Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

I assume you only want us to review the landing page (not how to get people to go to there from the article)?

My first thoughts are that I don't like it. Having the text "Start Making Money with a Professional Audio Conferencing Program" as a focus up toward the top makes this feel like a MLM scheme, which to me is a turn off.

I would instead talk about the market the product serves and the need for the product. Yes, people looking would be interested in making money, but I would not focus on that but instead on the need they would be filling. After you have convinved them of the market and need, then you can refer to the book as a way to find out more about opportunities.

An added challenge will come from the book itself. When I see a book for sale on a web site, I always check to see if it is available through normal channels (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.). I didn't find this book on Amazon - guess that makes me skeptical.

Added to this challenge is the description of what you get and price. Dividing price by number of pages, the more than $1 a page may be considered a bit expensive for a paperback. Even books that come with supplementary CD-ROMS and such are usually less than this.

You may want to take steps to head off people before they head toward the same perception that I did. For example, provide independent reviews of the book, quotes from satisfied customers, etc.

Sorry, this is off the landing page and more relevant to the buy the book page, but I think it may be worth looking at that also.

Hi Dave,

I have not read the above posts. I want this to be completely uneffected by any other critiques and treated it as if I was just landing on the page, say from a Google PPC ad as a result of a search.

BTW, I am a huge believer in landing pages. It is the first thing I try to convert my customers to with any email marketing or PPC program.

My 30-second impression was there are way too many links/calls to action, and none of them are really strong or compelling.

You should ideally have just 1 strong one. Too many of them that point to the same link, there are too many words and there is no dominant feature and benefit/WIIFM.

I didn't bother counting how many links, I stopped at 4. Only 1 image has a link, and it is broken.

The image on the top right is meaningless. If you are going to use an image, it should be worth a 1000 words.

It makes you have to think, and you don't want people to have to think, you just want them to click.

Seriously, I have a great online copywriter who can take this and work wonders with it. The copy and call to action are everything with a landing page like this. Contact me if you want me to talk to him about it.

TP

Telemoxie,

Likewise I'm not feelin it. It just does not have enough of the real life elements to improve the opportunity for me to consider the risk of trying to find out what you're trying to attract me too and why I need to be involved.

WHERE IS THE MAGNET?....
WHERE ARE THE REAL BENEFITS?....
Any great landing page, advertisement, selling concept should have a magnetisim that pulls me in. I mean it pulls me so strong that I can not get away from it. It gives me so many up front benefits to wanting to continue to read further that "I'd be a fool" not to read further. A matter of fact not only would I be a fool for not reading further I would literally "Kick myself" if I tried to walk away without reading further. This landing page is not doing it for me.

Is there anything else I can do for you? like tell you what will make me want to read further, Provide you with examples of what pulls me like a magnet. I love making my customers happier.

Your Servant, Deremiah, *CPE (Creating Pulling Energy)

Greg wrote:
I need to focus on the benefits of the book -- e.g., "Learn how to create a Profitable Audio Conferencing Program
+ Learn the tricks from an experienced professional with decades of publishing experience
+ Avoid common pitfalls
+ Get practical tools and resources"

I don't recall seeing a bio or similar on the web site, which would provide the information that you are that experienced professional...

Here is a web site for a guy who also sells books (and the sale is good enough that I have bought one of his books...):
https://artofthestart.com/

There isn't as much sale on this (I may recommend a little more than he does), but you definitely get the feeling that he is the expert and knows what he writes about.

This landing page lends itself to a direct marketing, direct selling, approach. After all, the page really only has one purpose - sell the book.

So, if the page really has that single purpose, which it should, then this is likely to become a sales letter, focused with typical direct selling techniques.

That's likely to mean many things, but putting the horizontal menu across the top is not helpful. Mostly, you'll want almost no links, except to a purchase process..

By the way, any outside reviews of the book? Get some. Any testimonials from happy readers who saved money, time or aggravation from using the data in the book? Relevant bio of author?

Focus, focus on the steps to get the viewer through the reading and selling process, and into the buying.

IMHO, your brother needs a direct marketing copywriter, fast. And an ad designer.

Oh wait, it's not just a book sale, it's some kind of oblique cover for Thompson Publishing Group. Is this an affiliate site? Or is the page owned by TPG? Can't tell.

Uh oh - no, it finally arrives at a link to a "brief introduction to audio conferencing." Will this article remove my need for the book? Is it a link to a TPG? Is the book itself simply a white paper for TPG services?

See? That really is some of the thought train I had while viewing it the first time. Not trying to be offensive or too harsh, but that's the kind of thing that happens eh?

This page needs to focus on the One Thing it's selling, and focus on the One Thing you want a reader to do - and get them to do it.

The corporate, somewhat sterile approach I think I'm seeing won't sell the book.

Just my $0.02

Bill,

good input. Another good font that is very easy to read and good on the eyes (now I'm giving away *CPE classified information LOL), that font is Verdana. I hope this helps but he's right about New Times Roman.

Your Servant,

Deremiah

Good afternoon, Brothers K et al. -

Right out of the chute, I agree that the look and feel of this page is what I often describe as "homespun." This needs a wee bit o' spit 'n polish. Also agreed that the font needs to be changed, and the offer/copy could use a little work, too. Regrettably, this is not the kind of project where you can really say what should be changed without actually changing it.

Also, if traffic is expected to come from an article that is not a hard sell, I think this should be more of a microsite than a pure landing page. IMHO, a true landing page follows a more direct offer.

Since all of the names involved are already out there (as I know both Dave and Greg, I didn't want to name anyone or any company that had not been named yet), my big question is, "Is this a GK publication, or a TPG publication?"

If it's TPG, then I'd highlight that a lot more since the name probably has better recognition. If it's GK, then I'd see about using the TPG name as the basis for the content. After all, TPG has a successful audioconference program of its own, and I think it's an easy sell to convince people that there is a wealth of knowledge on this subject in front of them.

If this is something I can help you with, please let me know. I do believe there's a "there" there, it just needs to be released.

Paul