Small Changes. Huge Gains.
Changing only the headline on a website boosted the visitor-to-subscriber response by about 470%. Not bad, right? Especially when you consider that the change took me all of a couple minutes.
Small changes like this can equate to huge results. It’s literally the Butterfly Effect in action.
The Butterfly Effect: “…the idea that a butterfly’s wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location. The flapping wing represents a small change in the initial condition of the system, which causes a chain of events leading to large-scale alterations of events.”
Here’s just a few modifiers I’ve found increase online results.
20 Response Modifiers To Capture More Clients
- Traffic Source – not all traffic is created equal. Try different sources and check your results.
- Page Load Time – the mouse-click makes for an impatient person (I have mouse gestures installed so a wave to the left and I’m gone). Slow-loading equates to not helping the visitor reach the information they want.
- Headline – how well does your headline capture visitors and pull them in?
- First 250 Words – if you get them reading past the first 250 words then they’re yours. If not, they’re lost.
- Audio Intros – audio has shown to increase conversions as much as 20%.
- Video Intros – video can be tricky to do right, but can also be the most compelling element on your page.
- Color Scheme – Microsoft and Apple have spent bajillions of dollars defining their color schemes. Color matters.
- Font Size – the easier it is to read, the more it will get read. Pretty simple, actually 😉
- Font Choice – times new roman? verdana? not only does font choice affect readability but it also has na impact on the overall “feel” of your site.
- Testimonials (text/audio/video/photos) – proof. Plain and simple. Test different methods of sharing those testimonials.
- Personal Picture – ahh, the hero shot. Does a Glamour Shot pull better than a casual/candid?
- FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) – how accessible are your FAQs? Are you answering the right questions?
- Case Studies – more proof but this time highlighting the Problem-Solution process.
- Movement – the eye is drawn to movement. How does response improve when movement is added to a key area of your page?
- Lead-Capture Forms – a key to lead conversion. The number of fields is a factor but also how you draw attention to the form.
- Benefits List – are you really communicating the benefits of using your services? are they different than what’s listed on another Realtor’s site?
- Sub-headlines – function just like a headline. Capture scanners and skimmers and pull them back in to your copy.
- Guarantee – risk-removal. Sure, you could guarantee your services but what guarantees can you make as to the usefulness of your site or their privacy?
- Your Value Proposition – what value will folks receive by working with you? You’ll find different markets will respond differently – find the one that resonates with yours.
- Tag Line – Nike has “Just do it,” Domino’s had “30 minutes or less or it’s free” (included guarantee.) What tagline is most memorable and builds your brand? (side note: three word taglines such as “Service. Experience. Integrity.” are lame. They don’t actually say or mean anything to the reader.)
There you are. A bunch of response modifier “butterflies” that can transform your current results into huge gains.
Oh, and I don’t recommend testing them all at once. One at a time so you can actually see the impact of each.
Now, these are just a few… what are some other response modifiers that should be included?
