Increase Conversion Rate by Telling a Story and Having a Plan
If you want to increase your conversion rate and create a really great lens today’s post is going to give you a couple keys to the process.
1. Create a plan.
2. Tell a story.
Sounds simple ~ and it is. Before you EVER put one word on paper (screen) you need to have a plan, and you need to have a story. Let’s see what those look like.
Create a plan:
You want to make sure you know a couple things for your plan.
1. Your most desired action. What is the one thing you want people that hit this page to do? For our purposes here and now it’s probably “click through to amazon”. However in the future it may be something different. You may want them to subscribe to your newsletter, you may want them to bookmark the page, you may want them to click an adsense ad. Whatever it is a page can really ONLY do one thing at a time.
2. What is the keyword you’re targeting? Really ~ what exactly is the keyword you are targeting for the page? You want to make sure you know it so you can use it.
3. Is your product relevant to the keyword? I’ve talked in another post about how important everything being relevant is to make things really click together and work on your lens.
This brings us to the story. I’ve mentioned many times how important it is to speak conversationally in your lenses. This is very true. I find it much easier to do this when I’ve created a story to tell.
How do you create a story?
1. Think about your keywords. Who do you think is on the other end of the keyboard typing those words in? What do you think they want from typing those words?
2. Get creative and make it up.
Let’s take a look at the inversion table lens I did ~ who did I think was looking up that keyword? People who are having back pain, have tried everything else, are tired of spending money on chiro that doesn’t work, people who are frustrated and just want to be free of back pain.
Are those the only people looking for inversion tables?
NO probably not. ~ however ~ those are the people I’m going to talk to in this lens. When you try to talk to everyone you end up talking to no one. Make your story and stick to it.
What did they want when they got there? Information about how an inversion table will help their back pain, a good inversion table to buy, a little ecouragment that this isn’t the dumbest idea they’ve ever had.
Writing a lens is much like writing a story from this point on. You want to have a beginning a middle and an end.
The beginning is where you make your introductions ~ you tell them what you’re going to talk about, and make them feel comfortable on your page. YOU DO NOT SELL in your introduction.
This is NOT to say you don’t link to your product in your intro module, because you should. In a post over at SquidooCool Lewis is talking about the green links in intro modules and what Squidoo found out when they took them out of the intro modules.
In a forum post about these ads Megan from Squidoo HQ posted the following message: “We tried excluding the links from the Intro module, and that made revenue from these ads nosedive. Really nosedive. So we put them back in”.
So, good news!
Squidoo can see from their stats on over one million lenses that text links in intro modules get LOTS of clicks.
The Best:
Forget the text link ads – it’s time to go through all your lenses and add a relevant affiliate link to the intro module!
What squidoo learned from that test really shows us that having a link in the intro module seriously increases conversion. So put them in there ~ but don’t sell it.
The middle ~ this is where the meat of your content is going to be. This is where you’re going to give them the information, the links to buy, and let them know this is a good decision that has been made by many other happy people.
The end ~ this is where you want to tell them exactly what to do next (complete your most desired action). We call this a call to action. You also want to let them know ~ from your content this is the end of the lens, thanks for coming and make them feel good for being there.
How do we accomplish ALL this on a Squidoo lens?
Seems like a mighty task, but it’s really pretty simple.
The beginning ~ say hi ~ not literally, but tell them what you’re going to be talking about, let them know it’s THEM you are talking to. So for the inversion table I’m talking to people with back pain who are frustrated and looking for a solution. Here’s what I said to them:
If you have or know someone that is experiencing back pain you can give them a great gift this holiday season. You can give them the gift of relief. The Ironman Gravity 4000 inversion table will help relieve back pain and improve posture.
This let’s them know I’m speaking to them, and their problem. I’ve got a link to the solution right there, but I’m not selling it ~ I”m just saying it might be something that can help.
The middle ~ where we give them information, links, and make them feel comfortable about the buying decision.
features module: talk about the features, let them get a feeling if this might be the solution for them.
videos: give them more information about the product/what it does/if it will help them.
polls: let’s them get involved
testimonials: let’s them know other people have made the same decision and were happy they did.
call to action: give them a way to get to the product and a savings is always a bonus.
The end ~ Where you get them to take your most desired action, help them feel good about being on your page.
Call to action: the big arrow module is super for this.
Guestbook: great way to say a little “thank you for stopping by” and make then feel like you really are glad they were there.
It’s all about how you approach it.
All of these elements are truly dependant on what you write. For example:
The beginning: If you start your lens off with”save 70% on this item now” That doesn’t really help you introduce yourself or let them know you are going to help solve their problem ~ that many times may lead to them having the opposite feeling ~ “oh they’re just trying to sell me something”. While savings are great ~ and 70% rocks ~ you don’t ask someone to marry you on the first date and you shouldn’t start off your lens relationship with buy this now.
In the middle you can have features modules and it can go one of two ways ~ you can copy info off the amazon page or you can talk to people, like you were really talking to them, trying to solve their problem. The latter will definitely work better toward improving your conversion rate.
The testimonials, videos etc you have to keep talking to people. Sure you can just post a video ~ but really. If you found a great video you thought would help a friend would you really send them a video without any explanation of why you’re sending it or why they should watch it? You shouldn’t on your lens either.
You can just post testimonials, but again ~ would you just send a friend a testimonial if you all were talking about maybe buying a product? No you’d probably say ~ hey a bunch of people have bought this and looks like they’re pretty happy about it, check out these testimonials I found about it. Right?
The end: The big arrow module pretty much speaks for itself, but when it comes to making people feel glad they hit your page ~ you have a lot to do with that. Do you just leave the default title on your guestbook or do you ask them a question about what they’ve been reading about? Do you leave the default content in the guestbook module or do you talk to them, ask them a question get them involved. When you’ve been hanging out with a friend do you just get up and walk to your car without even a goodbye or maybe a hug? That’s what your guestbook is. Even though you may not say those exact words ~ that’s the feeling you can provide with the guestbook.
Final thoughts:
Even though you are trying to sell stuff on these lenses remember there is a person trying to solve a problem at the other end. Whether it’s what to get for Uncle Fred for Christmas or how to alleviate this unbearable back pain. If you can give the person what they came for, and make them feel glad they found YOU the sale will be the easiest part of the lens.
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Another excellent post, Jackie. Having just finished another Squidoo lens last night some of your comments are very timely. I actually removed the intro link from many of my lens thinking maybe it was too hard sell but I think I’ll put them back. Squidoo has access to such a huge amount of data that you can’t ignore their findings.
As an aside – I find much of what you write about useful for non-Squidoo sites as well.
Hey Dawn,
Yes almost all of it is applicable to affiliate/internet marketing no matter what platform you choose to put your content on.
Glad I could help.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Hey Jackie,
Great post as usual. It is so true that writing content is one of the hardest things for people and you do a great job of laying it out in an easy manner.
I think that a lot of us get wrapped up in using our keyword a certain amount of times and other SEO tactics that what we end up with writing just sounds weird.
Keep up the great work!
Chad
Hi Jackie,
Thanks for another wonderful post, I have learned so much from you and really appreciate your advice. I see where I am going wrong with some of my lenses by reading this.
Also, I was wondering if you could address backlinking using our other lenses. I have 25 lenses now, how could I use those to help backlink the new lenses I make in the future and is it a good idea? Thanks for any help,
Jennifer
I had a question regarding duplicate content. I’m pretty good at coming up with unique content but I was wondering how “unique” my articles actually need to be.
Say I have a 500 word article I’ve submitted to 3stepads… Is it just enough to take that article and change some of the words and switch some things around or do I need to completely start from scratch?
I guess I’m asking if similar content is just as bad as duplicate content. I want to make sure all my hard work isn’t actually hurting my rankings as opposed to helping. Thanks again for everything you do!
Dennis
Follow me @dennismw on Twitter!
Oh an also to touch on that same subject, have you used any unique article creators? Are there any that you recommend? I was looking at mass article creator and mass article submitter earlier it looks like a decent product, but I would rather take your word for it!
Follow me @dennismw on Twitter!
Hi Jackie!
Another great post! Thanks!
If I’m doing a lens on a product that doesn’t necessarily have a benefit from it like your Ironman Inversion Table does (relieving back pain), I don’t see how I can tell a story with it like in my TAG Grand Carrera lens. Please help me to understand this better!
Thanks!
Cindy
Follow me @casurette on Twitter!
Oh the tag carrera has benefits!! Take a look at this post, and read the comments.
http://internetmarketingformommies.com/lets-talk-product-benefits/
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
@Dennis. Why are you writing 500 words for 3step ads? YIKES. Think of 3 or 5 different things about your product ~ write 150 words or so about each one. Use each one as a post on a free ad blog ~ just make sure you use your keyword for the anchor text back to your lens.
I particularly find unique article wizard perfect for this stuff. It not only submits your articles to many different article directories as well as regular blogs (for lots of backlinks) it also spits out as many unique versions of the article you need to use in other places. So you could actually just get unique versions of your article to place on the free ad blogs, hubpages, wetpaint etc.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Well I don’t write near that much for 3stepads that was just the first thing that came to my mind lol!! I usually keep it short there but write closer to 500 words for hubpages, eza and other resources like that… Thanks for the help!
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Jackie,
I am so glad I found you. I am finally starting to understand what I need to do to be successful. Thank you so much for the great information and for speaking in understandable language.
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Hi Jackie
Thanks for another of your very helpful posts.
I may have missed it in one of your previous posts, but please let know how you put the colour patches behind the comments as on this post … and also behind reviews in Squidoo lenses.
Thanks a lot, and regards
RUSSELL
Follow me @kimbarra on Twitter!
Hey Russell,
I will save Jackie some time here, the colour patch html code is as follows:
TEXT GOES HERE
TEXT GOES HERE
TEXT GOES HERE
Hope that helps!
Chad
Ok that did not work, I should have know that putting html code in here would not work.
Anyways check out http://www.squidoo.com/advancedhtml and go about a 1/4 of the way down and you will get the code and instructions on the back round color you are looking for.
Chad
Thanks Chad ~ you can also grab the code for this and the call to action from the “here” link in this post: http://internetmarketingformommies.com/how-to-get-much-faster-at-building-lenses/
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No problems Jackie, I hope you don’t feel like I stepped on your toes
Your post was what I was looking for but I could not find it when I went looking!
Hey no problem ~ I can’t be at my computer 24 hours a day ~ only 23 1/2
That’s exactly what I use is that lens so good pick!!
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
How well you present ideas and clearly connect them to action-steps. I like how you teach Squidoo lens structure and strategy within an easy to remember paradigm of “1. Create a plan. 2. Tell a story,” and then say exactly what you mean by that. You are modeling well the process you teach. Nice work.
I have very much enjoyed your blog and email Jackie.
I home school my boys, and am grateful to have the ability (and help) to stay at home with my boys.
What I really think is wonderful, is you are helping others, keeping it straightforward and simple.
Happy Holidays!
Victoria
Hi Jackie
I’m back again with a couple more questions.
1. I’m using Micro Niche Finder to select a product for Christmas giving. I’ve found one I like in a good price range. When I search MNF using the Amazon product title it says in the heading ‘200 (exact) Search Results’. When I use the Exact Phrase column it gives me an Exact Phrase Count of about 22,700. Am I doing something wrong? The SOC reads 3 with a Light Competition green tick. Ad Cost is low @ o.o5. The search volume is 2,400. Would you read this as a good product to go with?
2. If I use an Amazon product title as my keyword and Amazon have already listed this with Google (which seems to happen in most cases), wouldn’t the average buyer go straight to Amazon to buy rather than going thru my Squidoo lens even altho I’m listed high on page 1?
3. In your reply, above, to Dennis, you mention Unique Article Wizard as being a good option.
Do you recommend UAW even altho is rather expensive @ $67 pm?
And do you have an opinion on Need-An-Article (which appears to go hand-in-hand with UAW?
Jackie, once again thanks for your continuing helpful advice and comments. I don’t think I’d cope without your help!
Regards … Russell
Follow me @kimbarra on Twitter!
Hi Russell
On MNF you don’t have to hit the exact match button ~ it’s the default. Just go with the numbers it gives you when you search. 200 is not very good search volume for this: have you seen the product on how to narrow down a product name into a good keyword? It might help.
I’ve answered this in quite a few posts ~ the amazon page is being ranked based on the authority of the overall site, not the page itself. If you build links to it you can generally outrank the amazon page. And no it doesn’t necessarily mean just because amazon is ranked above you people will buy from them. I’ve made sales on the ironman lens and it’s at #5, below amazon.
For you Russell, I do not recommend UAW. The system can be kind of confusing, and at this point as you are learning I don’t think you would get your money’s worth. I’ve heard of the need an article service ~ but haven’t used it ~ I always wrote my own articles.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Jackie, as usual I’m getting here late!! I have quite a few lenses, but according to what I’m reading here, all wrong. I do get some sales, actually once they reach Amazon they buy.
Now I was wondering, what do you think would be best as they are not getting a lot of traffic yet. Can I drive the traffic with links and in a slower but systematic way improve the lenses? I reading all your posts again as before Christmas I was really pressed for time and simply wanted to make some money, which I did, thanks to you.
If I redo all the lenses, and my bad blogs, I will not get to any linking and my feeling is get them there and them improve the lenses as some are buying as they are at the moment in any case?
Follow me @magriet on Twitter!
I wouldn’t worry about redoing anything. It’s best to build new than to keep tweaking all your old stuff. Just implement the new things you’ve learned while building the new lenses. Yes, you can take some time to continue to build links to your old lenses to help them move up the search engine results ~ but keep building new stuff. If you’re making sales from your current lenses, chances are you can make more sales with more traffic. Focus on the linking to increase traffic, and keep building new lenses.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Thanks Jackie, just the advice I needed!
Follow me @magriet on Twitter!