Your a victim of information overload. It happens to the best of us.
I've read at least over 400 pages of information regarding TRAFFIC
ALONE! this week

I usually do it to keep up to date and see what my competitors are
doing to either get their rankings or traffic period.

Anyhow, the only way to be successful in this business or in any business
for that matter... Is test test test and you shall receive.

Because it works for them?

If some of the best marketers on this forum are using them, then it must be working. When you launch a WSO, run a test using both options and then let us know which one worked.

Most successful marketers will have different "landing pages" and do what they call a split test to see which page converts better.

On the internet it is statistically proven that you have under 7 secs to catch the attention of the reader and if you don't they simply hit the back button.

A page with a bold headline is similar to a magazine or newspaper article and people pay money to read those.

Wise words Mark, thank you very much!

i was the same when I started, the thing about it was i found myself reading thru these squeeze pages and buying the wso / service. these pages work, they work very very well when crafted correctly and the wso is clearly going to help you.

Like everyone has said, because they work and these top marketers test and tweak and keep up to date and when a page stops working so well, they tweak it some more. That is why I use the templates that a top marketer uses still to this day and my conversion rate is currently 75%.

To succeed in any business, you have to get over one of the biggest problems business owners have on and offline. It is that they want to use what they like.

In my offline businesses, in the beginning, I, like most new business owners, did everything that I liked, didn't make any money and since I had all my money tied up into this very expensive brick and mortar business, I HAD to make money. I quickly got rid of some fancy full color glossy brochures I was using and went to 2 color on regular paper (because that was all I could afford after spending all my other money) and guess what happened.

The plain 2 color on regular paper brochure hugely out performed the full color high gloss one. I continued to use that plain one for 7 years at every location as we expanded from coast to coast until I finally sold the whole thing.

So major point to learn sooner rather than later in making money:

Do what works to get you paying clients, not just what you like.

When you design squeeze pages, you split test a few and tweak then test again and again. Whatever converts the highest is the one you keep.

Since you are not the one opting in or buying, you should not worry about how it looks as long as you're not misleading people and the page converts.

Some of the ugliest ecovers and websites are raking in huge cash every single day.

Personally I don't think its so cut and dry. There are multiple variables that should be taken into consideration...On the whole there are indeed certain principles of layout and design that are proven to be most effective across most markets...HOWEVER...

The devil is in the details...

Fox maximum conversion you really need to design and write for your target audiences market profile while factoring in the traffic sources bringing the prospect to your actual landing page.

In the end it all comes down to testing but we do have to make some initial judgments and assumptions when we first launch a campaign.

Another thing I want to point out is that when you study and model what people are doing within your market, make sure you are analyzing people who actually know what they are doing. For example, in the biz-op/IM niche most people follow the next guy because they assume stuff works since everyone is doing it.

Just because the majority are doing things 1 way doesn't mean you have to follow suite. In many cases if the majority are doing things 1 way you might get better results going the other direction.

Don't get me wrong, you want to use fundamental marketing and conversion principles whenever possible, but if your target audience has been over exposed to certain ideas or methods, it's worth testing the effects of going in the opposite direction (at least with some elements).

It's also worth noting that there is a new breed of conversion focused web design emerging that blends traditional direct response ideas with web 2.0 design elements to create web copy and sales pages that are perceived as less "sleazy". You can find some good info on this exact topic in Ben Hunt's book's called "Convert" on amazon.

That's because you are buying from the wrong people.

Paul Myers uses them.

Paul Myers Internet

Dennis Becker uses them.

The 5 Bucks A Day System - e1kad.com

I use them.

SEO Forever: Yes, FOREVER

I can't speak for Paul or Dennis, but my conversion rate on that page is no lower than my conversion on flashy hypey sales pages.

People who sell on substance, rather than flash and hype, don't need those kinds of sales pages.

What surprises me is how many of them still use those, and I think the real reason is that on some level they're in love with the flash and the hype.

I understand that part, of course; I like the carnival, too. But I don't need to put one in my back yard.

Sometimes, for sure. Call me a skepchick but I strongly suspect that isn't always the reason, actually.

On different sorts of sites, it's for a very complicated mixture of three main reasons, I think (and they're partly conflicting ones) ...

(i) For all the reasons given above, which boil down to "dodgy-looking can perform better than other types" (though not nearly as often as people claim, in my opinion);

(ii) Because - like so many other things in internet marketing - many people don't split-test - or don't split-test adequately - but only pretend to, while secretly just using what they assume "must" work ("otherwise everyone wouldn't be using them, would they?" :p);

(iii) Because many people who do split-test actually draw the wrong conclusions from their results anyway. For example, it's easy to assume, if you're testing a squeeze page, that the one that produces the highest opt-in rate is necessarily "the best one". It's ludicrous nonsense, and it's often totally wrong (as I've proven repeatedly, myself), but it genuinely is what most people mistakenly assume: in other words, they define their parameters inappropriately. Such is life. :rolleyes:

Q: Why do all squeeze pages look so dodgy?

A: They don't. You have taught yourself to equate certain visual cues with the word "dodgy". Someone without the same association won't draw the same conclusion.

Printing off a few of these pages and asking others if they think it looks dodgy to them isn't a fair test; it telegraphs the 'correct answer' and leads people to tell you what you want to hear or what they think they should say.

Personally, I don't care for such pages myself, but I know that in the correct situation they work well.

Several years ago, when I was promoting a business opportunity, I ran a split test. One page was the kind many people here claim to prefer. The other was identical, except it had the red headline, points of emphasis highlighted with a neon green highlighter, bold text, underlines, etc. All of those 'dodgy' style points. I thought it was the butt-ugliest page I'd ever come up with. But that sucker outpulled the clean one by over 3:1.

If your plain, no-nonsense page isn't getting the job done, try adding a little razzle-dazzle, even if it repels you. You might be surprised how pretty some of those pages get when you blink at the results...

i love coming back to this thread and reading thru it. make me smile especially as some the responses have a bit of comedy attached to them :-)

There once was a little company who spent millions trying to figure out what the most successful colors were when it comes to attracting attention.

Those colors turned out to be red and yellow.

And, along with their other business strengths, McDonalds has a 96% success rate (meaning that less than 4% of their stores ever have to close) and they own some of the most valuable real estate on the planet.



...That being said, I agree 100% with Alexa. Many people simply don't test and track enough, and interpret what they do track with their own rose-colored glasses on.

With the exception of perhaps the "make money online" niches and the "how to make money with squeezepages" niche in particular, I have found that the opt-ins from squeezepages are not the highest quality.

In general, you get a much better lead when someone reads some of the other things you have written, on your blog for example, and then they want to opt-in to your list.

(Thus the name, "opt-in"?)

This way, they will actually look forward to getting your emails, and you know, open and read them.

Great post Daniel Deegan,

I was just about to write a comment but to be honest you said it all, there is no cut and dry rule in this industry, an old lady who knits cardigans for people does not think or act the same way as someone who does up Harley motorbikes

the same as someone who has not slept for weeks because they have a bad back thinks the same as someone who wants to breed poodles for a living when they retire

So food for thought, just like the squeeze page the autoresponders also take a different slant, we sell into some niches from the very first outset, others we dont offer a thing for weeks

the gurus like to teach a nice square cut method because it is simple to do this, but the industry is not square cut, and neither are the prospects who are online

All the best
Steven

The ONLY guy that I know is doing well and does things COMPLETELY different than everyone else, as far as keeping things very simple and non hypey at all is "Sean Mize"

he's the number one publisher on ezinearticles.com with over 20,000 articles last time I saw and his approach I've always liked because it's very simple, and very effective. If you are tired of this hype, his style will be a breath of fresh air for you for sure!

I dont like seafood. I think it looks and tastes disgusting. But yet billions are still sold.

I hope that helps you.

Learn what elements make up a good sales letter or squeeze page, and you'll find your own answer

ok, you may laugh at this, but the ugly pages convert. yes!

Do not be shocked. We even have some CPA ads, and the ones that stick our are the ugly ones that we hand drawn in paint. DO not ask me why, but when we test them, they just seem to work and outrank the neat ones.

So I do not care how ugly or neat anything is, if it pulls prospects and converts well, then I will use it over neatness. Realistically it probably comes down to your copy a bit too. However if you have something that is crappy or what you call messy, and it converts more than your other better looking pages why would you NOT use the messy one.