Now let us check with a practical example as why a particular headline may or may not work. This is one headline that states. ‘Keeping Tabs On Your Diabetes Just Got A Lot Easier.’ Doesn’t it sound more like a typical generic marketing message since almost all products promise to make your life easier? The focus here is on the product on offer and not on the customer need per se.

Now check another version of headline. It goes something like this: ‘Maintain Your Optimal Health by Keeping Tabs on Your Diabetes’. What is it that differentiates the headline from the earlier version? The second version, as you may well have noticed, tries to highlight the ‘Optimal Health’ aspect. In this, it clearly focuses on a pain the user or reader might be experiencing.

Diabetic people desperately want to maintain a consistent level of physical well-being since their health condition heavily depends on maintaining certain glucose and blood pressure levels. This is what the headline keeps in mind by trying to address their pressing concerns so that they are encouraged to read the copy and buy the product. Thus it can lead to conversions that a business would want to see apart from meeting its customers’ needs. Headline is the first thing that the users will read. And the second version is much more likely to elicit an emotion and a sign-up on their part.

Now let us move onto another example. This is regarding Mozilla Firefox. They are known to do a lot optimization as well as testing on their landing page. What kind of copy will tend to increase the number of downloads or will improve the conversion for them? Let us check a couple of versions. The copy that states ‘Download Now – Free’ essentially contains a direct, descriptive and clear call-to-action.

On the other hand, ‘Try Firefox 3’ is not quite clear in its message and offering. If you’re giving out something as a freebie, you must clearly mention it. Make the message straightforward and direct so that users are able to follow it. This is what the first copy does and hence it works better in terms of increased the conversion.

Let us take up a case study or two to see how conversion optimization can increase conversion rates. Take the example of a debt consultant company looking to boost its business online. Its ad has been optimized, but the landing page is left untouched. What are the areas that can affect conversions?

1. The headline is not appealing and is rather quite confusing.
2. The font on the page is not clear and legible.
3. The information is not properly organized.
4. The copy doesn’t tell the visitor how the product can help them to solve their financial problems.
5. The form is cramped and a bit congested, too so users don’t get encouraged to fill it.

The headline should clearly indicate what the website does. The features must be highlighted on the landing page itself.  The copy should emphasize on how they can provide solutions to users’ problems.  The form should be clear and visible. All this will help to increase the credibility of the website.