Getting donations can be a tricky business and when it comes to donation pages for online giving you need to make sure they're optimized effectively or else you won't be successful. Your pages need to clearly explain why you are seeking donations, how you’re going to use them and what you’ve done with donations in the past. Having a easy-to-use, simple and concise donation page that clearly states the above ideas is essential for getting the contributions needed to keep your organization running smoothly.

What are you donors looking for on your website?

There are general standard pieces of information that donors expect to see when they arrive at a donation page. They want to be able to ascertain quickly and easily several things including your organization’s:

• Mission and goals
• Objectives
• Past work and accomplishments
• Use of donations

If these elements are missing from your online giving page you may be turning away some possible donors, after all, if someone can’t determine what you’re going to do with their money they are certainly going to be less likely to donate. The prospects arriving at your donor page are looking to be convinced about whether or not your cause is worthwhile.

What are the key elements of a strong donation page?

There are some specific key elements that are important to donation pages just like any other landing page. The aspects listed below can help to optimize your donation page for conversions (donations). Missing one, or several, of these elements can reduce the effectiveness of your page and can stop you from getting all the donations you can for you efforts. Like most landing pages, it’s important that your donation page features strong and compelling calls-to-action and obvious conversion buttons, but you also must include several other elements to help convince visitors that donating to your organization is the right thing to do. These aspects include:

• An eye-catching heading or title to encourage donors to read further
• Effective and relevant images can go a long way towards convincing visitors to donate
• How you will use the donations
• Your mission
• A large prominent conversion button with a compelling call-to-action
• A way to capture emails for future updates (you don’t want visitors to miss out on the opportunity to donate again in the future!)
• Ways to share and spread (social media and sharing options are important for spreading the opportunity to donate to other possible donors).
• A simple and easy-to-use donation functionality with a range of options for donating
• A concise form 
• Trust elements. People don’t want to donate money to organizations they don’t trust. Including elements such as your organization’s privacy policy, a better business bureau link (if it applies to you) and other similar aspects help to instill trust in your visitors.

Testing and Improving

So now you’ve created your page and added the elements of strong donation pages, but your work isn’t done, in fact it’s only just begun. Just because you have all the necessary elements on your page it doesn’t mean that they are necessary optimized. Using A/B split and multivariate testing you can test different versions of your page, and individual elements themselves to help you determine what gives you the best results. Simply by moving a button, heading, call-to-action or link you might increase your conversion rate exponentially, but you’ll never know if you’re not continually testing. Some of the common aspects (and most important) to test are:

• Page Headings. This is one of the first things that will grab your visitors’ attention, trying out different variations can help you to find the most compelling one.
• Body Copy. While we suggest keeping your landing page copy to a minimum it’s important that the copy you do have is as effective as it can be. 
• Images. Depending on the purpose of your page, an image can be more effective than any copy. Try out different graphics to see which has the most powerful emotional connection for your donors. 
• Donation amounts and options. If you want to appeal to a wider audience you need to have flexible options. Have the ability to donate a one-time fee vs. a monthly fee, or trying out different minimum donation amounts can have an enormous effect on the type (and amount) of people that donate. 
• Forms. Nobody wants to fill out a long arduous form. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to donate so don’t bore them with long forms asking for information you don’t really need. Keep it short and sweet. 
• Calls-to-action. Your calls-to-action are what tell you visitors what you want them to do. If these aren’t effective as they can be, then you may be missing out on a large opportunity. Button size, color and location. Believe it or not, tiny details like the size, color and location of your conversion buttons can have an impact on the amount of people that will click on them. Make sure you test to see what your visitors find most eye-catching.

Obviously these aren’t the only elements of effective donation pages, and what works for one organization won’t necessarily work for another one. However these points are a good place to start and will hopefully help you get off on the right foot with your donation page optimization.

Have you found any other tactics or elements to be effective for your donation pages? Let us know!

Image by oneiroi on Flickr

Well, today's webinar didn't go as smoothly as usual, (for those of you who couldn't attend, we had a few technical difficulties early on with our webinar service provider). However, we hope you all found the information in today's webinar useful and as usual, here are some of the most frequently asked questions from today's webinar:

How can I get access to Google Website Optimizer and how much does it cost?

Google Website Optimizer is a free tool provided by Google and, in our opinion is the best free tool for performing A/B split and multivariate tests on landing pages. You can get access with your Google Account information.

What is the best tool to track landing page conversions?

We like to use Google Analytics to track our landing page conversions. This, in conjunction with Google Website Optimizer tests can help you improve your conversion rates and get more sales.

Do you think text or button links are more effective as calls-to-action?

This is going to depend on your target audience, but in general, we find buttons (especially big, colorful ones) to be more effective as calls-to-action because they tend to draw and engage visitors' attention more readily than regular text hyperlinks.

What is the most basic information we should have on a lead capture form?

In general it is a good practice to ask for as little information as possible on an initial lead capture form, because you don't want to scare your visitors away. First and last names and email address are often enough information for this kind of a form. However, if you're look for more targeted leads, this will change for you. It really depends on your business and your target audience.

We hope you all found today's webinar helpful. You can view the recorded webinar here. Make sure you register for our next webinar, "How to Turn Your Website into a Demand Generation Machine."

As promise here is the second half of our list of landing page mistakes that can cost you sales:

1. No privacy policy. Including a link to your company's privacy policy on a landing page is an important way to create trust. Your visitors are a lot less likely to give their contact information if they don't trust you to use it ethically.
2. Not communicating who you are. When a visitor arrives at a landing page they want to know immediately what company it belongs to. Make sure that you have your logo somewhere (and if necessary) some company information. Sometimes including information about what your company does can add credibility to your offer.
3. Not communicating your value proposition. If your visitors don't understand why  they should take action on your landing page, or provide you with their information, they probably won't.
4. Too much text.When it comes to landing pages, the best practice is to communicate your offer and value proposition as quickly and simply as possible. A text heavy landing page requires too much of a time commitment from casual visitors, and keeping the content skimmable is a good way to increase the number of people who take the time to read your message.
5. Not testing (or understanding which tests to use). We've said it before and we'll say it again, testing is the only way you can improve. If you're not testing your landing pages, then you won't know what you need to improve. Using tools like Google Website Optimizer and doing A/B split and multivariate tests is a crucial aspect of your landing page optimization process. If you want to learn more about the different landing page improvement tests, you can read our post on our, "Top 5 Tests to Raise Your Landing Page Conversions."
6. Not tracking conversions. If you're not tracking your landing page conversions then you can't be sure how effective your landing pages actually are, or where you need to focus your efforts. You can track your conversions with tools like Google Analytics.

Landing pages are one of the essential elements of any marketing campaign but only if they’re done correctly. If you’re guilty of making any of the mistakes on this list your landing pages may not only be detrimental to your campaign, but they may actually be costing your company sales.

1. Not keeping important information above the fold. If information is “above the fold” it means that it can be viewed by a visitor without the need for them to scroll down your page. This seems like a simple concept  but your visitors need to be able to see the value of your offer and other important information immediately upon arriving at your landing page. If you force them to look for that information by scrolling the often they will just click away, decreasing your conversion rates.
2. Being too general.  Every landing page you create should be specific to an individual marketing campaign.  Your landing pages have a much greater chance of converting the more targeted they are. Generic landing pages used for multiple campaigns aren't very appealing to a visitor who probably found the page by acting on a specific campaign.
3. Not ensuring you marketing campaign and your landing page are consistent. This is one of the biggest mistakes you can make when designing a marketing campaign. To convert successfully (and hopefully generate sales) a landing page needs to have a message that is consistent from your advertisement, straight through your conversion funnel. If one of your visitors clicks on an ad, and then arrives at a landing page that doesn’t at all relate to the campaign they followed, your visitors may feel ripped off or may even come to view your landing page itself (and consequently your company) as untrustworthy. 
4. Hidden or missing calls-to-action. The last thing you ever want when a visitor comes to your landing page is for them to wonder, “What am I supposed to do now that I’m here?” You want to make it immediately obvious to your visitor exactly  what action you want them to take (usually in the form of a big call-to-action button) and how they can take that action. Hint: this is precisely the kind of information that needs to remain above the fold. 
5. Too many calls-to-action. While we’re not saying you need to have only one call-to-action on a landing page, there is a difference between having one or two effective calls-to-action, and littering your landing page with so many that your visitors don’t know what to do and lose sight of the original reason why they clicked-through on your campaign in the first place. Make sure that you don't forget the goal of your landing page (you should only have one primary objective per page; this goes back to keep your pages targeted).

Stay tuned for the next 6 items on our list!

When it comes to web marketing, being successful means understanding the basics—and doing them right. One of the key basics of web marketing are landing pages, the page a prospective customer will arrive at once they click on a banner ad, a search engine result link or any other marketing offer or campaign. We have always found that one of the best ways to improve our marketing is to learn from others who are already having success, so, to help explain the common characteristics of effective landing pages, we’ve found some examples we think will help illustrate our points.

First, things first, what are the common characteristics?

1. Have clear calls-to-action. It is essential that you make it as simple as possible for your potential customers to do exactly what you want them to do, whether it is sign up button for a demo or a link to subscribe to your newsletter (for example).  It is okay to have multiple calls-to-action, as long as you make sure that your page doesn’t get too complicated. Having one hard call-to-action, mixed with one or two soft ones, is usually a good strategy.
2. Keeping important information above the fold. We often advise marketers to keep their landing pages as simple as possible, and that is in general a good practice. Having cluttered landing pages filled with irrelevant information, can make it difficult for your customers to determine the goal of the page and let’s face it, most people are lazy. They don’t want to figure it out for themselves; they want you to tell them. Having said that, some of your visitors may still want further information before their commit to clicking on your button or filling in a form. If you feel that there is information that is relevant and necessary for those people who want further convincing, make sure you keep that information below the fold (the section of a screen that a user has to scroll down to view) so you don’t muddy your offer or confuse potential customers. 
3. Establish trust and credibility. Using customer testimonials and including your privacy policy are great ways to establish trust. If someone doesn’t trust your landing page or you company, then they are unlikely to give you their personal information. The amount of trust you can convey is often proportional to the amount of conversions your pages have. 
4. Keep your branding consistent. You want to ensure that when someone arrives at your landing page it is clear that it is connected with your brand. You never want a visitor to arrive at a landing page and think, how did I get here? What company does this page belong to? Or worse, is this a fake or malicious page? It’s important to keep your landing pages up to date with your current site and company branding.

Harvest, a B2B company which sells online tracking a billing software, does a great job of communicating the value of their offer, using a clear call-to-action and keeping the page simple. They also include a ton of further information below the fold including some soft calls-to-action, a list of satisfied customers, links to more in-depth product information and their privacy policy.




Basecamp HQ is a B2B company that sells software to help teams collaborate and manage projects online. Their landing page does an excellent job of communicating exactly what Basecamp does, as well as offering some great testimonials (including video), a list of high-profile customers, a big, bright call-to-action button that communicates clearly the goal of the page and some statistics about their company.  Below the fold you can find further company information, notes about where the company has been mentioned in the media and a link to their security information.



Webtrends is a web analytics software provider for that has been working in the internet industry for over a decade. This landing page does a nice job of keeping the page simple, establishing their offer, and what the company does, and has a nice big call-to-action. Their is a link to their privacy policy at the bottom of the page and they only include the information they feel is relevant.



This page is from the Salesforce.com website and it is for a free trial of their contact manager software. The landing page has one clear offer and call-to-action, consistent branding with the rest of the Salesforce.com site, and keeps all of their important information above the fold. Scrolling down the page leads to further links to their company's privacy statement, further contact information and their site map. They also do a neat job of including an unobtrusive yet effective customer testimonial at the bottom of the page.

Have you ever wondered why, despite your best efforts, you’re not getting the number of conversions you want from your website? Maybe it’s time to put yourself in your visitors’ shoes and look at your landing pages from their point of view.

Would you buy your products? Would you follow your calls-to-action? If not, it means that your landing pages need some serious help, and the number one way to improve your landing page conversions is thorough, proper testing.

So what are the top 5 tests?

1. PPC Search Dynamic Change Tests.  People like to feel unique and your landing pages should achieve that. By creating a landing page with content that dynamically changes based on the visitors’ search topics you can make them feel engaged, which encourages them to fill in your form.
2. Registration Form Tests. Your forms are as important as the landing page itself and the way you treat your forms can help reduce landing page abandonment. When it comes to forms, you really need to test them against the goals of your landing page and decide what works for your company.
3. Creative Element Tests. Don’t forget to test the graphics, copy, layout and design for your landing page including: typography; color, shape and size of buttons; and number of columns. All of these elements can have an effect on the success of your landing page, from both an aesthetic and functional perspective.
4. Organic Search Landing Tests. This is focused more for niche visitors. Creating a landing page for a specific niche, and ensuring that your page is the best source of information on that area is important for directing a targeted call-to-action for search engine visitors.
5. Mobile Email tests. Research from MarketingSherpa shows that 3 years ago over 64% of decision makers were already accessing their email and the internet via mobile devices. Imagine how much that has grown since then? With mobile market share estimated to hit over 50% by 2011 it’s absolutely crucial to ensure that your landing page renders properly for mobile devices.

If you want to learn more about landing page tests, and how you can implement them effectively, check out the webinar we presented on Top 5 Tests To Raise Your Landing Page Conversions with MarketingSherpa in our resource section.

A landing page is the page where your customer will arrive after clicking on a banner ad, a search engine result link or any other internet marketing offer or effort
and, if all goes well,  you’ll be able to garner contact information—one of the first steps towards a possible sale in the future. Landing pages should be targeted towards specific offers and can be easily measured, tested and optimized--so why are so many marketers still in their same old landing page rut?

Despite their obvious importance, too many marketers aren’t using landing pages to their best advantage. According to a MarketingSherpa study, 50% of web visitors will click away from your landing page in the first 8 seconds after arriving because the offers don’t appeal to them. With statistics like that, it’s clear that your landing pages need to be the best that they can be—are yours up to snuff? If not, here are 6 quick tips on how you can optimize your landing pages and capture more leads:

1. First impressions are everything! In order to capture your visitors’ attention, it is best to have a simple offer that is attention-grabbing and relevant. Keep the most important information above the fold so that your customers can see it quickly and easily and make sure that your call to action and offer are easily distinguishable.
   
   
2. Communicate the value of your offer. It is crucial to make sure that your offer is clear and specifically targeted to your campaign’s main audience and that your landing page quickly explains how the offer will benefit the visitor; this means that your offer needs to be attractive and easy to take advantage of. 
   
   
3. Keep it simple. Your visitors, no matter how interested they are in your offer, don’t want to be bogged down with complicated navigation, hidden calls to action, or long registration forms. Navigation should be clean and simple to minimize confusion; calls to action should be clearly stated and easy to accept; forms should be simple and only request relevant contact information.
   
   
4. Make your conversion button as obvious as possible. This point relates to the point above—not only should your call to action to simple and easy to accept, you should make your “submit” or conversion button the most prominent thing on the landing page. Make it painfully easy for your visitors to turn themselves into conversions.
   
   
5. Build trust by communicating your privacy policy. No one is going to give you their contact information if they don’t trust you. Make sure that your visitors know what they are filling out, where the information is going and how it will be used.
   
   
6. Measure, hone, repeat. So your landing page is capturing leads—but is it capturing all the leads that it can? You should always test multiple versions of landing pages so that you can learn what works best and refine your page.  Always measure the results of your landing pages, hone the page to perfection and then repeat.

While these are by no means all the ways that you can optimize your landing page, they are some of the simplest steps that usually have the largest results in terms of lead capture. Try some of these steps out and let us know how well they work for you!