Five Steps To Increase Conversions On Your Squeeze Pages

[Chris Ramsey]

Create a headline worth reading
Creative and catchy headlines are obviously the most important piece on your squeeze page. Without a good headline your visitors won't be staying around for long.

Let's take a moment to examine what makes or breaks a headline.

Which of these two are better?

Breaking News: Free report literally doubles the income of stay-at-home mom with three kids! $20,000 a year to $40,000 in just three months!

Download this free report that can increase your income in 90 days or less!

Neither of these are particularly terrible, but one is quite a bit better than the other.

The first one will outperform in just about every case. Why?

• "Breaking News" is a term that always catches the eye of a reader.
• Exact proof is given that can be verified by a testimonial or story located on the front page.

Your headline should succinctly describe what your squeeze page is about. The more detail you can fit in one or two small sentences, the better. Make sure the language packs a punch though. People buy on emotion, then justify with logic, not the other way around. This brings me on to the second point.

Inject your copy with emotion
You may get some leads just by stating the facts, but not many. By using words that convey strong emotion, you increase the chances of the reader giving their information. This has been proven again and again and again and again.

If you have trouble coming up with words that will create emotion in the reader, here is a good list of words to inspire you.

Feeling Words

Be specific in who you are talking to
It's been said that if you sell to everyone, you'll sell to no one. This is one of the truest statements ever made.

By trying to include everyone who may visit your site in your copy, you're refusing to talk directly to those who you really want to communicate with.

Who is your ideal client/customer?
What are they like?
What would drive them to buy from you?
What problem of theirs are you solving?

Answering these questions will put you well on your way to a good conversion rate.

Offer a great incentive
A squeeze page may do well without a free incentive, but by offering a free report, white paper, audio, or video your ratio will increase by massive amounts.

One client of mine didn't have anything to give away at first. He decided he wanted to run his landing page without a free bonus while he put one together. For three weeks he ran an expensive PPC campaign with virtually
zero results. His conversion ratio ended up being a measly 6%. It was bad...

Just by adding a free 12-page report that took my client less than four hours to put together, we jumped up to a fantastic 34% conversion ratio. I like those odds much better!

So you can see the importance of offering something to get the reader to subscribe or give you their information.

Use embedded commands
This is a technique I learned when I was being trained as a hypnotherapist. Since then I've been using this little technique and have seen great results.

An embedded command is a simple statement that literally tells the reader what to do.

This could be anything from "Just fill out the form below to instantly receive your 100% free report" to "I wonder how quickly you will decide to buy the product when..."

The second example is much more hidden, which is exactly what you're looking to do.

By hiding these statements throughout your copy, people will begin to feel compelled to take action based on what you're telling them to do.

If you've got them involved enough in your words (trance-like state) they will feel this even stronger. This is why it's so important to inject emotion into your copy.

Conclusion
Writing squeeze pages doesn't have to be tough. Just by following a few simple rules you can create pages that persuade emails right out of the reader every time.

With just a little practice it won't be uncommon to create a squeeze page with a 50% or higher conversion ratio.

[briancassingena]

Hi scheda,

I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the phrase you used:

"I wonder how quickly you will decide to buy the product when..."

I want to know what the other members think, and if they have tested this, please share! I am wondering if they think this statement would work subliminally, or is it too forward, talking about the prospect buying the product, before they even opt in.

You're obviously an expert in this area, but I am concerned about it raising a 'sales pitch' flag in the prospect's mind. On the other hand most people would realize they'll be asked to buy something when they opt in to these pages, and there is certainly nothing wrong with selling.

What does everyone think?

[Chris Ramsey]

Originally Posted by briancassingena

I am wondering if they think this statement would work subliminally, or is it too forward, talking about the prospect buying the product, before they even opt in.

That is a very valid concern. In the end it boils down to how 'salesly' you want to sound. You can make these very covert.

The great part is that the commands don't even need the words placed together.

It's a little more awkward doing this in writing as you'll need to somehow accent the words so they reach the subconscious mind and actually have some meaning, but it can be done successfully.

I prefer to keep these sort of statements together in writing though. It makes the copy read much smoother.

Keep in mind that 99% of people skim over pages. If this is stuck somewhere in the middle of text, the subconscious mind will still pick it up as long as it's seen. They don't consciously need to read it. Our conscious mind picks up less than 5% of what is actually going on around us. That's not very much information to process.

I hope this clears it up a little!

[TimSchaefer]

Originally Posted by briancassingena

I'm wondering what everyone's thoughts are on the phrase you used:

"I wonder how quickly you will decide to buy the product when..."

For me, it's not a phrase I'd ever write.

Face to face, maybe it could be slipped in there better.

"Well, Mr. Prospect, I wonder just how quickly you'll decide to buy this widget after I show you just what kind of results other people in your industry are having. Why XYZ Company... you know them, don't you? Well they started using the widget last year and went on to shave 4.5% off their overhead by December 31."

In print, it reads as a bit more pushy.

[Patrick Warren]

Originally Posted by TimSchaefer

For me, it's not a phrase I'd ever write.

Face to face, maybe it could be slipped in there better.

"Well, Mr. Prospect, I wonder just how quickly you'll decide to buy this widget after I show you just what kind of results other people in your industry are having. Why XYZ Company... you know them, don't you? Well they started using the widget last year and went on to shave 4.5% off their overhead by December 31."

In print, it reads as a bit more pushy.

"Well, Mr. Prospect" makes it sound pushy.

[TimSchaefer]

Originally Posted by Patrick Warren

"Well, Mr. Prospect" makes it sound pushy.

Substitute "Mr. Prospect" for a real name, like Bob or Joe or Sue and say "well" as you would in casual conversation to move the topic along.

Inflection has a big part in speech. In text, it's left up to the reader to ultimately interpret, with punctuation and emphasis only able to provide assistance in steering the statement in the way it's intended.

That's why salesmen must internalize his selling scripts rather than read them off a sheet. If they don't make them their own, their pitch becomes transparent. Then it sounds forced, and... well... scripted.

[Chris Ramsey]

Originally Posted by TimSchaefer

That's why salesmen must internalize his selling scripts rather than read them off a sheet. If they don't make them their own, their pitch becomes transparent. Then it sounds forced, and... well... scripted.

This is one big reason I won't use scripts for any sort of selling in-person.

Rather than 'selling' to a client, I focus on ways to meet a client's personal goals, and show them how I can help them. If I do a good enough job proving that I have the capability to get them closer to their goals, they will hire me. If not, then I shouldn't be working with them anyway.

I'm very picky with my clients, so it's only fair that they are with their service providers as well.

[bigcullie]

I like the breaking news, I am going to try it, or words to that effect. Thanks.

Gordon.