(Note: You can also download a slightly modified PDF version of 3 Tips for Selling More E-learning.)
In the previous installment of this three-part series on selling more e-learning I focused on large, “bulk” sales of courses to organizations. Look for more here on Hedgehog & Fox in the future on boosting direct selling skills to support this approach. In the meantime, however, let’s get back to selling to individual visitors to your Web site.
In the first place, you have to attract potential buyers to your Web site if you expect to get sales. I will be posting more soon on driving traffic with tools like search engine optimization and pay per click, but in general, I find that attracting traffic is not the most significant barrier that organizations have to achieving higher e-learning sales. A more significant issue is not understanding that…
Landing Pages Must Convert
So what’s a landing page? It’s what most organizations will think of as the description page for a particular course in their catalog. It’s the place where, ideally, you should be communicating the value of the course offering and converting a prospective buyer into an actual buyer.
A landing page is where the action is when it comes to selling products online. It’s usually the last place a visitor “lands” on your site before clicking the “Buy” button, and often it is the first place as well. If a user finds a particular course offering through a Google search, for instance, she may go straight to the page in your site with information about that course – i.e., the landing page for that course – and never see anything else in the site. The stakes are high – you need to get that user to click “Buy” while she’s on that page, or you may lose her forever.
So what’s to be done? Here are ten tips for making sure your landing pages convert:
- Use concise, benefit-driven headlines
A good landing page will have a heading at the beginning of it – i.e., large, bold text – that gives the visitor an idea of what she will find on the page. Don’t just use the title of the course for this: state concisely a major benefit the visitor will receive from the course. Speak to what you feel your prospective learners care most about. - Put the important stuff “Above the fold”
“Above the fold” simply means the area of the screen that most people see in their browser without having to scroll. People tend to focus on what is at the beginning of a page, and to a lesser extent, what is at the end – they are likely to skim most of the rest. If you offer credit or some other form of validation for the course, make sure that is obvious. A testimonial and picture above the fold can also be highly valuable (see below). Finally, you usually want a clear “call to action” above the fold.(Whether the call to action is above the fold or further down will vary according to factors like the complexity of the product, price of the product, and how users arrive on the page. In general, the more costly and more complex the product and the “newer” the visitor, the more likely the call to action will need to be further down the page – after you have provided the visitor with compelling reasons to take action.)
- Have a clear call to action
A “call to action” is simply your request that that the visitor do something – and usually this means clicking a “Buy” button to make a purchase. As noted above, you want to make sure this call to action appears above the fold. You should also repeat it at least once on the page (generally at the end), and perhaps more than once, depending on how long your copy is. - Lead with a strong value proposition
I find that many organizations simply launch into a description of the course content at the beginning of their landing pages. It is important, of course, to have good content, but a potential purchaser cares much more about the value he will derive from the content. What problem does it help the prospect solve? What new doors will it open? Make that clear – and make it clear above the fold. - Focus on the buyer
Your organization is great. So are your subject matter experts. But those are secondary considerations for the buyer. She wants to know that you understand her situation and have created something that really meets her needs. Use the second person when you write your landing page copy. Forget the “we’s” and the “I’s” and focus on the “you’s.” - Make use of testimonials
One of the best ways to convey the value of an offering to a buyer is to offer testimonials from past buyers with whom he can identify. If you are not in the practice of gathering testimonials from your e-learning participants, start today. And start putting a high quality testimonial above the fold on each of your landing pages. - Include pictures of people
Pictures are a good thing in general on landing pages. In the case of online learning products, which may prompt some prospects to worry about lack of communication with an instructor or other learners, pictures of people can be reassuring. If possible, you may even try to get pictures of the actual customers who give you testimonials. - Use sub-headings
I note above that visitors to a page will generally skim most of the content below the fold. Using sub-heading – i.e., larger, bold text – to call attention to key areas of your copy throughout the page can help make sure that key points that do not merit a place above the fold are noticed. - Don’t send visitors away for more information
The only reason a visitor should leave a landing page is to take the action you want them to take. If you feel you have to provide additional information that might make the page copy too long, do it by using pop-ups or rollovers. - Keep it simple
This rule applies first and foremost to the call to action. Don’t list five different pricing scenarios with a “Buy” link for each scenario. Use a single “Buy” button, or possibly a member and non-member button. If you really have to offer more pricing scenarios than that (and think long and hard about whether you really do!), then do it on a screen after the landing page. In general, keep your language simple throughout the text on the landing page, and don’t present the visitor with extraneous options. Remember, your goal is to get visitors to take a single action. To the greatest extent possible, anything that interferes with that should be removed.
Address each of the points above, and you should see improvements in the number of e-learning sales your Web site produces.
That’s it for the 3 Tips for Selling More E-learning series, but if you are looking for more reading in this general topic area, I encourage you to check out Selling E-learning to Members: Basic Success Factors and Pricing Online Learning.
Jeff