By Diana Huff
Are your white paper conversion rates dismal? Chances are, your white paper page isn’t optimized, meaning prospects can’t find it in the search engines.
And, if they do stumble across your white paper page, they probably take one look and click right back out.
If you want to increase your white paper conversion rates, consider implementing the following five strategies:
1. Determine the keywords people use to find white papers
This is very easy to do - simply use Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool.
A quick search reveals people are looking for supply chain management white papers, VOIP white papers, and wireless networks and networking white papers, to name a few.
2. Optimize your “Overview” page
Most sites have a page where the various white papers are listed. If you want people to find this page in the search engines, it’s crucial you optimize it using the keywords people are using in their searches.
By “optimize,” I mean include the keywords in the title and meta description tags, and in the page copy people read. (You can find the title and meta tags in your site’s source code. If you’re not familiar with HTML, have your Web designer help you.)
3. Don’t hide your content
Want more downloads? Make it easy for site visitors to find your white papers. One company I worked with buried their white paper page within the Products section under a very hard to find link titled “Library.”
Because searchers can enter your site via any page (the Home page is not always the “start” page), include a “White Papers,” “Collateral” or “Resources” tab in the global navigation. Make sure it takes people right to the white paper page or includes a link to the Overview page.
4. Give people a reason to download your content
You have about 3 to 10 seconds to capture people’s attention once they get to your white paper page.
If you give them a list of hyperlinked white paper titles, they have no clue which one they should download. Plus, a half dozen or more links is overwhelming to the eye. The chances are high they’ll click right back out.
Help prospects find the right white paper(s) by writing short blurbs about each one (don’t forget to include those keywords!). Explain to your visitors what the white paper is about and why they should download it.
5. Develop a landing page for each white paper
Take a tip from white paper syndication services - develop a landing page for each of your white papers.
Use the Google Keyword Tool again to determine which keywords best describe your white paper topic. Then write a 100-150 word keyword-rich, compelling abstract that details the challenges prospects face, and how your white paper addresses those challenges.
Along the same lines, when using white papers as offers in direct mail, print ads, or email campaigns, don’t send people to the home page and then make them click around searching for your white paper. Instead, send them to a landing page.
Case in point: One company’s print ad offered a white paper (good), but sent readers to the home page (bad). Once you clicked the white paper link, you were then taken to a page listing five or six white paper titles.
The problem? None of the titles matched the white paper listed in the ad. Ka-ching! That’s the sound of thousands of dollars being lost.
About the author: Dianna Huff specializes in B2B marketing communications and search engine optimization (SEO) services. To learn how to develop a site that gets found in Google, purchase her e-book, Turning Clicks Into Leads Through SEO at http://www.dhcommunications.com/seobook.htm.
