A checklist of 9 must-haves for a list-building rapid conversion landing page
We call an email-capture or name-squeeze page a Rapid Conversion Landing Page. Call it what you want, but what this page does is capture an email address, normally in exchange for a complimentary gift like a report or other product. To create one that works, there is a checklist of things that every RCLP must be able to pull off.
Your RCLPs are your most important pages because in order to make the most money online, you need to keep an ongoing dialog with your readers. Once your readers hear from you every day (or whatever your frequency), they will be the best and most loyal audience to promote your new products.
- Is the salesletter at least 500 words? Your RCLP salesletter, should be your biggest traffic driver. Done right, an RCLP will get ranked in search engines for your keyword terms with a potential conversion rate of over 30% (that’s pretty good).
- Did you do research a primary keyword phrase before naming your complimentary product? You can use the same method as we talked about in our How to Choose Keywords for Your Blog Titles article. You shouldn’t put up an RCLP for a product that won’t get any search engine traffic. The goal of the RCLP is collect new subscribers, not only to offer new gifts to those who are already subscribed. Here are other places where you should use the title of your new complimentary product:
- Body Copy – Use the report name several times within the body copy and order form in editorial (OFIE).
- HTML Buttons – Use HTML buttons instead of image buttons so that search engines can read them. “Yes, please send my free copy of “Starting a Garden” would be great copy for an HTML button.
- Image Alt tags – Use alt tags on any images on your page and make sure it includes the report name. Your images might be scenic ones, like GolfVacationInsider (B2C), or report images like fuelNet (B2B).
- Meta tags – Use the title of your report in the Title, Description, and Keyword meta tags of your RCLP.
- Does your RCLP ask for an email address several times in the salesletter? While having a salesletter is important, it’s more important to know that users aren’t going to read the whole thing, they’re going to skim. At the point that they’re convinced they want to give up their very valuable email address, they should have an email ask waiting for them.
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- Does your RCLP collect the email address on first submit? This could depend on whether or not your CMS has the functionality to do so, but an RCLP should collect an email address on the first page and add them to your database. On the second page of the orderflow is where they can enter more specific reader data like their first name and last name (and address information if needed). This way, if they decide they don’t have the time for a lengthy contact form, they’re already on the list.
- Does the first email you send a subscriber opt them in? Publishers have varying opinions on the opt-in versus double-opt in, but at the very least, a user needs to opt in once. If you are single opt-in, you can tell a user that by clicking the link to download their complimentary product (in the email), they are confirming their subscription to your newsletter. Double-opt ins can follow up after they have downloaded the product to ask again, or can ask a second time on a download page rather than in email.
- Does your RCLP offer bulletin lists? An easy way to digest information in an efficient fashion is to crop it down into a bulletin list. Creating a list that tells the user what they will learn from your product is an ideal way to do this.
- Do you show visitors your affiliations? Let’s keep this clear… a person is still only a visitor until you have converted them into a subscriber. If your RCLP is the first page they’ve stumbled upon with your name on it, they will be skeptical. This is why it’s a great idea to show on this page (at the bottom), what you’re a member of (Better Business Bureau or Magazine Publishers of America for example).
- Is your RCLP free of navigation and distractions? The only link a user should be able to click from your RCLP is your logo. Users are used to being able to click on a logo at the top of a page and have it bring them to the main site. That should be left alone, but any other navigation should be stripped from the page in order to increase conversion rates.
- Does your primary keyword hold a 2.7%-ish density on your RCLP? When your page is done and designed, run a keyword density tool like KeywordDensity.com (for a specific search) or Motoricerca’s Keyword Density Analyzer (for a much broader search). We’ve found that 2.7% is a great keyword density but you can have up to 5% without any negative repercussions from Google.
