words like Submit, Enter, Go, etc. as a CTA button text.

The CTA button text should start with an action verb. Let me show you some of the possible options here-

Download Whitepaper
Get My Free Quote
Open My Account
Reserve Your Seat

A small tweak in your Call To Action button text can increase your website conversion rate.

Don’t trust my words?

Firefox found 3.44% more conversions when they change the call to action button text from “Try Firefox 3” to “Download Now – Free”.

Just take a look at the screen below from Resume-Now. This is an online resume making website. They are using ‘Create Resume’ as a CTA button text. The button text is clearly indicating why you should click and what will happen after clicking.

#2. Choose a color that stands out

First of all, your CTA button should be a color, not white, black or grey. Secondly, it should be a color that stands out. You need to give a careful consideration to your CTA button color.

There is no particular color that performs better. Generally speaking, blue and orange color buttons are reported to perform best.

My recommendation is to choose a color that makes your CTA button stand out from the rest of the page. The button color must be contrasting with the background color.

For example, if you use blue CTA button on a blue background, then it will be hard for the visitors to recognize your call to action button.

But, if you use blue CTA button on a white background, then the button will stand out. Buffer uses this perfect combination.

#3. Size it perfectly

Size matters when it comes CTA button. Go for the standard size that makes sense and don’t make it too big or too small.

Sure you want the visitors to recognize the button easily but using the too big button can work negatively. Because, it can make your overall layout a messy look and people will overlook the rest of page content simply because they can’t get past the CTA size.

Here is a proof of making a CTA button lot bigger actually found 10% decrease in conversion.

Conversely, if you make your button too small, then the visitors may overlook your CTA.

Therefore, the call to action button needs to be big enough to click comfortably, but not too big that it looks strange.

#4. Button Shape

There are two most common and popular shapes people use for CTA button. They are rectangular and rounded.

Nobody can tell you what shape will work best for your website as both are popular and both can perform well in different settings. Now, you need to decide whether you want to use a button with rectangular shape or rounded shape.

Ultimately, you will need to test the both shapes and see what works best for your business!

In ContentVerve’s test, a rounded button performed better than a rectangular shape.

#5. Use directional cues

Directional cues help to guide the visitor’s attention to your call to action button. Directional cues can be both an eye direction of a face or an arrow that points directly to your call to action button.

After arriving the visitors on your site they actually don’t know what action you want them to take. So, give them a clue what you want them to do by using directional cues.

Some people say it’s rude to point but it works well for conversion as it gives a sense of direction to concentrate and look on the more important aspect of your page, which is the call to action.

A neat example is taken from whatusersdo — the woman’s eyes guide people on where to focus.

And here is another great example that our friend Perry Belcher recently shared on Facebook. This example does not refer to a Call To Action button – but still a fascinating study and a powerful endorsement of the use of directional cues!

#6. Go with the first person

A study by Michael Aagard found that changing the button text from second person (start your free 30 day trial) to first person (start my free 30 day trial) resulted in a 90% increase in CTR.

You know why the first person does perform well?

Because, using the words like “me” “my” and “mine” make the visitors feel that you are addressing them directly.

Still, if you want to go for the second person, then test it against the first person to check which one perform better.

Remember, you are targeting real human beings and if you can’t personalize your message then they won’t take your desired action.

#7. Bonus Text

Adding an extra bit information within or below the CTA button can reduce the anxiety of the users. This extra bit of information may not be fit with every CTA button, but when it fits, it works very well.

For example, Shipstation using ‘Start your free 30-day trial’ as a button text and a smaller text ‘no credit card required’ beneath the CTA button which reduces the anxiety of the visitors that they don’t have provide their credit card information.

This valuable info will also encourage the users to click through to start their trial.

#8. Be Urgent

Your call to action button should create the urgency so that your visitors take an immediate action.

You can simply do this by conveying a message that your audience will miss a great opportunity if they don’t click on your CTA button.

There are some common words (i.e. today, now or immediately) you can use in your CTA to create the sense of urgency. These words imply a greater urgency and make it clear to your visitors that the offer may not last forever.

For example, you may use a button copy like ‘Sign Up today and get 20% off!’

#9. Frame your CTA button inside a white box.

Framing the call to action button inside a rectangular white box is another excellent way to detach the CTA button from other elements on the page and make it stand out.

If your CTA button is cluttered up with surrounding content, then it will be lost with other elements in the page.

Make sure that you balance the CTA white framing with your page design. It needs to stand out – but not in a bad way! Avoid anything tacky and amateurish.

The CTA does not necessarily have to be framed by a white box – other colors are available, but in most instances, white works best.

Instapage is a good example of how to do it well.

Final Thoughts:

The above nine tips are a great framework that will allow you to create a powerful Call To Action Button.

But to discover the perfect Call To Action button for your niche, you must split test!

Without split testing your CTA, you will never know if you are doing your best.

For example if we take point #4 (button shape) – there are two common button shapes used – rounded and rectangular. Both shapes perform well. But you still need to split test it in order to find out the best shape for your industry / niche.

Same goes with the button color. Some people will say orange color button performs well and others will say a blue color button performs better. A/B split testing is the only way of telling for sure what works best for you.

And finally, always keep this simple formula in mind:

The CTA button should be simple enough so that the visitors can easily understand your message and compelling enough to persuade them to click on it.

Author Bio: Jabed Hasan is a Content Marketing Manager at Mountnow. Follow Jabed on Twitter

The post 9 Simple Tips to Creating a Killer Call to Action Button appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Writing Sentences That Sell

Khalil Minor — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:12:02 +0000

Writing sentences that sell is about making MONEY!

(Just in case you thought it was about grammar!)

Use these writing gems to convert your next email, blog post or website into a money making machine!

If you’re not doing these, you’re not in business!

How To Write Sales Copy That Makes Money

10 pro steps to writing short, punchy statements with clear verbosity – that SELL!

These are the steps the Pro follows to make money online.

#1. Write in the Tense You Sell In. It Starts With Avoiding the Past

For the sake of business, don’t dwell in the past. If it happened there, then that’s where it stays. In the past. Discussing the past when selling is forgetting you exist now with a solution at hand. You get one chance with writing. Going back is not moving forward. It’s not taking action.

Talk about today and what your vision makes of tomorrow. Not what tomorrow “will be” but what your ambitions, product or service says it is.

And I’m not suggesting the past is escapable. The secret to talking about it without rambling on is in the power of “ed.” The “ed” is a suffix. You know, like talked, walked and called. “We talked yesterday,” is more direct than, “Our conversation yesterday is when we spoke.”

Notice how the absence of “ed” forces more to be written in that sentence. Using “ed” eliminates the clutter. The B.S. from your writing. Extensive details about the past is rarely necessary anyway. So “ed” only leaves you with what’s important. Think in absolute terms, so your readers know EXACTLY what they must do today.

#2. Write with certainty, avoid “was,” “might,” and “would”

If he “was” going to do something, then he won’t or hasn’t yet. Bear with me. If you “will,” then the outcome is uncertain. Think about it. You either “are” or “aren’t.” Anything you “would” do has a strong chance of never occurring. Whenever you write that something “is to be,” it’s because reality, as in this moment, says it’s not.

I hope you’re catching on. These are simple shortcuts that keep you from going around in circles as you sell with sentences. No one online has the time for “maybes.” So to write with certainty, avoid “was,” “might,” “would” and phrases like “to be.”

Those tend to go nowhere.

You can eliminate “will” while we’re at it. Sentences that sell. …use “will” to convey power only. Or one’s will power. The other means “possibly.” Here’s what you use instead: “are,”

“am” and “is.” The sun “is” hot. I “am” hungry. You “are” here. Healthy sales conversions depend on that brevity.

#3. Cut Out %50 of Your First Attempt At Selling With Words

This is trial by fire for the uninitiated. Professionals understand it, but it’s truth is vague without trial. No matter how pretty a sentence is, if it’s the first time you wrote that particular sentence, cut out 50 percent of it. That’s a minimum. Do more if you can. Close your eyes if you have to, but deal with the pain because you must.

Sentences with clutter don’t convert well. Their message isn’t optimal. Beginners feel conversions are perfected the first time around. Here’s the thing, sentences carry more weight than necessary at first. ALL sentences do! So pros give them a makeover as they’re committed to paper. A CTA is more powerful slimmed down to important points only.

#4. The Difference Between Latin, Anglo-saxton and Which Converts

You weren’t taught it in school. This is a history lesson that converts. Consider these languages: Latin, Italian, Spanish and English. Each conjugates differently though the words are often similar. They’re variants of the same in many ways. We, we’ll stick to the words of the Anglo-saxons.

Here’s why: Words like determination–or others with four to five syllables–come from Latin derivatives. The Latin words that are snobbish and overly intellectual. Seriously. Here’s an example: “The exceptionality of independently existing without the departmentalized features of imprisonment is an establishment for exhilaration.”

These are words that have “dent,” “ment” and “tion.”

And that multi-syllabic sentence above actually makes sense. It’s just too much for anyone to deal with. That’s where the Anglo-saxon words come in. They’re optimized by today’s technology. The Anglos inhabited Britain. Their English was short, one to two syllables words that express all under the sun.

Like plate, bed, hope, saw, walked, bead, ate, slept and loved. Those are the words your readers connect to when buying. They say everything with less.

[Explore Further: Writing English as a Second Language]

#5. A Verb Sells a Noun as an Auxiliary Sells a Pronoun

Here’s where you get confused. It’s not your fault though. We use grammar based on our education. For example, verbs and nouns are related. Everyone knows what a verb is. It’s the action that a noun takes. Everyone knows what pronouns are. But few people can tell me about auxiliaries.

Hmm. …

I call auxiliaries the pronouns of verbs. Or the verb’s version of pronouns. Pronouns represent a noun without referencing the nouns’ name. They help avoid, ” ‘Gary’ was sad when ‘Gary’ got home and into ‘Gary’s’ bed where ‘Gary’s’ blanket was.” We write sentences that sell by eliminating that.

With pronouns: “He was sad when “he” got home and into “his” bed where “his” blanket was.”

The same effect occurs with auxiliaries. But auxiliaries take place of actions.

They improve sentences that use flowery verbs, complexity or useless repetition. Some auxiliaries include, “am,” “are” and “is.” “The dog ‘is.’ ” Without that auxiliary to shorten the dog’s verb of being, often you get: “The dog stands there with brown fur and breathes heavily while thinking of food.”

The first sentence uses three words. Without “is” to substitute the dog’s many verbs, you get standing, having fur, breathing, and thinking. Not only do readers want less naturally, but technology makes a greater need for it. No one has the time or wants to give it online. So improve your sells with less written in the first place.

#6. Define Your Subject But Start With It To Get It Sold

As an editor who’s managed up to 12 writers at once, I’ve seen a lot. In attempt to sound cool or be creative, we make our biggest mistakes. With poetry or funny Twitter statements, the rules might change. But we need rules to improve conversions.

Being vague about a subject is common. But getting an action from readers requires forward thought. Front and centered. There are two rules to achieve this. Rule one is leading with the subject. Writing about “Doris the cat” means you start the sentence with “Doris the cat.” For selling’s sake.

The second rule is “one thought.” Your subject is defined. Now keep one thought to it. That’s one thought per sentence. Having more is too risky. Especially if you’re not a professional. Write sentences with one thought when you’re selling. Mention the subject of that thought first, and start with it.

#7. Throw Out Your Dictionary! Pitch With A Damn Thesaurus!

Dictionaries tell you what words mean, but a thesaurus will tell you how to use them. Trimming sentences down is best done with one word to substitute many. There’s usually one word to do it. Visit my Twitter profile, and you’ll find the quote: “One word to say it beats out ten that sound good.”

But that means nothing if you can’t find the right word. Find it with the help of a thesaurus. Casually read one now and then. Get in the mindset of inherently knowing the substitutes. While you’re writing, have a thesaurus handy. With a digital thesaurus or one online, you type a phrase in. The best single word match then appears.

Readers appreciate it. They don’t have to think about pulling out their credit cards. They’ll know it’s exactly what you meant by requesting it.

#8. Yes. Vernacular Does Not Convert Well

What we’ve covered deals with common habits WE all have. What tradition taught us. Instead, think outside that box. Stop. Look at what you wrote. Take it out if it resembles typical language. “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush,” is an amazing proverb. But the same person benefits with, “This option is better.”

Flowery prose is your enemy when convincing readers to act. It misdirects them from the quickest resolution.

#9. What IS The Action Verb’s Leverage to Sell Anyway

There are two types of verbs. One is passive. The floor that gets walked upon, or the tree that gets watered. The other does the action. That’s the person who walks on the floor, or the one who waters the plant. It’s the difference between the kid who got punched and the one actually doing the punching.

If you got hit, you were passive. But doing the hitting makes you active. Writing sentences that sell requires an active voice. A way of writing where solutions and ideas behave. The reader never impresses behavior on them. Sentences that take charge sell. Those that lack surety fall prey to whims and fancies of the reader.

#10. How In One Shot, YOU Write Sentences People Buy

Here you close your eyes. Pray. Think less when seated to write. No fancy skills required. Writing is never perfected the first time. There’s a process involved. When in it, aim to use little. Write ten sentences in one paragraph for example. Make each five words, no more and as an exercise. Don’t worry about coherency.

It’s only important to think of proving and not suggesting. Confirming and not asking. Clarifying and not assuming. The above guide is for referencing while editing your work. Until you get the hang of it and it comes naturally. Until you see readership improve, conversions increased and sells happen more often.

Write straight to the point. Those sentences sell more.

Recommended Reading for writing sentences that sell:

=> 35 Copywriting Tips & Tricks

=> To Keep Your Customers, Keep It Simple

=> How to Create a Killer Offer That Converts Like Crazy!

=> Edit Ruthlessly

=> Hemingway App

Remember the copywriting proverbs: “Telling is selling” and “The more you tell, the more you sell.”

Well here is another…

The more you can say with less, the more you can say (tell)… period!

Telling using less is about creating sentences that sell.

Writing Sentences That Sell (Infographic)

Author Bio: Khalil Minor is an accomplished copywriter – helping writers, entrepreneurs and businesses.

Final Thought:

“Make your copy straightforward to read, understand and use. Use easy words; those that are used for everyday speech. Use phrases that are not too imprecise and very understandable. Do not be too stuffy; remove pompous words and substitute them with plain words. Minimize complicated gimmicks and constructions. If you can’t give the data directly and briefly, you must consider writing the copy again.” Jay Abraham

The post Writing Sentences That Sell appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

5 Design Features Guaranteed to Boost Sales and Conversions

Brent Turner — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 10:53:50 +0000

Is there anything better than a beautifully designed website?

Actually yes, there is.

A beautifully designed website that converts.

Chances are, you might be using a website or landing page that just plain sucks at converting visitors into completed goal actions, or in simpler terms – conversions. As the old saying goes, “you can have all the traffic in the world, but if your website can’t convert that traffic, then you have a crap website.”

I’m not actually sure who coined that saying, and I might have just made that up. But, it’s true nonetheless.

If you’ve been wrestling with your website, trying to improve it’s conversions and you’ve found yourself hitting a brick wall then I want to help you fix it.

Today, I’m going to reveal my all-time top 5 design ‘hacks’ that are guaranteed to boost sales and conversions, and make your business look amazing in the process. And best of all, you’re going to love them.

But first, who am I and why listen to me?

I’m not here to talk about me, so I’ll keep it short. I’ve been designing high converting websites and landing pages and everything in between since 2005. I own and operate Boost Design, a successful design studio that focuses only on high-converting design. You can see my AwesomeWeb portfolio by clicking here.

Over the years I’ve learned and experimented with tonnes of design tricks and ‘hacks’ that can seriously bolster up conversions and help improve a business’ bottom line.

Before we dive into the meat of this post, let me ask you a few quick questions.

What would a 20% increase in email list subscribers mean to your business? What about an extra 1% on top of your salespage conversions, or a 150% increase in lead inquiries?

I’m not sure about you, but I know these figures can be business changing.

And, of course, I’m not guaranteeing you’ll see the same results, but if you follow along and implement these design features into your website and business then you’ll be well on your way.

Before we move forward, I just want to say that you don’t need to be a design pro to implement these features into your websites and landing pages. The design customisation level in many WordPress themes and page builders is at an all-time high and you should be able to do a great job with those alone.

However, I am biased and I do totally recommend hiring a pro designer to do this once your business has reached a certain level.

Now with that said, let’s dive into my five top design hacks and features:

1. High-Converting Typography

Typography and the fonts you choose to use on your website can have a huge impact on readability, which directly ties in to your conversion rates.

We’re at a time now when choosing fonts has never been easier and the volume of good, clean fonts – both free and premium – at our disposal has never been higher.

Free fonts sites like Google Fonts and Font Squirrel and premium font marketplaces like TypeKit and MyFonts means you’ll never be stuck finding the perfect font for your brand and website.

But when it comes down to it. Selecting typography for your website can be a fine art in itself.

You need to consider font families, sizes, weights and whether or not to use a serif or a sans-serif font.

It can all be a bit daunting, but luckily I have a few pointers for you.

Typography Do’s and Don’ts

Don’t use anymore than 3 font families on your website. Choose one for your headlines and subheadlines and one for your body text and paragraphs. You might also wish to use another font family sparingly, such as a script font for use in promos and secondary graphics.
I recommend using a clean sans-serif font as they’re optimal for screens and hand held devices like phones and tablets. Serif fonts, the fonts with ‘hands’ and ‘feet’ extruding from their characters are better suited for long-form reading, that’s why you’ll only ever see serif fonts being used in print books and e-readers.
For screens, a good font size for body and paragraph text is between 15 – 18px. At this size it’s not too small to be uncomfortable and not too big to have your users scroll or swipe unneccesarily.
Visit your favourite blogs and websites and take note of the font families they use. A good tool to find out what font a website is using is a plugin called Fount.

Body and paragraph fonts I recommend

Proxima Nova

A common reasonably priced premium font, but absolutely perfect for body text. If you want something slightly different and less common, I’d suggest the Proxima Nova Soft alternative.

Calibre

An exquisite font and one that will set you back $50 per font style (eg. Regular, Bold). Calibre embodies professionalism, modernism and if you’re business is brand-savvy, it’s a great option to consider for both body and headline typography.

Roboto

The ‘official’ Google font and one that’s similar to well known Helvetica, Roboto is a good standard font, although there’s nothing particularly special that I like about it, it just does it’s job.

Droid Serif

Sometimes you can get away with using a serif font on screen, and very rarely can you do that. But the free Google font Droid Serif does just this. If you must use a serif font on screen, this is the one.

Circular

If you have a spare $1,000 lying around to spend on one font family, then you can’t go past Circular by Lineto. Outrageously expensive, but all the more beautiful, Circular is gaining traction as a popular font with it’s use in the Air BnB logo.

Body and paragraph fonts I recommend

Oswald

Another free font and one that’s as common as a rainy day in London, Oswald is thin, stylish and allows you to squeeze a lot of characters on one line making it great for long sales page headlines.

Gibson Bold

A premium font that you can buy or sync from TypeKit, Gibson Bold is fantastic for big, bold, in-your-face headlines. However I wouldn’t recommend the other weights in this family, they just don’t look that great.

Sofia Pro

Another premium font, this is one of my favs. It’s clean, modern and perfectly balanced for headlines. I’d go with the Black weight for headlines.

Montserrat

Another free, and as such, over-used font, Montserrat is another one of those Google fonts that does it’s job, however I’m put off by how common it’s used.

You now have an education on typography and some options to consider when it comes down to font selection. Implement the advice and the fonts discussed here and I’m sure you’ll see some nice lifts in conversion and readability which will reduce your bounce rates too.

2. Killer Color Combinations

Ahhh colour. Who doesn’t appreciate colour, apart from goths?

When it comes to choosing what colours to use in your websites and landing pages, there really are no hard and fast rules. Choosing your colour palette is completely up to you, your brand and your target audience.

But there are a few do’s and don’ts to keep in mind.

Color Do’s and Don’ts

Never use more than 5 brand colours, unless your branding is rainbow-centric, which it probably isn’t. A good number of colours to use is four, with a shade and highlight for each colour. Your brand colours should be made up of a primary colour, a secondary colour, background colour and an accent colour.
Consider your target audience. If they’re predominantly male, you should probably steer clear of pinks and purples. Health industries work better with calming colours and smart use of whitespace, whereas fitness is can be quite open ended depending on demographics. I could talk about colour psychology until I’m blue in my face, but the rule of thumb is this, common sense prevails. You wouldn’t use a pink colour palette on your male body building website would you?
Always take note of the colour codes you use. At a bare minimum, you should have your HEX code recorded, and if you plan on using your colours off-screen you should note your Pantone and CYMK codes too. Failure to do so leads to an inconsistent brand over time. A big no, no.

Creating a Killer Color Combination

If you don’t have a creative bone in your body and couldn’t coordinate a colour palette to save your life then don’t stress. There are tools and apps out there to help you.

Here are a few of my favourite places to find inspiration when I’m designing a new brand for a client:

Adobe Color

Previously known as Kulur, you can explore a library of cool user submitted colour combinations. Be warned, this can be a massive time suck because it’s just so much fun to browse.

Color Hunt

Similar to Adobe Color, but easier to use, color hunt features beautiful colour combinations each day and allows you to even submit your own.

Coolors

A super cool app for any budding colour enthusiast. Just hit the space bar to load up a new palette until you’ve found “the one”.

Colors by HailPixel

This simple app is like an oversized colour picker that let’s you move your cursor across the screen to change the colour. Simple, beautiful and great for inspiration.

3. High-Converting Photography

We’ve come a long way since the days of cheesy, over-used, cringe-worthy stock photography.

You know the ones I’m talking about, a corporate team sitting around a boardroom table with big, perfect, teethy grins and picture-perfect formal business attire.

Thank the stars we’ve moved on.

Nonetheless, the right photography can be a powerful weapon for increasing conversions in just about any medium. Your Facebook ads, websites and landing pages can all benefit from a strategically placed photograph.

When choosing your photography you need to consider where you’re using it. If it’s for your main website ask yourself, does it support your brand or does it cause disparity?

If you’re choosing photos for Facebook ads or landing pages, try and use one where the subject faces towards your headlines or prominent copy. This has the ingrained pyschological effect of forcing your users’ eyes to where the subject is facing or looking and has been proven to increase conversions and engagement.

Just take a look at this Sunsilk ad for example:

But how do you go about getting your stock photography? What website should you use? There are so many options out there and so many pros and cons of each that it can be a tad bit daunting in itself.

Let me try and unpack it all for you by recommending my favourite stock photo sites and the pros and cons of each.

Deposit Photos

This is my goto stock photo site. Their range is massive and their quality is pretty good. It’ll take you a little longer to find the right image compared to the more expensive sites, but in my opinion it’s worth it.

iStockPhoto

The grand daddy of stock photo sites. Their range is huge and their quality is impeccable. But expect to pay a premium for just one photo. A great option for agencies or those working with high-end clients and projects.

Stocksy

If I had to choose my favourite stock photo site based on quality alone, Stocksy would easily be my first choice. Their range is super modern and relatable. However their prices are still on the high end of the scale.

Unsplash

Perhaps you don’t have any cash to dish out on stock photos? No problem. Checkout unsplash for a beautiful range of free to use photography. The only problem I see with unsplash is their photos can be a bit impractical at times as they predominently feature landscapes and urban scenes, but I do believe this is starting to change.

Pic Jumbo

What? Another free stock photo site? Yes, yes indeed. Pic Jumbo has a great selection of practical free to use photography but their volume isn’t quite as big as unsplash’s.

When it comes to stock photography, again ask yourself, does it compliment my brand and is it strategically positioned to compliment any content or important copy features within the medium?

4. Your High Converting Home Page Layout

Chances are pretty high that you have a ‘hub’ website that acts as a central holding silo for all of your content and links to landing pages and squeeze pages. Chances are also pretty high that your website layout isn’t optimised to meet your business goals in the form of completed conversions.

Below is a wireframe of a conversion-focused home page layout. [A wireframe is an image or set of images which displays the functional elements of a website or page]

5. Website Navigation

A simple header with your logo and no more than 6 menu options and optional social icons works best. Don’t get tempted to use trends like the ‘hamburger’ menu on desktop sites – This will hurt your conversions and user experience.

Every website is different, but I’d recommend the following pages to include in your navigation.

Start here page:

If your website and blog is content heavy, you can use this page to introduce new visitors to your website and direct them to the most popular and relevant categories using a stylised, user friendly sitemap.

Alternatively, you can use this page as a squeeze page that provides a lead magnet related to their problem and your solution.

Products / Services Page:

Next item along in the navigation would be the perfect place to showcase your products or services page and link out to any external (or internal) landing pages you may have for each product or service. If you have multiple products and services, a drop-down menu would be ideal for this.

Case Studies / Testimonials / Portfolio Page:

Your customers and clients want to know your solution works right? Depending on your business, place a case studies, testimonials, results or portfolio page in your navigation menu to build trust with new visitors and show them that you actually deliver value.

About Page:

Yep, the infamous about page. This is your chance to talk about yourself, your company, your products, services and any awards and accolades you’ve achieved and is a must for your navigation menu as it builds trust and reduces friction.

Blog Page:

Almost any business can benefit from content marketing and doing so will result in long-term website traffic, and if done correctly, lead generation in the form of content upgrades, opt-in widgets and so forth. If you blog (which you should!), it’s a definite must for your navigation.

Contact Page:

An absolute no brainer, your contact us page should always be in your navigation. If it’s missing, expect trust and conversions to go missing too. Give your visitors multiple ways of contacting you. Think email, phone, Skype, business address, social media, homing pigeons… You get the idea.

The Hero Area

Not to be confused with a full-sized homepage screen, your hero area should take up a large chunk of the fold and it should strategically make it entirely clear about what it is your business does, whilst acting as a vehicle to collect new leads via a lead magnet.

As you can see, the headline is short and sums up exactly what the business does. There’s a space for a professional image if this is for a personal brand website, or it can be replaced with any other image or even an intro video.

The next feature you will notice is the area for the lead magnet. The idea is to display an ecover of your lead magnet with a short headline, some supporting text and finally a button that when clicked will open a popup with your opt-in form. There are many tools out there that can do this such as Popup Domination.

The ‘Authority’ Bar

A common design feature you’ll notice on many websites owned and run by authority marketers is the ‘Authority Bar’. The purpose of this bar is to obviously build trust, authority and credibility. It’s there to say “Hey, I know what I’m talking about when it comes to [TOPIC] and I have the trust of these major publications and networks to back me.”

If you’ve been featured or guest blogged for any respectable website, blog, magazine, newspaper, or publication then this area is your chance to demonstrate your expertise.

The ‘Most Wanted Actions’ Box

So by now you’ve made it clear about exactly what you do and the problem you solve, you’ve provided an opportunity for visitors to join your tribe and you’ve showcased your expertise with the authority bar.

Next step is to direct visitors to your Most Wanted Actions (MWA), in order of the easiest action to take, such as a lead magnet download, to the higher-level actions such as joining your high ticket coaching programs.

Each inner MWA box or icon should link out to it’s corresponding landing page or squeeze page that then takes over and encourages your visitor to take that particular action or conversion.

The ‘More Info’ Box

Some website visitors need nurturing before they trust you with access to their inbox or their hard earned money. The ‘More Info’ box is designed to provide further background about your business and the problem you solve for your avatars.

A good combination for this area would be to provide a video, sub headline and a paragraph or two of supporting copy to speak to your visitors and provide a more thorough insight into your business, products and services.

Blog Posts

Again, if you’re using content marketing as a channel to reach your audience, it’s a no brainer to include your most recent blog posts somewhere on your home page. There are many ways to aesthetically present your blog posts and multiple layouts to choose.

My favourite however has to be the card-style grid layout. It provides a space for a feature graphic, a title and it allows visitors to quickly scan your blog posts to see which piece of content is most relevant to their immediate needs.

Testimonials and Short Case Studies

To back up your authority, influence and value you should consider adding an area to your homepage that includes 4 – 6 testimonials from some of your existing customers or clients. This will only contribute towards building more trust and demonstrate that the work and products you provide actually deliver results.

Bottom Lead Magnet Box

According to many heatmap studies, not many visitors will scroll down this far on your homepage. With the boxes and modules already listed above this area your visitors should be well on their way to exploring your products, services and content.

However, you still shouldn’t neglect this last effort to encourage visitors to join your tribe.

This bottom lead magnet area will help you do just that. Use this space to showcase your lead magnet, provide a headline and two or three paragraphs of supporting copy alongside a lead magnet cover graphic and call to action button that opens a popup opt-in form.

The Website Footer

Ahh, what can I say? We all know what a footer is so it goes without saying that it should be the final box or area on your website.

As standard practice goes, adding your logo and relevant site links alongside SEO links, contact information and social media boxes and icons is the way to go when crafting your footer.

So that’s a typical high-converting home-page layout in a nutshell and it’s suitable for almost any kind of business model. If you take the time and investment in setting your website up this way, I can almost guarantee you’ll be seeing a huge increase in your bottomline within a few months time.

Keeping Design Consistent with a Style Guide

So far we’ve discussed typography, colour, photography and your high-converting home page layout. Once you’ve nailed down all of these creative elements you then need to put the effort in to keeping it all seamless and consistent.

That’s where your brand style guide comes into play.

A style guide is a document that explicitly states how your brand should be represented visually in terms of logomarks, typography and brand colour palettes.

If you’ve never used or adhered to a style guide before I’m sure you’re well aware of the degenerating process your website and other creative material take. The first month everything looks great, but 12 months in and your brand has taken on a Frankenstein appearance and nothing is consistent or matches up. It’s in shambles.

The way to avoid this is to create a simple brand style guide that lays out strict rules and criteria for your logo, colours and typography.

Below is an example of a simple style guide template.

In your style guide you should include all of the different logo variations you use, including inverted logos and black and white logos, along with up to 5 brand colours (and their shades) and the fonts you’ve chosen to use in your branding.

Once you have your style guide built out, don’t let it sit on your hard drive to collect cyber dust. Instead, whenever you hire a new employee or contractor who are tasked with any creative work, make sure your style guide is the first thing they see.

When you, your employees and contractors work with your style guide your brand is guaranteed to stay consistent, seamless and beautiful for many years to come.

I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post and that you’ll implement one, two or all of these design features into your own business and websites. If you do, I can guarantee you’ll only see positive results.

And remember, when your business reaches a certain level you should definitely consider hiring a pro designer to help you with all of this. I’m currently available for design work myself so please feel free to checkout my AwesomeWeb profile and reach out with any questions you have.

The post 5 Design Features Guaranteed to Boost Sales and Conversions appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

How to Create a Killer Offer That Converts Like Crazy!

Craig Ballantyne — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 16:17:09 +0000

Copywriting Secrets Of The Pros!

Three times a year, in Miami, San Diego, and Nashville, Bedros Keuilian and I hold Mastermind Meetings.

Each meeting brings together forty online business owners to learn our latest secrets, hear from guest experts, and network with like-minded ambitious achievers.

It’s their chance to Play Up a Level and escape the isolation that comes with being a successful online business owner.

On the big day of the meetings, I line ‘em up, and Bedros knocks ‘em down

What I mean is that I pump up the group with mindset and motivation, and then Bedros teaches them the killer copy and sales converting tactics our members need to go and make their first sales (for our beginners) or their first 6-figure launches (for the advanced members of our group).

Bedros Keuilian, Craig Ballantyne, and the Nashville strip in the background

At the Nashville event in September, Bedros outlined the critical factors in creating a Killer Offer.

The Killer Offer Formula

=> Massive Social Proof
=> Extreme Value
=> Big Bonuses (including the “one thing” they want more than the main product)
=> Must-Have Urgency
=> Done-For-You Components
=> Complete Risk Reversal

StorySell – The Hero’s Journey formula

Bedros also taught us how to StorySell using the classic Hero’s Journey formula. It’s in every movie that you see and novel you read. “People resonate and learn from stories much better than facts and figures,”

Bedros said, “And the process, which I’ve outlined below, can be used in your email case studies, Facebook posts, used in live group or one on one selling and even built into sales copy, too.”

From Bedros:

The reader instinctively inserts himself into the story as the ‘hero’ and takes the journey in your story. Of course where it’s most powerful is that in your story the hero gets or achieves the reward… in real life the reader is left without the reward and therefore must take action on your offer in order to complete the journey and achieve the reward.

This is why story selling is so powerful… it works on a deeper, more subconscious level forcing your reader to commit to and resonate with the hero’s journey. And that dramatically increases the odds of the reader, listener, viewer taking the desired action that you want them to take. It also creates a deeper bond with you, the storyteller which is how you become the expert and authority.

SO WHAT’S THE FORMULA TO TELLING STORY’S LIKE THIS?

The Hero’s Journey…

1) the hero is called to adventure (they’ve had enough)
2) trials and failures.
3) meets his/her mentor or advisor (you)
4) growth in new skills and abilities?
5) death and rebirth (mindset transformation)
6) revelation (the big ah-ha I CAN do it moment)
7) atonement (make right with the higher power)
8) returns changed (In our business physically transformed)

Here’s an example..

I met one of our new Mastermind members, young Kenny Preslar, several years ago.

He went through some tough times but recently had a huge breakthrough.

Here’s his story and you’ll see that it follows the hero’s journey.

1) Frustrated as a young college kid – attended a 1-day seminar in 2012
2) Rejection – applied to become Craig’s business apprentice, but was rejected
3) Mentor – Learned from Craig virtually and through our email newsletters
4) Created his First Product – had minor success, but still struggled
5) Attended his 1st Mastermind Meeting with Bedros & Craig – overcame fear and doubt
6) Had his Big A-Ha moment – realized success required great copywriting
7) The Victory => His 2nd salesletter produced a best-seller
8) Radical Transformation – He now has the success and confidence he desired

Boom!

It’s that simple. Stories don’t always have to be long… they can be short and punchy so long as they follow the formula above and pull the reader into the hero’s journey.

More Copywriting Conversion Tips!

1) Create a Copywriting Swipe File

A swipe file can literally be a file folder where you print off great webcopy or where you rip out pages from magazines.

Your swipe file should contain all of the best headlines, offers, and ads you’ve read, so that you can refer to it when you are writing your own ads.

NOTE: A swipe file is NOT a “STEAL” file. You can’t plagiarize other people’s copy, BUT you can get inspiration from it.

(I keep a swipe file on my computer of the best emails and subject lines I get from email marketers.)

Go to Google and type in “100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written” and you’ll find a great resource to get you started. Two famous headlines of note include: “The Real Secret to Making People Like You” AND “Advice to wives whose husbands don’t save money — by a wife”. Can you think why they may work?

Copywriter friend Robert Phillips also suggests keeping a swipe file of metaphors. A metaphor allows you to explain complicated concepts quickly.

The example Robert gave me was from a health ad touting an antioxidant pill. In order to help readers understand the benefits of an antioxidant, the writers compared oxidation inside the body to what happens when your car rusts.

The reader will immediately think, “A-ha! I know what my car looks like when it rusts…and I don’t want that happening inside my body…so I need this pill.”

Metaphors are powerful, and you can find them in almost every piece of copy. Keep your eyes out for good ones to add to your swipe file.

2) The #1 mistake people make is not…

…asking for the sale.

Robert says he reviews a LOT of copy, and most people write a decent headline and make a great offer, but then really “wimp out” when it comes time to ask for the sale.

So make sure to keep a swipe file of the best closes, to see how the masters get their prospects to take action.

3) A good product with average copy plus a great list plus GREAT DESIGN = Success

Two things that can boost the success of “average” copy are:

a) Sending it to the right list

b) Adding Great Design – AKA “cosmetics” to the copy / message.

When you send great copy to people who aren’t interested, you won’t make many, if any sales. But if you send “okay” copy to a hungry marketplace, you’ll make a LOT of sales.

This is called having the right “message to market match”.

Of course if you have fantastic copy and a killer offer then the success you can expect will be greatly multiplied!

And it’s a very important mindset to have when building your list and creating offers for that list.

Great Design (cosmetics) can include adding photos, sub-headlines, different fonts, bolding text, plus using images like red arrows and yellow highlighting to point out the key parts of the copy that your prospects must read.

Now, beware, overdoing any particular ‘design’ feature – like too much BOLD of highlighting is not a good thing, That is why we say Great Design and you will find some great examples here.

Finally – for some more inspiration, (and adding to your Swipe File) Check out 10 10 Reasons Why You Suck at Email Marketing this helps you become a better writer and storyteller.

Conversion is key.

Talk soon,

Craig Ballantyne

Final Thought From Zig Ziglar:

“If people like you they’ll listen to you, but if they trust you they’ll do business with you”

The post How to Create a Killer Offer That Converts Like Crazy! appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

12 Key Performance Indicators For Successful Online Business

David Aston — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 08:00:14 +0000

All great businesses focus on specific key performance indicators in order to meet strategic and operational goals.

But not all KPI’s are the same as they vary from company to company and depend on priorities.

Whether you’re running an online or offline business, you should regularly monitor revenue, cart abandonment, cash position, receivables, payables, and basic accounting reports. If you sell physical products, you can utilize an accounting system such as QuickBooks or FreshBooks to monitor your cost-of-goods sold and daily gross-profit.

You’ll also want to incorporate and monitor pay-per-click advertising reports, social media metrics (likes, shares, clicks, comments etc), email marketing results, and marketplace sales (such as internal, Cj.com, Clickbank, Amazon or eBay) to identify areas of needed improvement.

Any measurement can become a KPI as long as you have a means of capturing the data.

12 KPIs For Successful Online Business:

#1. Monthly, Quarterly & Annual Sales

We track many metrics based on our current top priorities.

One thing that doesn’t change is tracking monthly, quarterly and annual sales (and the breakdown of which channels the sales came from, which products sold most in which geographical areas and WHY).

We keep a weekly scorecard, based on the process outlined in Traction by Gino Wickman. I highly recommend the book and resources at http://eosworldwide.com for anyone with a leadership team in their company.

If people are paying us every month, they must be happy. Revenue allows us to pay our developers so we can build more awesome features to make our customers even more happy.

#2. Email List Activity

The size and quality of your email list can reveal much about your business. From the number of people opting in daily, to the number of people opening our messages and actually reading them tells us where we need to focus our efforts.

Major email services such AWeber and iContact will automatically track most important KPIs…

Here are the key performance indicators to focus on with email marketing:

Open rate
Bounce rate
Purchase rate
Click through rate
New subscriber growth

And here are 14 ways to make more money from email marketing.

#3. Customer Acquisition Cost

Another important KPI is the cost to acquire a customer. This usually comes into play when you’re paying for traffic and means you’ll need to know the exact cost to acquire each customer or risk losing a ton of money advertising.

You can discover how much each new customer costs by dividing the total marketing costs by total amount of new customers during a specific time period.

For example, this is how you’ll measure Pay Per Click advertising costs…

PPC results vary by industry and competitiveness, but for examples sake, let’s assume the following:

Total Click-Throughs: 5,000
Total Campaign Cost: $40,000 (includes set-up, landing page design, ad expenditures, etc.)
Conversion Rate: 8%

So out of the 5,000 who clicked your ad and were taken to the landing page, 400 visitors converted to a “sale.” We know the cost per acquisition is $40,000/400, or $100, which is $100 less than our initial threshold.

#4. The Traffic Sources Of The Sales

The main things that we track, are sales and the traffic sources that are driving those sales. OntraPort is something that helps organize and structure all of this data so we can then implement new strategies accordingly. It’s supercharged business and simplified many lives.

The Traffic Sources metric measures which traffic sources are driving visitors to your website, and provides a comparison of each of those sources. Search traffic, for instance, can be analyzed according to the landing page and associated keyword rankings; referral traffic can be broken down into categories such as social referrals, blog mentions, or service listings.

#5. Number Of Daily New Users

Set a goal for the year! Divide this number by the number of days in the year to give you the exact number of visitors you’ll need to hit daily in order to reach your goal.

Analytics is a great tool for tracking daily traffic – and it’s free.

The best way to increase the number new website users is by frequently posting high quality content.

#6. Unique Customers

Revenue is always the de-facto KPI for most other businesses, but we’re also believers in Vishen Lakhiani’s “smart number” methodology. The smart number we use internally is monthly revenue / number of new unique customers that month.

If this metric goes down month to month, it indicates we either acquired less new customers or generated less revenue overall, both of which are signs something is “broken” or needing attention.

#7. Incremental Sales

The incremental sales KPI compares your marketing efforts to increasing sales revenue over a specific period of time. This is a consistent way to measure your marketing return on investment as it demonstrates new revenue that can be directly attributed to a marketing campaign.

Here are several examples of return on investment.

#8. Sales Funnel

The sales funnel analyzes your customer acquisition process, revealing how leads discover your product or brand and, more importantly, how they eventually become customers.

Analyzing conversion rate from one stage of the funnel to the next is the key to a successful sales funnel. The strength of the funnel lies in the ability to highlight your strengths and weakness. For example, you may have great brand awareness due to large web traffic, but your ability to convert leads into sales may be weak.

If you need help setting up a successful sales funnel, there’s no better resource than Brian Moran’s Get 10,000 Fans!

#9. Goal Completion Rate

Goal Completion Rate or GCR for short, measures the number of users completing a specific marketing goal, such as signing up for a webinar or subscribing to a mailing list. Goal completion rate is an important part of your sales funnel as it suggests your conversion rate from the awareness stage to the consideration stage.

#10. Keyword Performance

The Keyword Performance metric measures your keyword rankings to understand how effective your SEO efforts are at driving organic traffic to your website. Keyword ranking is a leading indicator providing valuable information about your ability to improve existing rankings or rank for new keywords.

Ahrefs is the tool we use to track all our keywords and I would highly recommend it.

#11. Social Media Interaction

The Social Interaction KPI measures the ability of social media campaigns to create positive user engagement. When measuring social interaction, remember not all social interactions are created equal. For instance, you could argue retweets are more valuable than favorites on Twitter because a retweet ensures content circulation.

At the moment, I can tell you that each new subscriber we get on our photography project is worth a bit more than $3 after 45 days, and that’s valuable information to know when you’re investing $10k plus a month on growing subscribers with FB ads.

You can use software such as Buffer to track, automate and analyze all of your social media marketing.

#12. End Action Rate

The end action rate KPI or EAR for short, measures the effectiveness of marketing your campaigns by monitoring the final action taken by your users. The EAR supplies your team with actionable information about your marketing campaign performance.

12 Key Performance Indicators To Track Right Now

Track monthly, quarterly and annual sales and the breakdown of sales origin, what sold most in which geographical areas and WHY.
Monitoring how many emails you send compared to how many are opened.
Track customer acquisition costs by dividing the total marketing costs by total amount of new customers during a specific time period.
Track sales and the traffic sources that are driving those sales.
Set an annual traffic goal and divide this number by 365 days to give you the exact number of daily visitors needed to reach your goal.
Know your smart number – monthly revenue / number of new unique customers each month.
Incremental sales measures the contribution of your marketing efforts against increasing sales revenue.
Monitor your sales funnel because this analyzes customer acquisition process to reveal how potential customers discover your product or brand and, more importantly, how they eventually become customers.
The goal completion rate or GCR for short, is a metric measuring the number of users completing specific goals, like webinar registration.
The keyword performance metric measures your keyword rankings to understand how effective your SEO efforts are.
Monitor the final action taken by your users in order to determine the effectiveness of your marketing.
The social interaction KPI measures the ability of social media campaigns to create positive user engagement.

Now you know what each of our key performance indicators are, but what are yours? Your success depends on you and now you know exactly what to track in order to achieve it.

“It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.” – Harold S. Geneen

The post 12 Key Performance Indicators For Successful Online Business appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Your Shopping Cart Sucks – 10 Reasons You Should Switch to SamCart

David Aston — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 15:43:15 +0000

It’s been a long time coming, but SamCart is finally open to the public!

For months, even years, we weren’t 100% satisfied with our shopping cart solutions. We tried everything from Clickbank and PayPal to JVZoo, you name it. But none of the solutions gave us exactly what we needed.

We needed to setup and run split tests with the click of a mouse, we needed to be able to quickly create and list products, we needed to be able to create upsell funnels and needed to provide affiliates with custom affiliate links…

Nothing covered all bases in a simple manner.

To make it worse, most solutions charged us a percentage for each sales. The more we worked, the more we made, the more they took.

At our wits end and on the verge of creating our own solution, last October we got an email from Brian Moran inviting us to beta test his new Shopping Cart solution, SamCart.

After logging in for the very first time, I had our first product created and listed for sale within the first 30 seconds – no joke.

Today I’m going to show you the 10 reasons why you should dump your current shopping cart solution and get started with SamCart today!

10 Reasons You Should Switch to SamCart Today:

#1. Ease of Use

Your current shopping cart has 20 different steps just to list a product.

With SamCart, you can create and publish your first product in under a minute – literally. Their simple design and user friendly interface make selling digital products online simple.

Here’s how to list your first product with SamCart:

Step 1: Open an account.

Step 2: Log in to the dashboard.

Step 3: Click ‘Products’ on the lefthand menu.

Step 4: Click the blue ‘New Product’ button on the top right of the page.

Step 5: Fill out the fields that popup (Product name, Short description, Thank you page redirect, Billing Frequency, Price).

That’s it, you’re all set!

#2. Split Testing

Not one of our former Shopping Carts offered the ability to easily split test our checkout pages and sales funnels. As any successful digital marketer tells you, split testing is your bread and butter.

This was one thing that immediately stood out about SamCart, and like everything else about this shopping cart software, they made it easy to do.

Here’s how to setup split tests with SamCart:

Step 1: After creating and listing your products, select one that you want to split test.

Step 2: After clicking the product you wish to split test, locate the “Upsell Funnels” section under the “Customization” tab and select a funnel from the drop down menu.

Step 3: Click “Split Test” and add other upsell funnels you want to test between.

I told you it was easy.

#3. One Click Upsells

Again, this was something that used to take valuable time out of the day. We always have an upsell that adds value to our products because this enhances user experience as well as conversions.

SamCart nailed this too!

After making a purchase, customers are presented with an upsell allowing them to add a product to their cart without providing all that order info again.

Look how easy it is to create a 1 click upsell:

Step 1: Click “Upsells” on the lefthand side of your dashboard and then select funnels from the drop down menu.

Step 2: Click on “Upsell Funnels” on the top right…

Step 3: Click the blue “New Funnel” button, add your funnel name and a short description, then click “create funnel.”

Step 4: Select how many upsell upsells you’d like to add from your product list and then select “enabled”. You’ll have the option to add up to 5 upsells and 5 downsells.

That’s it! Your customers will go through the upsell funnel just the way you set it up. I’m telling you, everything about SamCart is awesome!

#4. Branded Checkout Pages

As it turns out with many of the other carts out there, the checkout pages look nothing like your brand. This can be intimidating and sometimes means the difference between a sale and a bounce.

Every one of SamCarts landing page templates is customizable, and designed to convert. No more generic carts – your checkout page is an important part of your marketing strategy.

#5. Multiple Templates & Variable Elements

I’d bet the shopping cart you’re currently using, only has one style of checkout page. Am I right?

That’s lame.

SamCart provides you with several high converting templates to choose from. Each template is designed by marketing professionals with several years of experience in digital sales and a firm grip on what sells in today’s market.

On top of that, most of the elements on your checkout pages can be customized, this just adds to the effectiveness and convenience of split testing.

And since you’ll be split testing everything, this is a great way to truly see what works for your demographic to increase sales.

#6. Fully Responsive

A major chunk of our traffic comes from mobile devices. And this is something that’s likely also true for you. In 2014, there were more than 1.2 billion mobile users surfing the web. Mobile is becoming a bigger and bigger chunk of your online traffic.

Every single SamCart checkout and upsell funnel is mobile optimized. So there’s no reason to reduce conversions because people are trying to act on offers they saw while checking gmail on their phones. Brian told me that many customers are already seeing 10-30% increases in sales.

Is your current checkout page mobile optimized? If not, you’re losing money.

#7. Quick Page Loads

People have very short attention spans online, and one of the easiest ways to lose sales is by having a page that takes too long to load.

I noticed that with other shopping carts, I’d find that some of our checkout pages took more than 3 seconds to load in some cases. That’s ridiculous.

Quick page loads allow users to smoothly move through your funnels. If things take to long to load people will get distracted, lose excitement and possibly the desire to purchase all together.

Page load speed should NEVER be an issue, and with SamCart, it’s not.

#8. Guarantees

Guarantees prove that you’re willing to stand behind your product. While it’s standard to have a guarantee on your sales page, it’s not so common to see them on checkout pages.

This gives your customers a sense of security and can be the final selling point that enables your user to complete the sale.

Every SamCart checkout page comes with a section to post any guarantee you have.

#9. Security

With so many instances of hacking online and even in the media these days, it’s more important than ever to secure your own as well as your customers data. Every SamCart checkout page is SSL encrypted, meaning your customer’s data will be safe and you’ll have one less thing to worry about with your business.

#10. Bonus Section

Having the right bonuses to accompany a good product can make or break your offer.

When you have a customer on the fence, oftentimes a reminder of the great product and offer they’re getting is enough to finish the checkout.

SamCart nailed this too, as each checkout page comes with a prominent section dedicated to reminding your customers of exactly what they’re getting.

There you have it, the 10 reasons why you should make the switch to SamCart today.

Click here to get started.

Enjoy,

David Aston

-Team IncomeDiary

The post Your Shopping Cart Sucks – 10 Reasons You Should Switch to SamCart appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

9 Things Most Sales Pages Are Missing (fix these today to increase conversions!)

David Aston — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:56:12 +0000

9 Things Most Sales Pages Are Missing…

So you’ve got your website up and your sales page is live with a great offer, but your visitors aren’t converting very well.

You’re looking at your traffic stats and comparing them to your sales, and you’re starting to feel disappointed and annoyed.

Could it be that your sales page is missing one or all of these 9 essentials?

I learned the hard way what not to do when selling products online and this article will help you understand how to dramatically improve your sales page conversion rate – even if you’re just starting out.

Today we’re going to look at nine things most sales pages are missing and why they’re destroying your conversions.

But before we get started, it’s probably a good idea to understand what exactly a conversion rate is. Some of our readers are so new to making money online that they’re not even clear on this point.

What is a Conversion Rate?

A conversion rate is the percentage of your prospective customers who follow through with a specific action you want them to take. For instance, a website can track the following kinds of conversion rates based on the amount of visitors the website is receiving:

The percentage of website visitors who call the company.
The percentage of website visitors that buy something from you online.
The percentage of website visitors that fill out a form.

There are several ways to increase online conversion rates, let’s look at nine of them:

#1. Prove It

You can make claims about your business to your prospective customers, but they’re probably not going to swallow everything you feed them whole. In addition to your claims, always try and include social proof! Social proof might mean customer testimonials, 3^rd party website reviews, and even case studies. Prove to your prospective customers that your existing customers are doing well.

I love the way the real life customer testimonials from ExpertPhotography.com fit so appropriately into their sales pages.

#2. Transparent Contact & Support Information

Having a telephone number, email support link, and live chat option can dramatically increase trust in a website. It makes it look like there’s a real business behind the website, and that there are real people to get in touch with.

IncomeSup makes getting in touch incredibly simple and obvious as you’ll see on the screen grab below…

I’ll let you in on a little secret… We hit record sales the very first day we used SnapEngage (live chat client) on one of our software websites. I highly recommend you try it for at least 30 days – it’s free.

#3. Credibility & Trustworthiness

Showcasing “trust” seals from organizations like the Better Business Bureau and security firms like Verisign will almost always increase conversions. Again, this makes your website look like a serious business with serious validation.

Bills.com makes sure your eyes keep moving down the sales page and that their credibility sticks in your head as it’s the final thing you see on the page.

#4. 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee

When you offer a guarantee, it gives customers a lot more confidence in what you’re selling. They know that they can get their money back if they find your claims aren’t true. Also, if you have a better guarantee, like 90 days compared to 30 days, then that will help too.

People want to know they can get their money back, and they want to know that they will have plenty of time to try out your service or product without any risk.

#5. Headlines

A headline is probably the first thing your visitors are going to see. It should compel them to read more, instead of exiting your site. If you can capture their attention with a headline, then you can keep them reading. If you can keep them reading, then you are more likely to convert them. Don’t underestimate how significant of an effect a good headline can have.

And here is something to remember…

“80% of emotional impact will be determined by the first 20% of the copy.”

Hire a seasoned copywriter just to write your headline, if that’s all you can afford. If you need additional inspiration, here are 10 great headlines examples that got us 10 million readers.

Here is a great example of a sales headline that PopupDomination used for years and years – that converted like crazy!

#6. Calls-to-Action

Even if you’ve gotten your web page visitors to stay on your website and read what you have to say, you still need them to buy. They might want to buy already, but that’s not enough. You have to make it really clear to them – how to buy, why they should buy, and that they should buy right now. Include a call-to-action at the end of your sales letter, or right near your purchase button.

CrazyEgg.com has an incredibly simple landing page with a great call to action being the first thing you see. An extremely easy way to do this and make it look professional is with a nifty little software known as OptimizePress.

#7. Simplified Website Layout

When visitors come to your web page for the first time, they want to be presented with a simplified website layout – not a whole lot of clutter, flashy graphics, or annoying distractions. Show them clear navigation and a straightforward sales path like the team at ManPacks.com, and you’ll have a better chance at making them stay.

OptimizePress is a WordPress plugin and theme that allows you to create clean and professional landing pages, membership sites and blogs, without having coding or design knowledge.

#8. TOS/Privacy Policy

When you include a link to your TOS/Privacy Policy, it shows prospective customers that you take their private and financial information seriously. A trust seal at the bottom of the site, near those links, is even better. Show your prospective customers that you will protect their information just like Basecamp.com does with their “Not-so-fine print.”

#9. Social Media Builds Trust & Sales

Even if you don’t close a sale right away, if you build up your social media fan-base, followers, and friends, you’ll be able to interact with them on a daily basis. Giving away free content and direct interaction builds trust and will help you close future sales. Go for the long-term approach, don’t discount building up a list, a social media fan base, and an army of loyal blog followers if content marketing is a part of your overall sales strategy (it should be).

Proudly display your products, fan count and/or social shares to your existing fans and potential customers just like EJ does on EJCarrion.com

Word of warning, if you have a small social following, this method could end up hurting your conversions rather than improving them, so test it and see how it works for you.

Remember, having an intuitive and user friendly website can be the difference between a bounce and a conversion. For more ideas on how you can can increase conversions, check out the 7 website design features that will increase profits and usability.

-David Aston

The post 9 Things Most Sales Pages Are Missing (fix these today to increase conversions!) appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

10 Ways SamCart Will Increase Your Checkout Page Conversions

David Aston — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 21:11:14 +0000

SamCart, a new SaaS product for digital marketers is something we’re really excited about. The brainchild of a very successful internet marketer, Brian Moran, of “Get 10,000 Fans”, SamCart was built from the ground up to be a tool internet marketers could count on to help move people through their funnels and close sales.

Starting with just Brian, his brother Scott and a couple of contractors, they have grown SamCart to a team of 15 and they are helping over 5,000 small businesses sell more of their stuff online.

Below, I will outline some of the best ways using SamCart has increased our conversions and why it’s our online shopping cart of choice!

10 Ways SamCart Will Increase Your Checkout Page Conversions

#1. Templates Library of High Converting Themes

We know a robust template library is super important for any business marketing online. While it is still in the early stages, SamCart features a template library of high converting checkout and upsell designs.

Each of their templates is hand designed by marketing professionals with years of experience in online sales and a great understanding of what sells in today’s online environment.

One awesome benefit of this is that as our customers use the various templates, we are able to see what works and doesn’t as they push traffic and conversions through the pages.

Basically, the more users and sales we move through SamCart, the more data we can gather on what’s working and what isn’t, and the better the product will become.

#2. One Click Upsells

One of the biggest differences between SamCart and other checkout services is they offer something that no one else in the market does. One click upsells. What this means, is that after visitors have checked out on their first product, they can be presented with a series of upsell products that take a single click to buy and do not require any additional information.

One of their brands (Get 10,000 Fans) uses these upsells to turn $10.00 report sales into an average $50.00 in sales per customer. They do this by offering a smaller $10.00 product on the front end, and then upsell a more expensive product or two that compliment the needs the first product filled.

#3. Variable Elements

The majority of the elements on their checkout pages and upsells are customizable. What this means for you as a user is that it is incredibly easy to set up high impact split tests, as we’ll discuss in the next point.

#4. Split Testing

Proper split testing is a critical piece in optimizing a funnel.

Most successful digital marketers split test every single thing that they can. And now you can split test your checkout cart and upsells. SamCart supports split testing on both your checkout pages, and your upsell funnels.

What this means for your business, is that if you are wondering, “Will a $97.00 product convert differently than a $197.00 product?”, you can split test the funnels. Meaning, half of your traffic will flow through one upsell process, while the other half uses another. One powerful insight we found from this was that our $97.00 upsell had the exact same conversion rate as the same product at $197.00. This nearly doubled our customer value.

#5. Mobile Responsive

As many of you know, mobile traffic has been becoming a bigger and bigger part of your web traffic over the last 10 years. While this is great in that people are accessing you more frequently, from more places, it comes with its own set of challenges. The primary challenge, is that many websites and in particular, checkout options, do not play well with mobile devices.

Where SamCart addresses this is that all of our checkout and upsell funnels are mobile optimized. You will never lose sales because someone is trying to act quickly on an email offer they just received on their mobile. They are routinely seeing their customers improve overall conversion rates by 10-30% by having mobile ready checkouts.

#6. Quick Page Loads

Attention spans are shorter than ever. That’s why they prioritize a quick page load experience. What this does for your users is that it makes movement through the funnel as smooth as possible. We don’t want people getting distracted waiting for things to load. We want to make the most of the excitement we generate!

If page load time is an issue for you, I also highly recommend you check out MaxCDN.

#7. Branded Checkout Page Experience

Users who make it to a checkout page are sometimes presented with a page that looks nothing like what they have been experiencing up to this point with your brand. This can be a little bit jarring, and risks sucking a bit of the excitement out of them that you have worked so hard to maintain throughout your advertising campaign and funnel.

Where SamCart can help with this is that every one of their landing page templates is customizable, and designed to convert. No more generic carts, now your shopping cart can be as much a part of your marketing strategy as every other piece.

#8. Guarantees

Every SamCart checkout page comes with a section to post whatever guarantee you may have. This helps give your future customers a sense of security because if you are willing to refund them or have a similar guarantee, you are willing to stand behind your product.

Here’s a good article explaining the power of guarantees on conversion rate.

#9. Bonus Section

As we in the digital marketing space know, having the right bonuses with your products can make or break an offer. That’s why the SamCart checkout pages are built with this specifically in mind. We want you to be building value for your customers from the the very first exposure, all the way through their purchase.

Each checkout page comes with a prominent section dedicated to reiterating your offers. Just think about a possible customer sitting in your checkout on the fence. Oftentimes, a reminder of what a great product and offer they are getting can be enough to get them to click that final submit button.

#10. Safety and Security

Rarely does a day pass without hearing about a company getting hacked, or losing their customer’s data. We know this is a big issue for online businesses like yours, so we made sure that security, and visibility of said security were a big part of the design. Every cart is SSL encrypted, meaning your customer’s data will be safe, and you will be able to confidently run your business.

SamCart has our vote. If you’re a digital marketer who sells products online, you’ll absolutely want to install SamCart sooner rather than later and you can get instant access by clicking here.

The post 10 Ways SamCart Will Increase Your Checkout Page Conversions appeared first on How To Make Money Online.

Conversion Optimization – How To Make Money Online

9 Simple Tips to Creating a Killer Call to Action Button

What Is Your Call To Action?

Craft a Killer Call to Action Button That Works

Writing Sentences That Sell

How To Write Sales Copy That Makes Money

#1. Write in the Tense You Sell In. It Starts With Avoiding the Past

#2. Write with certainty, avoid “was,” “might,” and “would”

#3. Cut Out %50 of Your First Attempt At Selling With Words

#4. The Difference Between Latin, Anglo-saxton and Which Converts

#5. A Verb Sells a Noun as an Auxiliary Sells a Pronoun

#6. Define Your Subject But Start With It To Get It Sold

#7. Throw Out Your Dictionary! Pitch With A Damn Thesaurus!

#8. Yes. Vernacular Does Not Convert Well

#9. What IS The Action Verb’s Leverage to Sell Anyway

#10. How In One Shot, YOU Write Sentences People Buy

5 Design Features Guaranteed to Boost Sales and Conversions

1. High-Converting Typography

Typography Do’s and Don’ts

Body and paragraph fonts I recommend

Body and paragraph fonts I recommend

2. Killer Color Combinations

Color Do’s and Don’ts

Creating a Killer Color Combination

3. High-Converting Photography

4. Your High Converting Home Page Layout

5. Website Navigation

Start here page:

Products / Services Page:

Case Studies / Testimonials / Portfolio Page:

About Page:

Blog Page:

Contact Page:

The Hero Area

The ‘Authority’ Bar

The ‘Most Wanted Actions’ Box

The ‘More Info’ Box

Blog Posts

Testimonials and Short Case Studies

Bottom Lead Magnet Box

The Website Footer

Keeping Design Consistent with a Style Guide

How to Create a Killer Offer That Converts Like Crazy!

The Killer Offer Formula

StorySell – The Hero’s Journey formula

Boom!

More Copywriting Conversion Tips!

For Action Takers – Special Notice :

12 Key Performance Indicators For Successful Online Business

12 KPIs For Successful Online Business:

#1. Monthly, Quarterly & Annual Sales

#2. Email List Activity

#3. Customer Acquisition Cost

#4. The Traffic Sources Of The Sales

#5. Number Of Daily New Users

#6. Unique Customers

#7. Incremental Sales

#8. Sales Funnel

#9. Goal Completion Rate

#10. Keyword Performance

#11. Social Media Interaction

#12. End Action Rate

12 Key Performance Indicators To Track Right Now

Your Shopping Cart Sucks – 10 Reasons You Should Switch to SamCart

10 Reasons You Should Switch to SamCart Today:

#1. Ease of Use

#2. Split Testing

#3. One Click Upsells

#4. Branded Checkout Pages

#5. Multiple Templates & Variable Elements

#6. Fully Responsive

#7. Quick Page Loads

#8. Guarantees

#9. Security

#10. Bonus Section

9 Things Most Sales Pages Are Missing (fix these today to increase conversions!)

Could it be that your sales page is missing one or all of these 9 essentials?

What is a Conversion Rate?

#1. Prove It

#2. Transparent Contact & Support Information