Author: Franz Malten Buemann

The goal of a landing page is to get visitors to take an action, whether that’s to buy a product, sign up for an email list, start a free trial, or something else. 
But like any goal, you shouldn’t just “hope” that it’ll be achieved. You need a strategy that guides visitors toward completing the desired action. 
One way to get visitors to take action is to use mental triggers — subtle cues that nudge readers in the right direction. In this post, we’re sharing effective mental triggers you can use to optimize every element of your landing page. 
Optimizing your offer
Your offer is the most important part of your landing page. Because no matter how many optimization techniques you employ, if your target market doesn’t want your offer, your landing page will not convert. 
A quick way to test whether your offer will convert is to see if it fulfills one of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who theorized that there were distinct levels of basic human needs. Certain levels (like the need for food and water) had to be met first before a person would care about more sophisticated needs (like creativity). 
Maslow envisioned this hierarchy like a pyramid: 

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If you can match your offer to one of these basic human needs, you can be relatively sure it will be desired. 
For example, computer security software would fall into the “safety needs” category, like this offer from McAfee Total Protection:

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On the other hand, a university landing page inviting visitors to enroll would fall into the “esteem” or “self-actualization” category, like this offer from Capella University:

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Optimizing your copy
Your copy – the words on your landing page – is what will ultimately persuade someone to take the desired action. So, it’s very important. 
Don’t rely on sales techniques, such as using hyperbolic words like “best” or “only.” Today, most people are too familiar with marketing tactics to fall for these techniques — and may even resist them. For example, a 2013 study found that people react negatively when they sense someone is trying to persuade them in marketing. 
Instead, emphasize the free will of the reader, so they feel empowered to make their own decision and will be more likely to trust your offer. Use phrases such as “you are free to choose” to ensure readers don’t feel they are being “sold to.”
Another non-salesy (but very effective) strategy is to use storytelling in your copy. Studies have found that traditional urgency techniques (e.g. “limited time offer”) are not as effective, especially in the long-term, as showing the value of your offer through storytelling. 
To make storytelling easier, try following the simple framework created by the founder of Storybrand, Donald Miller. It consists of elements found in the hero’s journey: 
 

Character

Has a Problem

Meets a Guide

Who Gives Them a Plan

And Helps Them Avoid Failure

To End in Success

For example, this accounting firm’s landing page uses the story of the Problem their market is facing to make their message persuasive, but not salesy:

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Optimizing your headlines
To capture visitors’ attention immediately and keep them engaged on your page long enough to evaluate your offer, you need a compelling headline. Speak directly to the benefits of your product or service and how it fulfills an essential need for your prospect.
One technique to use is the focusing effect.
The focusing effect is the tendency of people to place too much emphasis on one thing at the expense of others. When it comes to your landing page headline, though, you can use this to your advantage.
Your product or service likely has many benefits, but highlighting your unique value proposition (UVP) in your headline helps prospects focus strongly on that one feature. 
JumpCrew lists several of its benefits in the copy, but highlights its UVP (more customers for less money) in the headline to grab visitors’ attention and make them hungry for more information:

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Optimizing your images
Your images are also very important when it comes to how visitors will feel when they view your landing page. 
One proven strategy is to choose images of people (instead of inanimate objects). 
The theory goes that it’s easier for people to relate to other people than to objects. But you can also take this a step further and take advantage of research that found that when the people in the images are looking at the CTA button, viewers also instinctively look at the button and become click it more often. 
For other best principles, you might find it helpful to follow an image checklist created by the 60-Second Marketer. The images must…

Look trustworthy
Demonstrate the advantages of the offer
Contrast with page design (stand out)
Express desired emotions
Make it easy to see the CTA button

For example, on the following landing page, there’s a photo of a person, who’s looking at the CTA button, and who conveys the desired emotions of the target audience: 

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Optimizing your CTA buttons
Finally, apply strategy to create CTA buttons that drive more conversions. One of the most effective strategies is to make your buttons stand out from the rest of the page as much as possible. 
According to marketing and psychology researcher, Nick Kolenda, this strategy works because of something called processing fluency. Processing fluency refers to the phenomenon that the ease with which readers understand what to do is closely related to whether they perceive the action as easy and pleasant. 
In other words, if a button is easy to spot and click, it feels easier and more pleasant to actually click. In turn, this will increase conversions.
Take a look at the following example landing page. The CTA button is orange when nothing else on the page is orange. This makes the CTA stand out more. 

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Wrap Up
Simply creating a landing page and generating traffic to it is not sufficient to increase your conversions. You must design the page with the right elements while implementing some mental triggers. Only then will your visitors be persuaded to take action and your marketing funnel start to collect more and more leads.
The post Design An Optimized Landing Page Using Mental Triggers appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

Big Idea or Enduring Question: How do you allow Sales reps an easy to transfer their opportunities to another user? In today’s world, Sales reps switch their job frequently. Transferring their existing or closed deals or leads to another user is … Continue reading →
The post Getting Started with Salesforce Flow – Part 63 (Allow Users to Mass Transfer Records They Own) appeared first on Automation Champion.

My email inboxes can be a bit of a mess at times — both my personal and professional accounts. I tend to check my emails when I first log on in the morning, at lunchtime, and when my afternoon meetings taper off, but if you wanted me to verify the exact times of day I’m most inclined to review, I couldn’t do it. And when I’m short on time, I typically gravitate toward the more interesting messages sitting at the top of my inbox, instead of the critical business notices that require me to take an action.
When it comes to identifying engagement patterns like these, humans are pretty unreliable. But as it turns out, computers are very good at it.
As a marketer, don’t you want your email to be at the top of your subscriber’s inbox at the precise moment they’re ready to read it?
That’s where Einstein comes in.

What is Pardot ESTO?

Einstein Send Time Optimization (ESTO), one of the most popular features in Salesforce Marketing Cloud, is now available for Pardot customers. ESTO uses artificial intelligence to evaluate the open and click data for your messages, then picks a send time that’s best for each prospect.
When you conduct a list email send with ESTO, it means that your message will show up at the top of your prospect’s inbox at the exact time they’re most likely to interact with it — whether that time is between their first and second cup of coffee, during the lunch time lull, or between back-to-back afternoon meetings when they’re looking for an energy boost.
In Pardot, this level of personalization is now as easy as scheduling a send.
How Pardot ESTO works
Simply pick a start time for your send and a time window over which to send it. The length of time can range from three hours to one week. When the scheduled start time arrives, Einstein will pick the best send time for each prospect and deliver accordingly.
Over the course of the send’s time window, you can monitor your open rate to see which prospects are still in the queue and the individual send time for each prospect, so you can keep a close eye on what’s happening with the send.
I may not be as wise as a computer when it comes to analyzing my daily email habits, but I do know that the best time to get started with ESTO is now.
Ready to try it? ESTO is only available in the New Pardot Email Experience. Still need to activate it? Get started with our Set Up Email in Pardot knowledge article.

In the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, two children drop breadcrumbs in the woods to find their way home. Nowadays, you probably don’t experience too many lost-in-the-wood experiences, but I’m willing to bet you’ve felt disoriented on a poorly designed website.
In web design, breadcrumb navigation is a way to show your users their location and how they got there. Like Hansel’s breadcrumbs, it helps users retrace their path and see where they are in the greater scheme of your site.

While you can style breadcrumbs however you’d like, they tend to look the same across websites that use them. Here’s a simple example of breadcrumbs from the HubSpot Knowledge Base:

Jakob Nielsen, co-founder of the acclaimed Nielsen Norman Group, has been recommending breadcrumb navigation since 1995, and makes a strong point for their usefulness and efficiency: “All that breadcrumbs do is make it easier for users to move around the site, assuming its content and overall structure make sense. That’s sufficient contribution for something that takes up only one line in the design.”
If your business’s website is multi-layered, you might consider implementing breadcrumb navigation to make your site easier to navigate. However, like any design element, there’s a right and wrong way of doing it. Here, we’ll explore nine tips and examples to ensure you’re creating the most effective breadcrumb navigation for your users.
Breadcrumb Navigation Tips and Examples
1. Only use breadcrumb navigation if it makes sense for your site’s structure.
Breadcrumb navigation has a linear structure, so you only want to use it if it makes sense with your website’s hierarchy. If you have lower-level pages that are accessible from different landing pages, using breadcrumb navigation will only confuse readers who keep accessing the same pages from different starting points. Additionally, if your site is relatively simple, with only a few pages, you probably don’t need breadcrumb navigation.
2. Don’t make your breadcrumb navigation too large.
Your breadcrumb navigation is a secondary tool to your primary navigation bar, so it shouldn’t be too large or prominent on the page. For instance, on DHL’s website, their primary navigation bar is large and recognizable, with columns like “Express” “Parcel & eCommerce” “Logistics”, etc. Their breadcrumb navigation is the smaller section below that reads, “DHL Global | > Logistics | > Freight Transportation”. You don’t want your users to mistake your breadcrumb navigation as the primary navigation bar.

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3. Include the full navigational path in your breadcrumb navigation.
I Googled “Elon University Non-Degree Students” to reach this landing page, but Elon is smart to include the full navigational path, including “Home” and “Admissions”. If you leave out certain levels, you’ll confuse users and the breadcrumb path won’t feel as helpful. Even if users didn’t begin on the homepage, you want to give them an easy way to explore your site from the beginning.

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4. Progress from highest level to lowest.
It’s important your breadcrumb navigation reads left to right, with the closest link to the left being your homepage, and the closest link to the right being the user’s current page. A study by Nielsen Norman Group found users spend 80% of their time viewing the left half of a page and 20% viewing the right half, making a strong case for left-to-right design. Plus, the link closest to the left will appear as the beginning of the chain, so you want it to be your highest-level page.
5. Keep your breadcrumb titles consistent with your page titles.
To avoid confusion, you’ll want to remain consistent with your page and breadcrumb titles, particularly if you’re targeting certain keywords in those titles. You also want to clearly link your breadcrumb titles to the page. If the breadcrumb title doesn’t have a link, make it clear. Nestle effectively labels its breadcrumb titles to match the page titles. “Areas of impact & commitment”, for instance, reads the same in the breadcrumb navigation as it does on the page.
Nestle also does a good job differentiating links from non-links with different colors — the links are blue, while the non-links remain gray.

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6. Get creative with design.
The traditional breadcrumb navigation looks like this: Home > About Us > Careers. However, you don’t need to follow the traditional path if you feel a different design could appeal more to your audience, or look better on your site.
For instance, Target uses breadcrumb navigation in their product pages (because who wouldn’t get lost in the virtual shoe section?), but uses “/” symbols and simple black and grey text. In this case, the subtle design variation makes sense for their site’s aesthetic.

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7. Keep it clean and uncluttered.
Your breadcrumb navigation is simply an aid for the user, and ideally shouldn’t be noticed unless the user is looking for it. For this reason, you don’t want to clutter your breadcrumb navigation with unnecessary text.
Eionet, for instance, could do without their “You are here” text. While meant to be helpful, the text clutters the page. With the right design, a breadcrumb navigation should be noticeable enough without an introduction.

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8. Consider which type of breadcrumb navigation makes the most sense for your site.
There are a few different types of breadcrumbs you might use — location-based, attribute-based, and history-based. Location-based breadcrumbs show the user where they are in the site’s hierarchy. Attribute-based breadcrumbs show users which category their page falls into. Finally, history-based breadcrumbs show users the specific path they took to arrive at the current page.
Bed Bath & Beyond uses attribute-based breadcrumb navigation to show users which category their product page falls under, so users can click back to “Kitchen” or “Small Appliances” to peruse similar items. This type of breadcrumb navigation is most effective for Bed Bath & Beyond customers. When you’re creating a breadcrumb navigation, consider what’s most useful for your site’s visitors.

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9. Know your audience.
Best practices in breadcrumb navigation urge web designers to place the navigation at the top of the page — but Apple, one of the most valuable companies of all time, defies this logic by putting their breadcrumb navigation at the bottom of their site. Ultimately, it’s critical you know your audience. Apple’s customers are typically tech-savvy, and would likely find the navigation if they needed it. Consider your customers’ needs, and implement A/B testing if you’re unsure.

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Breadcrumb Navigation in HTML and CSS
Not only are breadcrumbs useful — they’re also easy to add to your website with a bit of HTML and CSS code.
Let’s start with the HTML, which we’ll use to make the links themselves. The easiest way to do this is to organize your links in an unordered list (<ul>) element, with each list item (<li>) comprising a link in the breadcrumb series until the final item, which denotes the current page.
Here’s an HTML template for breadcrumbs that you can use:

Notice how I’ve also enclosed the unordered list in an HTML <nav> (navigation) element, and added a class and an ARIA label to its opening tag. This is optional, but helps make your page more accessible to screen readers and search engines.
Of course, this HTML alone isn’t enough — right now, we just have a bulleted list of links. By adding CSS, we can achieve the breadcrumb look that we’re looking for. Apply the following CSS to the HTML above:

Together, this code generates a basic breadcrumb navigation area that can be used on any site — see the final result below. I’ve also added some additional styling for a cleaner look. To see how the breadcrumbs look without this styling, comment out the code at the bottom of the CSS tab.
See the Pen Breadcrumbs in HTML and CSS by Christina Perricone (@hubspot) on CodePen.
 
Breadcrumb Navigation in Bootstrap CSS
Bootstrap CSS also offers a way to create breadcrumbs without needing to add custom CSS. To do this, use the Breadcrumb component like so. Here’s an example from the Bootstrap 5 documentation:
See the Pen Breadcrumbs in Bootstrap CSS by Christina Perricone (@hubspot) on CodePen.
This is just the basics of breadcrumb navigation in Bootstrap — see the Bootstrap breadcrumb documentation to learn all the details.
Design to Help Users Navigate Your Site
Ultimately, breadcrumb navigation is an effective tool to make your site easier to navigate, but you want to follow design best practices to ensure you’re leveraging the tool’s helpfulness. For additional UX advice, check out our Ultimate Guide to UX Design.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in September 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Content marketing as a strategy centers around the idea that providing value to readers will eventually convert them to customers. But, content creation isn’t just about the direct funnel from Google to your site to sales. Your content can and should help your peers, too – even those who might be seen as your competition.  A…
The post How to Get Other Sites to Link to Your Content (and Why You Should) appeared first on Benchmark Email.

 

 

As Campaign Monitor reminds us, segmented campaigns can lead to a 760% increase in revenue. What’s more, segmentation makes companies 130% more likely to research the motivations of their buyers and 60% more likely to understand their fears and challenges – which leads to exceeding companies’ lead generation and revenue goal. Hyper Segmentation takes this game to the whole new level through adapting no-code, AI-driven solutions to bring even more marketing ROI.

 

You want to use 1:1 hyper segmentation, but can’t code? That can be arranged!

 

It seems like marketers and e-commerce owners have recognized the importance of the right consumer experience. I’m talking about an experience that can’t be faked with mass campaigns. Every audience is different. Customers belong to different demographics and passion tribes. So it’s not surprising that they require different approaches. Proper segmentation for all marketing efforts may be the answer.

 

Segmentation is named among TOP 10 challenges by MarTech users. (Automizy)
Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor)
Segmentation is mostly used to adjust content to recipients’ preferences. 70% of consumers say they would pay more attention to personalized products. (Infogroup)
Segmentation makes companies 130% more likely to research the motivations of their buyers and 60% more likely to understand their fears and challenges – which leads to exceeding companies’ lead generation and revenue goal. (Cintell)

77% of the ROI generated through email marketing comes from audience segmentation, targeted, and triggered campaigns. (Higher Logic)
Segmented campaigns get 14.37% more opens and 64.78% more clicks. (MailChimp)

 

This all sounds very encouraging, but often professionals don’t know much about how to fully leverage the potential of segmentation based on demographic/behavioral data, not to mention the full profile of CDP data. The challenges vary – lack of analytical skills, lack of proficiency with the platform, or lack of time for multi-level target group analysis and so on.

 

Moreover, classic segmentation no longer meets the needs of the audience. What they are looking for and what they respond to best is 1:1 hyper personalization. Is it possible to achieve it in a simple way?

 

Go where no man has gone before and let AI identify the most relevant segments for your marketing campaigns

 

Go beyond basic demographics, with hyper segmentation that considers interests and behaviors of consumers to understand their individual preferences.
Leverage 1:1 personalization for real-time customization of marketing campaigns, content and customer experience.

Identify high-potential and high-probability-to-buy segments and accounts to target and deliver the right messages and offers at the right time to get the desired action or response.

Create, edit, manage and analyze all segments from one unified, user-friendly Center, and from all places in the system where contact selection takes place for example:
Email Marketing (individual campaigns, birthday emails etc.) 
Web Push Notifications, 
Mobile Marketing,
Contact Management,
Custom Audiences.

Use a unified interface that allows instant no-code data processing and leverage accessible and editable segmentation creators that save your time while granting precise targeting. 

Hyper Segmentation Center is a cutting-edge solution that allows easy, one-click creation of the most advanced segments combining all data collected in CDP, such as behavior, transactions, customer characteristics, etc.
Easily target the most meaningful groups of contacts for specific campaigns without composing new ones manually for every marketing action. AI-powered segmentation center will analyze customer data and deliver a list of relevant segments.

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Join the segmentation revolution

 

Proactively engage all your contacts and enjoy good performing campaigns and excellent ROI with preset custom-made audiences.
With one click select predefined groups, like for example customers with a high risk of churn to leverage existing long-term growth strategies while still discovering the platform.

Save your time while getting fast track to increased ROI with simple dashboard accessible from any place where you set campaign audience
Mix and match segments to prepare the most relevant groups of contacts and adjust any segment at any time from any place, even outside the creator.

Target unconventional yet most relevant groups of customers beyond buyer personas to maximize the effect of each campaign.

 

What’s the difference between standard segmentation tools and Customer Segmentation Center?

 

When you’re knee-deep into the design of your website, it’s hard to admit this fact: Some of the pages on your website are more important than others.
Okay, many of you probably find that fairly obvious — but I’m surprised how rarely content managers and web designers actually apply this knowledge to their websites to improve conversions.
I’m all about low-hanging fruit and taking on the easiest tasks that will have the biggest results. What I’m about to describe in this article has the potential to improve your site dramatically with just a few, critical changes.

In this post, I’ll explain how to optimize each one of these pages. And if your most-visited pages are different from the ones listed above, you’ll still learn a framework for optimizing any of the important pages on your website.
What is website optimization?
You’ve probably heard the word “optimize” most commonly used in phrases like “search engine optimization” (SEO) and “conversion rate optimization” (CRO). I’m actually referring to something broader here, but the advice that I’m delivering will help to enhance both of those.
The optimization I’m going to explain will create user optimized pages. In the pursuit of SEO and CRO, it’s easy to overlook the broader, big-picture idea. First and foremost, a site must be optimized for the user. The best place to see big results quickly is to start optimizing the most visited pages of your site.

Let’s get right into it. Every website is different, but generally speaking, here are the four most important (and often most-visited) pages on a website:
Home Page
The home page is the first impression of your business to potential customers. And although your time limit on making an amazing impression is several times longer online than it is in real life (62 seconds on average is spent by people viewing a website) you’ll want to make every second count.
It’s tempting to put every remotely relevant fact about the business on the home page, but resist the urge. Remember, your home page is the first step of the journey — not the final destination. The copy, design, and visuals should guide the visitor to their next step, or the call-to-action.
About Page
Customers, investors, candidates for hire, and even competitors might all use your about page to learn more information about your company. An about page typically includes a brief company history, mission or vision statement, executive leadership bios, and a few impactful client testimonials.
Blog Page
It’s no secret that blogging is a tried-and-true method to optimize a website for keywords related to a business. Rather than loading up several product pages for each individual keyword you want to rank for, a blog can serve as a more efficient way to weave storytelling, product mentions, and sign up links together in order to answer potential customer inquiries, solve problems, and pose your product or service as the preferred solution.
Contact Us Page
For many small businesses and freelancers, the contact us page serves as the lead-driver of a website. This is usually their bread-and-butter and how these businesses make money. Whether your business includes a contact form, a calendar scheduler, an appointment booking app, a phone number, or an email address, this is where future customers make the decision to get a hold of a representative of the business to learn more about the products and services.
How to Optimize A Web Page
The broad framework for optimizing your site for conversions is the same across your home page, About page, blog, and Contact Us page. There are two simple goals for every page, and the specifics of optimizing those pages will flow from these goals.
The first goal is all about the user, and the second is all about you. Here we go:
Provide information the user is looking for.
Remember, we’re focusing on the user. Why are they on the page to begin with? To answer this question effectively, let’s dive deeper into some facts we’ll want to know first:

Where did they come from? The idea here is to understand how the user got to your site, so you can deliver relevant content.

Did they come from a search engine? (If so, what did they search to find you?)
An email? (What kind of email? Who sent it?)
A referral on another website? (What site was it? How long has it been referring to your URL?)

What do they need to know? A single page can deliver a limited amount of information, so you need to determine what that information is going to be. You want them to know something so that they will do something (which is addressed in the next question). Remember: Less is more on a web page. The more information you load up on your main pages, the less likely the user is to remember any of it. Give them less, and they’re more likely to remember — and do — what you want them to.

Pro Tip: Use visuals such as explainer videos, diagrams, hero shots, and so on to help condense a lot of information to a single page. To get the most out of your visuals, make sure you correctly optimize your images and videos.
Once you answer the question of what the user’s looking for, you’re halfway there. That brings us to question two.
Identify a goal for the user once they find the information.
Now, you need to ask the user to do something. This is where most pages fall short. One of the critical components of a web page is its call-to-action (CTA), and many website owners don’t realize that every single page of a website should contain at least one CTA.
The point of a home page or product page isn’t for the user to visit and leave. The point of content marketing isn’t for user intake, but rather, for user marketing. If you retain only one thing from this article, let it be that every web page needs a CTA.
Why am I so insistent on this? Because every bit of knowledge you share on your website demands some response. So, what is it that you want the user to do? Visit another page on your site? Watch a video? Complete a form? Sign up for a free trial? Any or all of these can become your goal for the user, just make sure to give them one or two options per page that are clearly and starkly defined.
Web Page Optimization Examples
Example of an Optimized Website Home Page
HubSpot’s home page is well laid out and hosts a clear CTA, front and center. A user is on the HubSpot home page for a reason, and perhaps that reason is to grow their business. The headline speaks to the question “what am I looking for?” and the CTA buttons tell me, the user, what I’m supposed to do next.

Now, let’s see what HubSpot has going on on the About page.
Example of an Optimized Website About Page
A user might click on the About page for a variety of reasons. A few might be:

They want to figure out what exactly the business does.
They want to work for the business.
They want to make sure the business is legitimate.
They want to see if the business serves a specific niche or location.
They want to analyze the business’s success.

I could go on and on. There are a ton of reasons that could bring a user here, but they all boil down to the desire for information. Let’s see what HubSpot does. Here is the company’s About page:

The user likely wants to know the information about the company, and in response, they can scroll the page to learn more about the mission, history, and products.
Along the way, the user will want more detailed information which means the CTAs will need to become more specific to help guide them to that info. The more granular and detailed the information, the more correspondingly detailed the CTA becomes. Halfway down the page, I see a video about the HubSpot story featuring CEO Brian Halligan.
There’s more. There’s a block of content about each HubSpot product including the CRM, each Hub, and integrations. I can click any of these to learn more about the ones that can help grow my business.

Finally, no matter how far I scroll down the page, the sticky header menu includes an orange CTA for me to Get HubSpot for free.

This is an example of an About page optimized to drive engagement, increase conversions, and enhance the brand. The page is as much about the user as it is about the company itself because along the way, the user is receiving value.
Example of an Optimized Website Blog Page
Even though the HubSpot blog is one of the most popular digital publications, there are still some practical applications you can use to optimize your own blog page if you have a smaller following. Although there are several articles a visitor can choose from across a variety of topics, you’ll notice specific CTAs that invite users to sign up for the blog newsletter, download a report, explore more topics, and finally, subscribe to their blog of interest.

Sprinkle the CTAs throughout your blog home page for a more natural approach. As readers scroll, you don’t want them to be bombarded with next steps, but you don’t want to leave them wondering what they should do next. Balance the user experience on your blog with a sticky header CTA and one or two primary CTAs.
Example of an Optimized Website Contact Us Page
Granted, HubSpot uses its contact page a bit differently than you might use yours. Whereas a contact page might be the end goal you want for your visitors, HubSpot optimizes product and landing pages to draw in leads and sign-ups for specific products it offers.
There’s still an opportunity for a potential customer to get into the sales pipeline from the contact page though. HubSpot includes a sales line, customer support, and a chatbot to get users to the best point of contact.

For customers, new employees, or candidates interviewing with the company, they can find the addresses and phone numbers of the global offices. Similar to the other three pages, the stick header menu includes a CTA to sign up for HubSpot for free.
Tips for Optimizing Each Page
Now that you have a framework for optimizing your pages and a couple of examples, here are a few, more specific tips to help you optimize each of the four most important pages.
1. Home Page

Use a big headline and place the most important information front and center. A home page may allow for several different CTAs — make it easy for the user to choose by making CTA buttons large and easy to click.
Provide flow. Make it obvious where the user is supposed to go and what they are supposed to do next.
Make the Navigation Menu Clear. Oftentimes, a visitor uses the home page as a way of finding where on the site she wants to go. For this reason, you should make the navigation menu very clear.

2. About Page

Deliver the most important and relevant information above the fold. The user is on your About page for a reason — answer their question(s) without making them scroll.
Include at least one CTA. Remember, most people aren’t just looking for more information, they’re seeking a deeper level of engagement.

3. Blog

Organize information on your blog clearly, and make sure that information satisfies the reasons users might be on your blog. Most users will want to read the most recent articles, so provide these. You may also want to organize categories on the blog home page, such as “most recent,” “most popular,” or other forms of categorization.
Include CTAs that make it easy for the user to subscribe to the blog, download a free resource, and so on. Even though the user came to get information, you want them to get engaged and connected. (Click here for 8 types of CTAs you can try on your blog.)
Provide CTAs in the core design of your blog so they appear on each individual blog post. In my experience, most blog visitors land on individual blog articles through organic search, instead of landing on your blog’s “home” page. To get these users engaged, put CTAs on the sidebars, in the footer, and in other places. (Learn how to pick the perfect CTA for each blog post here.)

4. Contact Us Page

Put the information the user is looking for above the fold — an email address, phone number, contact form, map, mailing address, and so on. Of all four of these web pages, the Contact Us page implies the most detailed level of intent on the part of the user.
Use CTAs that allow the user to contact you easily (since, presumably, that’s why they came to your Contact Us page). Make the CTA really obvious, and engage them by gratifying their intent instantly, using CTA copy like ”Chat now” or “Email now”.

Ask the User to Act On Your Content
As a website owner, you’re in the business of not just disseminating information, but soliciting a response, too. To engage your visitors and boost conversions on your site, here’s how to optimize pages like a pro: Look at your most visited pages, understand the reason users are there, provide valuable information, and ask them for an action in return. Regardless of your most-visited pages or even the nature of your website, you can create more engaged users with this optimization framework. Try it out — use the checklist below to get started.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in December 2014 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

When I was getting married, one of the main tools that helped me plan was Pinterest. In fact, that’s usually the number one place I go to when I’m planning a party.
However, Pinterest isn’t just used for event planning. You can use the social media platform as a way to market your business, drive traffic to your website, and increase sales.

I’m not the only one who goes to Pinterest when I need new ideas. In fact, more than 200 billion pins have been saved on Pinterest. And 90% of weekly Pinners make purchase decisions on Pinterest.
That’s why it’s important for businesses and marketers to be active on the platform. Read on to learn how you can use Pinterest to meet your business and marketing goals.

Why Use Pinterest for Business?
As noted above, regular Pinterest users often leverage the platform to help inform their purchasing decisions. But that’s not the only reason to use Pinterest for Business.
Pinterest streamlines conversion.
Pinterest effectively operates as a massive, visual search engine filled with images tailored to specific user interests. As a result, if users are looking at your Pinterest page, chances are they’re already curious about what you’re selling — and are more likely to click through.
Pinterest boosts traffic.
Because each pin you make can contain a link back to your website, it’s easy for users to click through and boost your overall traffic, in turn raising your search engine rank.
The caveat? Great pin content is critical — if users aren’t inspired, they won’t click.
Pinterest engages users.
The core concept of Pinterest revolves around users creating and sharing pins of things they’re interested in with like-minded people — which means they’re already engaged when they log into the site. If your page aligns with their interests, they’re happy to visit your site, share your posts, and help boost your brand’s reach.
How to Set Up Your Pinterest for Business Account
If you’re new to Pinterest, then you’ll need to create a business account to get started. Don’t worry, this is a simple process as outlined below.

Head to pinterest.com/business/create.
Add your business name and website.
Customize your profile.
Claim your other accounts.

Let’s break down each step in more detail.
1. Head to pinterest.com/business/create.
Enter your email and a password and then select “Create Account” to get started. If you already have a personal Pinterest account, make sure you’re logged out.

2. Add your business name and website.
Next, Pinterest will ask for your business name, business type, and your website details. If your brand doesn’t fit into a listed category, don’t worry — just select “I’m not sure.”

3. Customize your profile.
Next up is customizing your profile. Here you can add a profile picture, display name, user name, and information about your brand that will help Pinterest users find your board.

4. Claim your other accounts.
Last but not least? Claim your website name and any other accounts to ensure you get attribution and analytics for all of your content on Pinterest, even if you posted it before creating a Pinterest for Business account.

Once your business account is set up, it’s time to start diving into the strategy of how you’re going to use your page to grow your business.
Is Pinterest for Business free?
Pinterest for Business is free, and it’s worth taking the time to make an account, since it allows you to directly link your brand with your Pinterest page to drive increased traffic and conversion.
With your business account set up, you’re ready to get started using Pinterest for Business. Here are six best practices to keep in mind:
1. Determine the type of content you want to post.
As with any social media site, it’s important to understand your target audience. What type of content do they want to see on Pinterest?
More importantly, think about the type of content that they’ll engage with. Is it infographics, tips and tricks, or perhaps blog posts? To find this out, do some research into the type of content they currently pin on their pages.
Additionally, make sure that you don’t sell yourself with every pin. You should share relevant and helpful information on your page as well. When you have a good idea of what your audience wants or needs to see, creating pins will be easier.
2. Consider your design.
Now that you know what you want to post, it’s important to consider what your images look like. Your designs should be pleasing to the eye and stand out in a sea of images on your audience’s page.
Additionally, your images need to follow your brand guidelines. If you don’t have a designer on hand, you can utilize tools like Canva to get started.
3. Optimize your pins.
When you’re ready to start posting on Pinterest, remember to optimize your pins. You might be wondering, “How do I optimize my pins?”
Use the following checklist to get started:

Include a URL (could be a link to a blog post)
Use keywords in titles, descriptions, and image file names
Create boards that are aligned with your keywords
Arrange your boards and choose a board cover image
Use hashtags
Add a call to action
Add a Pinterest widget to your site
Respond to follower comments
Follow popular boards and comment
Create a board dedicated to your blog posts

These tactics will help you grow your business with Pinterest and help your posts be discovered.
4. Learn about categories.
On Pinterest, you can assign each board to one of 36 categories. These categories help your pins become discovered.
For example, since I was interested in finding wedding ideas when I was engaged, most of the pins that showed up on my feed were pins that were tagged in the wedding category.
You can scroll through the categories and see which ones are related to your business. This could even help you come up with board ideas.
5. Use rich Pins.
Rich Pins offer a way to provide more information about pinned images. For example, the Product Pins subset of rich Pins lets you add pricing information, product details, and other data to help engage users and drive conversion.
6. Leverage Pinterest Lens.
Pinterest Lens is available as part of the platform’s mobile app on both Apple and Android devices. It allows users to take a picture of any object and discover similar items on Pinterest. For businesses, Pinterest offers a way to improve contextual marketing: Take a picture of your product, see what Pinterest returns and then leverage similar tags to help capture user interest.
Once you’ve thought about this strategy, it’s time to create your boards. If you blog, think about blog topics and create boards surrounding those topics.
Let’s dive a little deeper into how to use Pinterest for your blog.
1. Create infographics.
A great way to use Pinterest to promote your blog is through infographics. If you have blog posts centered around an infographic, post it on Pinterest.
Additionally, you can repurpose old blog posts into infographics. Pinterest is a great place to repurpose content and reach a new audience that might not have read your post.
2. Choose the best blogs to post.
You don’t need to promote every single blog post on your Pinterest. Instead, just choose the ones that make the most sense for the platform. For example, choose blogs that have engaging images, great downloadable offers, or have an infographic.
Additionally, think about your board topics. You should promote blogs that relate to your boards.
3. Customize your images.
When you create a pin, it’s important to use engaging, custom images. To promote a blog, you can use your featured image and include customized text.
For instance, many pins that promote blog posts include the title of the blog on the custom image. The title is a great way to draw people in and get them interested in your blog post.
4. Write an optimized pin description.
When you write the description for a pin promoting a blog post, it’s important to tell people what to expect in the post.
While you want to leave some mystery and pique their interest without giving away too much, they need to know what it’s about.
5. Engage with Pinners.
Pinterest is all about engagement and interest driven by images. To maximize your brand’s impact, you need to regularly engage with Pinners who follow your board.
This means regularly pinning new content, re-pinning great content from your followers, and taking the time to directly answer any questions asked on your blog by Pinterest users.
6. Use a sound SEO strategy.
As noted above, Pinterest is effectively a visual search engine — but just like a text-based search engine, keywords are critical. To ensure your pins get noticed, use solid SEO practices. Make your blog title the same as your board title, include relevant keywords for all of your blog posts and images descriptions, and make sure you’re also using keywords in any image “alt” tags.
Pinterest for Business Examples
So what makes a great Pinterest for Business board? Here are six standout examples.
1. HubSpot

HubSpot’s Pinterest page generates more than 4.5 million views per month and offers a host of great content to Pinners including infographic templates, content creation tips, and even career advice. It’s a one-stop shop for all things marketing.
2. Bossy

Bossy is a growing, female-founded beauty brand with a focus on attention-capturing, long-lasting lipsticks and a Pinterest page that showcases its commitment to diversity.
3. Ruggable

Ruggable’s value proposition is simple: Washable rugs for any space. These rugs are changeable, durable, spill-proof, and easy to clean — so it’s no surprise that its Pinterest page generates more than 10 million views per month.
4. Etsy

This custom-made market store has made significant market inroads and is now using Pinterest to showcase some of its most popular items. Looking for something unique? Something that makes a statement? Chances are you’ll find it on Etsy — and see it on Pinterest.
5. Bustle

Bustle is on the leading edge of social zeitgeist, and has a Pinterest page to match. With a mix of celebrity content, human interest stories, recipes, and fashion advice, Bustle captures user attention immediately.
6. Asutra

Committed to creating clean, accessibly-priced, wellness products, this women-owned and led brand has made the move to Pinterest and is already seeing almost 200,000 views per month.
Pin It to Win It
When it comes to marketing your business, Pinterest for Business offers a way for your brand to win market share and generate organic customer interest. The picture-driven nature of the site can help shift the conversion away from simple to conversion and instead inspire your audience to use your products and services in their lives — or just inspire them in general.
With a practical, step-by-step approach, it can be your products and services that users are pinning – and purchasing.