Low-Converting Sales Page Diagnosis and Treatment

A low-converting sales page can often be puzzling, even frustrating. Especially when, no matter what tweaks you make, nothing increases conversions.

If you’ve spent hours writing sales page content that doesn’t convert, fret not.

A low-converting sales page presents you with a golden opportunity to improve your overall marketing message and increase sales without second-guessing your techniques.

If you use the magic wand solution of split-testing, you’ll uncover several factors that cause low engagement and sales.

Read on to uncover a low-converting sales page diagnosis and treatment.

You’ll discover not only the split-testing variables to look out for, but also the ninja marketing moves that will be your saving grace.

Your sales page may be too long.

Reader engagement is tricky—especially as it relates to sales page length.

When your audience stops reading, you stop selling. A long and winding sales page may be the reason the sales page traffic clicks the back button.

As you look at your traffic data, see where your audience stops reading the content. If traffic drops off completely mid-way, then the sales page may be too long.

Try cutting and rearranging content.

If your sales page data looks like the heatmap below, then condense your material and leave only the most powerful and solution-driven content.

Source: Crazy Egg

Warning: poor sales page performance may not stem from length at all. Your sales page may be missing engaging headlines and images that keep readers moving down the page.

Your sales page may be too short.

Sales pages will bore readers and decrease engagement if the content stretches on into eternity.

At the same time, the sales page might not give the audience enough to chew on.

You may need brief case studies, stories, and videos that illuminate the benefits of the product or service being sold.

Especially if you’re selling high-dollar products and services, your sales page needs to powerfully drive home the transformational benefits.

In other words, your sales page needs to…

• Express an understanding of the audience’s unique problem and drive home the emotional depth of that situation.

• Leverage facts, figures, and statistics that reveal what’s at stake and how you offer solutions to overcome tough issues.

• Implement storytelling techniques that engage readers.

• Reveal the deliverable takeaways that your customers will receive.

• Handle the nuts and bolts of delivery, payment, and rollout.

• Highlight projected results in the form of social proof.

Simply put: you can’t do all that inside a short sales page.

Take a look below for a heatmap that reveals what happens when you have a sales page that cuts off prematurely.

Source: Crazy Egg

Your sales page may need a story.

If you take length out of the equation, you’re left with the content itself.

Ask yourself about the missing ingredient that will unequivocally escalate your conversion rate. Think about the one thing that nearly always captivates audiences.

That one thing is storytelling.

Your ideal prospects will be drawn to an explanation of how something came to be and why it exists.

There’s no better vehicle to express that than a story embedded in your landing page. If you’re not seeing conversions, write a story that…

• Explains the struggle you or your clients have undergone.

• Describes the moment you figured out how to solve a particularly pesky dilemma.

• Grinds the pain of a bad experience.

• Reveals the results, and futurecasts what will happen for purchasers.

See below for a sales page story example that hits the mark.

Source: Snappy

Your sales page may need logical data.

If you have similar content throughout the entire length of the sales page, then introduce data.

When you project solid numbers, facts, statistics, and even scenarios, you appeal to the logical sense of the brain. Readers see facts and then slow down to digest and assess the situation.

We suggest using industry-specific data that reveals the stakes in a powerful way. To ramp up the conversion rate on your sales page, use data such as what’s listed below.

• 78% of all small businesses have zero team members, other than the owner.

• Only 45% of new businesses stay operational after 4 years.

• 91% of the customers say they’d give referrals, but most entrepreneurs don’t bother asking.

See below for a representation of how to present statistics on your sales page. The graphics will slow readers down so that they digest the information presented to them.

Source: Life Is Now, Inc.

Your sales page may need social proof.

Look at most any heat map and you’ll notice a recurring trend. Readers slow down to read testimonials.

After all, with testimonials, readers take a peek into a future they’d like to have.

The best part is, you’re not stuck using text-based testimonials. You can spice up your sales page with videos, social media screen caps, and even images that express the results you create.

We recommend placing purchase buttons near testimonial, as it’s clear social proof makes an indelible impact on sales page conversions.

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