When Life Gives You Lemons… Build a Squeeze Page That Converts!

lemon
If “squeeze page” makes you think of lemons, this article will teach you how to make lemonade.
Squeeze pages are an essential part of your marketing funnel, and are one of the best ways to capture customer data, and get your customers to take action.
What that action is, depends entirely on your business and the specific campaign, but more often than not you’ll use one to capture customer details, gauge interest in a particular product or service, or get people to make an enquiry.
At this point, it’s important to note that squeeze or landing pages are different from the main pages on your website.
Squeeze pages are pages designed specifically to send paid traffic from either Google AdWords or Facebook – they are a tool for lead capture. Whether you want people to download your lead magnet, request a quote, or buy a product; squeeze pages help you to ‘squeeze’ their data and add them to your list.
But how do you build one that converts? That’s exactly what we’re going to look at here! If you’ve never used squeeze pages before and aren’t sure where to start with setting them up, we’d
recommend having a chat with EC Trusted Supplier Matt Eldridge from Melt Design.
We also featured a two-part special on the anatomy of a winning landing page in the May and June editions of the Circular.
Right then; let’s get started! Here are the key elements you need if you want to build a landing page that CONVERTS:

C = Call-to-action
O = Offer
N = “Nice” images
V = Value and benefits
E = Engaging copy
R = Responsive
T = Testimonials & social proof
S = Simple but effective

C = Call-to-Action
The aim of your squeeze page, as we’ve said, is to get your readers to do something: Contact Us. Buy Now. Sign Up Here. Watch Our Video. Book a Meeting. This is the action that will take people further along your sales funnel.
And how do you get them to contact, buy, sign up, watch or book? You tell them, with a clear, tempting and prominent call-to-action (CTA). Tell your readers EXACTLY what it is you want them to do next, and I promise you many of them will.
Your CTA should be displayed more than once (both above and below the fold as a minimum) and should be a clear button. Don’t make people guess where to click. Visual clues like arrows are also really good ways to get people to look where you want them to.
Keep it simple and you’ll see an improvement in your conversion rates.
O = Offer
When your customer or prospect lands on your squeeze page, one of the first things they’ll ask is: “What’s in it for me?”
That’s where your offer comes in. Your offer is whatever it is you’re giving your visitors in exchange for taking action. This could be an exclusive discount, a free trial, your lead magnet, or a special gift. Just make sure it’s alluring enough yet – and here’s the kicker – still relevant to your products and business, to get people to convert.
And, of course, you can’t include an offer without a deadline!
N = “Nice” Images
Did you know that the brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text?
If you want your squeeze pages to be engaging – and most importantly convert – they need to include images. And not just “nice” images… really, really good ones. Images break up the text and help to illustrate your point more clearly and make your page more visually stimulating.
It goes without saying that your pictures should be:

  • Large and high resolution
  • Relevant to your product / service and page
  • Real photos – This isn’t the place for naff stock imagery

V = Value and benefits
You want people to take action, but even with the best offer, images and CTA, they won’t if your landing page doesn’t offer them any value. It goes back to their original question of “What’s in it for me?”
If you want your landing pages to convert, you need to make sure they’re focused on the benefits – not features – of your product or service. You can bullet-point this so it’s really clear and easy to digest, but it’s important your benefits are there.
Make sure your benefits and value are customer-focused. Tell them explicitly how they will benefit, how your product or service will make a real, tangible difference to them.
E = Engaging copy 
From your headline and subheadings right down to the nitty-gritty of your copy, if it’s not engaging, people simply won’t convert. It’s as simple as that.
And you need to start with your keyword. This is the word or phrase your customers are typing into Google when looking for your products, and should in the copy on your landing page.
When it comes to your headlines, you don’t need to fight for attention – your prospect is already on your page, you just need to get them to stay there. Your headlines need to explain exactly what the page is about.
It’s also important to note here, that your headline should include the same keyword as the Google or Facebook Ad your prospect clicked on. That way, they know immediately they’ve come
to the right place.
As for the rest of the copy on your page, make sure you speak in plain English but don’t be boring. Make sure you inject character and personality into the text, whilst explaining clearly what action you want them to take, and what’s in it for them should they do it.
Tell a story, make sure of subheadings and bullet points, and make sure your copy is customer-focused. You want to say “you” twice as much as you say “I” or “we”.
R = Responsive
When you last browsed the Internet, what device did you use?
Your customers are looking at your website on desktops and laptops, as well as mobile phones and tablets – not to mention across a whole host of browsers and op
erating systems.
This means, if you want to boost your conversion rate, your page needs to be responsive.
You need to make sure that no matter how I view your page, I get a great experience and am compelled to take action. If it’s a bad user-experience due to an unresponsive website, I’ll hit the back button and buy from one of your competitors.
T = Testimonials and social prooftestimony
People love to buy from people, and we naturally place a higher value on things that other people have already approved. Including testimonials from happy customers, press mentions and award wins on your squeeze pages, get people to take action.
S = Simple, but effective 
The final, but most important element of a landing page that converts is a simple and clean design.
A clean design will make your message and all-important CTA stand out, and compel visitors to take action much more than a page that tries to cram too much into a small space. Less is most definitely more when it comes to your squeeze pages!
…and there you have it, 8 essential elements to get your squeeze pages converting!
pieter-de-villiers