In the HVAC world, it’s all about lead generation, especially in the winter and summer months. For our HVAC clients, more booked appointments mean more opportunities to sell their services. The industry is very competitive because every HVAC company is fighting for the same leads within a narrow local area.
TLC HVAC Services, based in Virginia, contacted us to get better results from their online marketing campaigns. We met with the leaders of the company to discuss their current results and what leads/sales goals they wanted to accomplish in the next 3, 6, and 12 months. We evaluated their marketing efforts, including their website, SEO, Google Adwords, social media, and more.
Here is what we found…
- The website pushed qualified prospects away from the site
- The Google Adwords campaign was not setup correctly and they were bidding for the wrong keywords
- Their SEO campaign violated Google’s standards
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What is a landing page?
Okay, before we continue, let me define what a landing page is. A landing page is any page within a website that contains an element, like a form, used to capture a visitor’s information. If there is a page where a visitor lands, but there is no clear action that needs to be taken, it is usually just classified as a webpage. In short, all landing pages are web pages, but not all web pages are landing pages.
TLC’s issue
For TLC, their visitors were being led from Google Ads to service pages related to the visitor’s search query.
In our initial evaluation, we noted that these landing pages were only converting an average of 5.26% of website traffic Google Adwords into leads.
For a service-based business, their website visitor to lead conversion rate should be much higher. TLC was losing leads. Their website was similar to using a fish net with holes in it!
Here are a few common issues we found with the landing pages:
Cluttered/Too many distractions
In the 1980s, the average attention span for humans was 20 minutes. Now it’s only 8.25 seconds (less than a goldfish)! It’s important for your web pages are focused and get straight to the point.
Too many call-to-actions
Give the website visitor one call-to-action (CTA). TLC made the mistake of having multiple CTAs. To name a few:
- Financing Available
- Save 15% with Our Energy Savings Agreement
- Free Plumbing Diagnostic
- Schedule Service
A landing page should have a 1:1 attention ratio, meaning the ration of interaction points (links) to the number of calls to action on any give page should be equal. There should be one call-to-action for each page.
Multiple ways to exit the page
Make your visitors focus on the action you want them to take. In TLC’s case, we wanted the visitor to request service. On the old landing page, there are links to their social media profiles, other pages, search bar, and more. Don’t send your visitors away from your page or the action you want them to take!
Too many contrasting colors
Red, orange, yellow, bright blue, and green… Just to name a few! Too many contrasting colors on one page are distracting. Our eyes don’t know what to focus on. Limit contrasting colors to the call-to-action for the page.
How we improved the landing page
Besides improving the design and reorganizing the content so that it is easier for the visitor to absorb, here is a list of 5 special tactics we used to improve the results of TLC’s landing pages:
1. We catered to 2 types of visitors
We separated the website layout into 2 sections. The section above the fold (the area on the page a visitor first sees before scrolling down the page) and below the fold.
- Above the fold – We designed and organized this area for visitors who typically make quick decisions. They want the “cliff notes” version of who you are, if you can help them, and how to content you. These visitors don’t want to read long paragraphs or dig through information to find what they want.
- Below the fold – This area is for visitors who need more detailed information. These visitors will typically spend more time on a page reading reviews/testimonials, awards, company information, guarantees, etc.
2. One call-to-action (CTA)
We used a 1:1 attention ratio. There is one call-to-action on the page: “request/schedule service.” That is exactly what we want the visitors to do.
3. Added “credibility builders”
Add social proof like a 100% satisfaction guarantee, customer reviews, BBB A+ rating, and Angie’s List super service award. We incorporated these to build confidence in the visitor that TLC is a top HVAC company and provides excellent service. We want the visitor to feel comfortable in choosing TLC.
4. Subliminally showed the faces behind TLC
It’s a small detail, but it can make a big difference. We incorporated a picture of the TLC staff within the background to show that TLC is an established company. Also, our our brains are hardwired to respond to faces.
5. Removed the navigation bar
We don’t want visitors to look at other pages. Everything they need is on the landing page. Keep visitors focused on the action we want them to take, which is requesting service.
The Results
Here are the results of the old land page:
| Month (2015) | Conversion Rate |
| March | 2.74% |
| April | 5.65% |
| May | 7.41% |
Average Conversion Rate = 5.25%
And after we launched the new landing page:
| Month (2015) | Conversion Rate |
| May | 27.67% |
| June | 18.84% |
| July | 30.94% |
Average Conversion Rate = 25.81%
The new landing page converted 20.55% more website visitors into leads!
Strategically designed landing pages are a HUGE opportunity that most businesses are missing out on. Hopefully this article makes you think how you can improve your website and landing pages to generate more leads and sales for your business.