When we teach in the third section of the Landing Page Optimization Clinic, we need to convey certain key principles:
- To guide the sequence of thought in the conversion process, you must start where the person is and take them where you want them to be.
- You cannot start them where you are and expect them to follow you to where you want them to be.
This requires you to get inside of the mind and understand the principle thought that motivated the first action. This first action may be just the typing in of a search term. The hermeneutical key is produced from that search term; it indicates what they are anticipating next.
Essentially, this sequence of thoughts is connected with a special transition, like a chain. The key is to build momentum as they move towards an inevitable conclusion. At each point of transition there is a moment of orientation. You must use that moment to drive them towards the next step.
For example, if they come from a search ad to your landing page, you must help them to:
- Identify where they are at.
- Help them understand what they can do next.
- Why they should do it.
When you think of what they should do next, it needs to be in terms of the very next step and it needs to be in terms of the site itself. So there is a major and a minor answer.
The enemy to forward momentum is confusion. It is important to discern those elements which contribute to this mitigating factor:
- Distorted eyepath.
- Complicated directions.
- Conflicting objectives.
