New Eyetracking Heatmap: 6 Ways to Get More Webinar Sign-Ups

By Anne Holland, Content Director

Webinars are the second-most popular lead generation offer in business-to-business technology marketing this year, topped only by white papers. Which is rather stunning given that nobody had even heard of a webinar a decade ago. (But then, we'd never heard of iPods either.)

I see a lot of great, informational webinar promotions out there. Marketers are very good at the emailed invites and ads in emailed trade newsletters. However, I must admit that nine times out of 10 when I click through to see your landing page … it stinks.

OK, I understand it's not your fault. You're limited by the Web or IT department about what you can do on your company site. And when you have ideas for improvements for an upcoming webinar registration form, they probably say something like, "Get in line."

However, if they have an opening and you can slip in a webinar registration page improvement project, print out this heatmap and show it to them:



This heatmap is from an exclusive study MarketingSherpa conducted this spring with real-life business executives. The goal -- to determine how you can design webinar registration pages to get better results.

Six lessons you may want to share with your Web designer and online copywriter:

#1. The first word in every headline and paragraph has vastly more impact and influence over response rates than any other words in the headline, sentence or paragraph. Look at each first word. Is it the most powerful you can possibly use for the critical position?

#2. Replicating important words -- such as the topic of the Webinar and keywords for your marketplace (in this case VoIP and Internet Phone) -- in multiple positions over the page can improve response. Don't assume the prospect carefully read everything on the page from start to finish. Assume their eye flickered about and they only spotted perhaps 25% of the information. Make sure highly relevant keywords are present no matter where that eye flickers.

#3. Two-column formatting, where both the informational copy and the registration form are above the fold may help response rates. Definitely test it. However, we would strongly advise against two columns of textual copy. This print-design layout never does well in online eyetracking tests.

#4. We would also advise against a third-column such as a vertical navigation bar or additional, unrelated offers above the fold. Landing pages with fewer click options, fewer path decisions, nearly always get far higher response rates. Note how this Web designer placed alternate navigation options well below the fold where they would not distract from the registration offer at hand.

#5. Bullet points work. Bullet points often blow paragraph-style copy (with nearly the exact same words) out of the water. But, you already knew that.

#6. Add immediate calls to action, such as a large "Sign Up Today!" and a bold "Register Now" even when you might think the action is self-evident. Being politely pushy can pay off.

For your own free PDF download of the complete Executive Summary of the study cited above, including more exclusive charts, go to:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/exs/BusTech07Excerpt.pdf?8966 or call (877) 895-1717.