Landing Page Makeover Clinic #28: IntelligentEditing.com

This is another addition to our ongoing series of tutorials and case studies on landing pages that work.

Daniel Heuman’s software helps writers, editors, translators, and proofreaders prepare error-free documents with greater ease and speed. He tried and abandoned PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, as he discovered the folks who clicked through weren’t his best prospects. (That’s a technique that almost certainly deserves some more thought and attention another time.)

Daniel is now marketing directly to prospects via email and showing some success, but he feels more can be done.

Let’s see what we can do.

• The Goal: Generate enough free-trial downloads to sell 3 licenses a day.
• The Problem: If folks are downloading a free-trial and not converting, it’s a product vs. value problem. If the problem is growing the numbers of prospects to take the free trial, that’s a traffic problem. If interested prospects are visiting the site or landing page and not engaging with the message, that’s a conversion problem.
• The Current Landing Page (homepage): http://intelligentediting.com
• Value: $90.00

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The Maven’s 10-Point Critique

My personal take is that Daniel needs to generate enough traffic – via organic, SEM and social media channels – to grow his own mailing list to which he can continue marketing to his heart’s content. A stronger, more effective homepage would offer an overall boost to his ongoing marketing efforts.

#1– Make your case in the first screen with a strong, provocative headline.

Why would a professional writer or editor pay $90 for additional proofreading functionality?

The rational reason: Cleaner, error-free documents.

The emotional reason: To look better in the eyes of a boss/client/customers.

Sloppy work reflects badly on the writer and the company represented. Clean work makes everyone feel good and confident.

So while the current headline: “Proofread Faster, Proofread Better” is a clear statement, I’m wondering how we can juice it up a little? How about:

Just One Typo Can Rob You of Credibility and Cash

You’ve just gone from “reasonable” to “irresistible” with a provocative headline that resonates emotionally with the visitor.

#2 — Add more oomph to the tagline.

Again, your tag is very clear on the most basic of benefits: Cleaner, Smarter, Better Documents

That’s a good start, but then I’m thinking … why and for what?

A great exercise for headlines and taglines is to take your basic feature or surface benefit and “Why? Because!”or “So what?” your way through it until the core emotional truth is revealed.

Try working these words (or their variants) into your tagline:

• polished
• presentation
• reflection

#3 — Invite your visitors to take your video tour from the get-go.

You already have a nice little video, yet you’ve basically hidden it from view. Slap it on your homepage and do a voice-over track. I found watching the material without a guiding voice unnerving.

Your voice-over would allow you to expand on the action in the video and highlight those areas of greater interest.

Don’t hide the good stuff. Warm it up and share it.

#4 — Be upfront about who this product is and isn’t for.

The only place I see “MS Word for Windows” is in teeny type under your box illustration. I’d give this more push so Mac users can grunt and grumble under their collective breath and move quickly elsewhere.

#5 — Keep sprinkling the goodies that keep visitors thinking “This is for me!”

Highlight the product’s ability to proof both British and American English. This capability strikes me as huge benefit for writers/editors working internationally.

You also have a strong guarantee. Get it on a homepage badge and show it off.

And you make customized versions — another wow, especially for those working in big organizations.

#6 — Rework your navigation for greater clarity.

You’ve hidden a lot of the product goodies in secondary position in terms of your primary navigation. I suggest the following revisions:

Primary navigation

• HOME
• Features
• Success Stories (Testimonials & Case Studies)
• Reviews
• Resources
• Download & Pricing
• Contact Us

Secondary navigation:

• About Us — FAQ & Tutorials — Forum — Blog — Support

#7 — Build your traffic organically with smarter SEO.

This is your current title tag for search:

<title>Intelligent Editing — Cleaner, Smarter, Better Documents</title>

A tagline, though, isn’t necessarily a good meta title — and it’s the title tag plus the content that Google sizes up and determines your topic and site relevancy.

So let’s adjust and get some primary keyword phrases in the front of the title like this:

<title>Proofreading & Editing Software for MS Word Documents :: Intelligent Editing</title>

I didn’t do the research to determine if these are indeed the best keyword phrases, but you get the idea. Frontload the terms that your prospects are using to find you … and add the product name, too.

#8 — Build your mailing list with a newsletter and a blog.

Since your email campaigns have been pretty effective for you, that means you need to add more names to your list so you can continue doing — and expanding on–– what works for you.

Add a newsletter sign-up and offer one or more of your current resources as a bonus for subscribing. Add a blog, too. It doesn’t have to be fancy or involved. See tumblr.com or preposterous.com for some easy-to- implement ideas.

#9 – Connect with your prospects with social media.

Build your authority in this niche space on this niche topic via Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. If there are writer/editor specific social media venues, make sure you have a presence there, too.

Social media is a long-term strategy to building credibility and a fan base that trusts you and ultimately your products for purchase

#10 — Tweak your homepage with one big Call to Action.

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I’ve tweaked your current homepage to reflect and illustrate the suggestions I’ve made here. (I know you didn’t want me to, but honest, I just couldn’t help myself. :)) You could easily flip the placement of the video and headline/bullet/call-to-action sections.

(Mea culpa for the incomplete sentences, dangling participles, and other little idiosyncrasies that make editors weep and gnash their teeth. All I can say in my own defense is this: “I’m a copywriter.”)

My thanks to Daniel Heuman for his patience and support of Heifer International. Look for my next makeover in approximately 4 weeks.