Converting Browsers into Buyers through Deep Linking

Deep linking is the perfect strategy to present your products or services to online shoppers without them having to search for them on your website.

You know what it’s like shopping in a large store, trying to find what you want – it usually turns out to be on the 3rd floor at the back. After battling through crowds to find the escalator, you may well be tempted to give up. How much easier would it be if what you wanted was always just inside the front door?

Unlike bricks and mortar retailers, you can give your website visitors a stress free shopping experience by clever promotion of your website. Present them with just what they’re after, without them having to look for it, by using targeted pages within your website for visitors to land on.

Visitors need to find key pages quickly and easily. If they land on your home page and then have to spend ages finding what they want, the chance of them giving up and going to your competitor’s website is high. You want them to carry out an action – to buy something, to register, to sign up for a newsletter, whatever action is key for you. These are the pages that visitors need to be taken to. Deep linking is an excellent tool for increasing conversions and sales.

So when should you be using landing pages? Here are some ideas for when you could create specific pages to promote your products or services:

Pay per Click campaigns
Creating a landing page for each different product or service that you are promoting through pay per click ads will save visitors searching for the information they require, and be presented exactly with what they are looking for once they have clicked on your ad. This will really help to convert those prospects.

Email marketing
If you are sending emails to your database each week or month promoting your latest products, then make sure that when the links in your newsletter are clicked on, they go straight to the relevant pages or landing pages on your website. Again, this will help convert those readers.

Affiliate programmes
Products that are endorsed by third parties must be a click away from the ad. Make sure these landing pages are interesting, relevant and with a strong call to action.

Articles or press releases
If you are writing about specific products or services, or are telling the world about the launch of a new product or service, again a landing page created with the visitor in mind will keep their interest and is more likely to lead to a conversion.

Here are suggestions of how landing pages may be used to improve the effectiveness of your website to convert more visitors:

Pre-selling of products
Images of your products, even a review of their features and benefits can entice visitors before they are even on your website. Links or banners promoting specific categories or sections of your website can also be a very effective way of driving sales to these areas. Make sure these links lead directly to the pages where the visitor can buy.

Feature articles
Informative articles on your website can act as a hook to draw visitors’ attention to your products or services. This will not only give the visitor an interesting article to read, but will provide the context of their decision to buy. Link directly from here to the relevant ‘buy now’ pages on your site, and converting visitors will be much easier.

Linking to sign up or registration pages
If you want to promote a newsletter or a competition on your website, linking directly to those pages will increase your chance of converting your visitors and ensuring they sign up. Ensure the registration process is quick and simple and emphasise the benefits of signing up.

There are now millions of websites on the internet, so surfers are being presented with an ever-growing choice. Visitor attention span is famously low, so it’s crucial that websites give their visitors a quick and simple way of finding what they’re looking for. Landing pages used in the right places will do this for you. A few simple changes to a well-designed site to accommodate landing pages is a strategy that will pay dividends.