The following process is used for sales pages.
- Ads, opt-in pages, checkout pages, remarketing also receive this treatment but the process is different.
Before we start any test. We single out the most important variable and only test one at a time. Any more than that and it becomes impossible to analyze which change was responsible for the difference.
Here are the key ones:
Hooks/Headlines – The first thing a user sees and impacts directly how many people keep scrolling down.
You can test headlines by changing:
– Tone
– Length
– Emotional appeal
– Use of Numbers
– Headline vs Hook (not the same thing)
Course Engine – This is what separates your course from everybody else in your niche. It’s the reason why the person hasn’t yet gained the results they want and why you’re the right person to teach them. Learn how to create one here.
Calls-to-action – Can lead to higher click rates over to the check out page (and thus purchases). The more people that move forward in the process directly correlates with more sales.
You can test:
- Copy
- Placement
- Color & Design
- Urgency or Scarcity
*heat maps are your friend. This happens too often but we will notice a negative space, paragraph or image within the sales page that receives hundreds of clicks for no reason, place a button there and boom (conversions go up).
Copy Length – Very niche dependant. You compare short-form copy vs long-form copy.
The Story – Market research is key. Every person uses the following formula to search for what they want:
“When I find . . . I want to be able to . . . so that I can . . .”
A good story places them in it and leads them through this process invoking emotions, presenting outcomes, uncovering problems and enemies etc…
This is why the “my course is good for anyone” phrase is the quickest way to show you are an amateur and not to be trusted.
Social Proof – The #1 trust building add-on. Most people will say that these do not work and they don’t believe most of them are real but yet they work every single time. When you don’t have testimonials… test “featured in” or “worked with” sections.
Visual Design – These have a direct impact on the perception of your brand and your course. People already have associations. Each one of us has seen 1000s of ads, commercials etc.. and things need to fit into this world view. This is not the time to be witty, original or try to teach them to blink twice instead of clicking the mouse or play hide and seek with your checkout button.
You can test:
- Color scheme
- Graphics
- Typography
- Size
- Vertical grid adjustments
- Using negative space
Pricing strategies – There are some benefits to this test but I find that they mostly work (A) whenever you’re first starting out and haven’t figured out a price that works, (B) after you’ve added a ton of social proof to your site & (C) when you built out a solid back end and can make additional upsells, downsells & cross sells.
You can test
- Discounts (with timer or without timer)
- Bonuses
- Payment plans
There are many more but these are enough to get started.
