As soon as I constructed this test I began to have feelings of doubt. I like to break rules, so who am I to make up answers? With that caveat, let me say that these are suggestions. Argue your points back. Here’s what I think.
Overall, less is more on a landing page. You objective is to get the visitor to take an action, so capturing their attention, being direct, and guiding them to the action is what it’s all about. You have about three to five seconds to do this.
Q1: Answer B. Multiple calls to action can confuse the visitor. Ask yourself, what are they really supposed to do and limit it to that. This is the equivalent of the old sales axiom, know when to shut up.
Q2: Answer A. Experienced practitioners will tell you that completion of forms is inversely proportional to the number of fields in the form. Keep it simple. You can use progressive forms as your prospect returns or bubbles up through your lead scoring process
Q3: Answer B. A simple privacy statement will do, and it adds some credibility at the moment the prospect is about to fill out the form. Again, links to privacy policies take people away. And full policies are too long to read.
Q4: Answer B. Congratulations if you picked B. Since many people just scan quickly, if your header is too large, it drives your content off the page or below the fold.
Q5: Answer B. While this is a preference, try the form on the left as a change up. It says this is a forms page, and let’s you finish with why they should fill it out, as opposed to letting the form have the last impact.
Q6: Answer A. Sometimes just doing something quickly is important, but in the long run, testing can help you. Ask yourself, if testing increased my conversions by 2% would it be worthwhile?
Q7: Answer B. OK. My first landing page had 12 links and helped generate leads resulting in $2M in new business. But the more links, the more chance there is to lose the visitor.
Q8: Answer A. Would you rather “Submit” or “Start Receiving Information Now?” Using specific action verbs and directives helps because it reminds people why they are submitting.
Q9: Answer B. Clever answer. Prepopulation may be OK after you’ve established a relationship. Used too soon, it can spook people off as opposed to make it easier for them.
Q10: Answer A. Bullets. People don’t read. They scan.
Q11: Answer B. I prefer fewer images and relevant images. Too many images make the eye wander because we look at images first, then we look at text. If your image is worth a thousands words then use it. But I see way too much stock photography that says this smiling beautiful person is a stock photo. Makes me want to barf. Doesn’t mean you can’t use stock photos, but they better tell a story.
Q12: Answer B. I like to ask questions (probably because I’m in my head a lot) and including one is OK. But getting to the point with an action-based statement is more compelling to me. What do you think?
Q13: Answer A. Being a world leader always makes me tune out. It’s not about you, it’s about them, and what you can give them to help. Seeing what others have to say or trust symbols helps the process.
Q14: Answer B. Whatever dense pack is… I don’t care for it much. I see way too many pages where I know I’m going to get a migraine because there is too much to look at, so I hit back or close the window. Less is more.
Q15: Answer A. My nemesis. Fewer words. Strunk and White: Omit needless words. Hard but necessary. Have someone else edit. Trust them.
Your Ranking:
0 to 5 Points: Apprentice. Wait until they have brail touch screens.
5 to 8 Points: Journeyman. Yes, you are learning a new tool, and since you’ve stuck with it this far, there is hope for you.
8 to 12 Points: Craftsman. You are a craftsman and understand the core principle of good design.
12 to 14 Points: Master. You can teach design. I have a job for you.
15 Points: Woo Lee Master. Call me. I want to learn from you.
Do great things.
Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Making Sales Cry With Qualified Leads
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110 (Cell 24×7)