By Karon Thackston

Honestly, when I decided to go for the designation of Certified Landing Page Optimization Specialist, I really didn't expect to learn that much. After all, I was already a seasoned copywriter with over 20 years experience. I thought earning the title would do me good, however, as I expanded my services. Little did I know just how much knowledge I'd gain and how my thinking about landing pages would completely change.

I was part of the inaugural class conducted by a well-respected group called Marketing Experiments. I love this organization because they perform scientific experiments on all aspects of online marketing (thus the name) and provide solid evidence about what works. More importantly, they also tell you how and why these experiments work. This is the basis for the 2008 Landing Page Optimization Workshop that Marketing Experiments is offering through Marketing Sherpa.

As I began, I learned a very basic formula that affects every aspect of a landing page. Through the different sections of the course/workshop, I discovered specific elements of landing pages that can trigger positive and negative responses. But what impressed me the most was the reasoning behind the information.

For years, most of us have heard about certain copywriting "rules." But these rules had to be taken on faith. No one - until now - explained the methods to the madness, so to speak. In the Landing Page Optimization Workshop, you'll learn:

• What the single most important aspect of your USP or value proposition must be
• The principles for evaluating a value proposition
• How to micro-test your value proposition to make it exceptionally appealing
• Which page elements add friction to and slow down conversions
• How to create a page with the least amount of friction possible
• The best ways to choose a bonus or incentive for your product or service
• Common errors to avoid when deciding on an incentive
• Ways to overcome psychological concern and anxiety customers often feel
• The step-by-step checklist for developing effective landing pages
• Ways to accurately test and track, so you can be sure your page is the best it can be
• What effect the position of elements on the page can have
• And so much more.

With a complete manual, dozens of examples and about 13 actual, real-life case studies, you can see what did and didn't work for others who have tried these methods.

For a copywriter (a creative type), parts of the course were a little heavy on calculation. If math isn't your favorite subject, you might not particularly enjoy learning to set up a channel map or how to calculate the different statistics needed to understand if your landing page is working at its best.

However, all of these can easily be input into an Excel spreadsheet, so the computation will be done automatically. You are also free to use a calculator. It's not quantum physics, and with a little effort, even I (the queen of the math-challenged) was able to do well.

While certain aspects of copywriting are included, this workshop will not teach you to write landing page copy. What it will do is show you how to construct a landing page that is laser sharp and keenly focused on accomplishing a singular goal: converting a looker into a buyer.

It will also show you what you need to include when writing your copy to help reduce negative responses, boost positive responses and shorten the conversion path.

An exam is given at the end of this workshop, and it must be passed in order to gain your certification. It is an open-book exam taken directly from the material you cover in the two-day workshop. While I wouldn't call it a "gimme," it is fairly easy to complete.

Whether or not you believe we're in a state of recession, you want your landing pages to convert at the highest rates possible. Nobody likes to flush money down the toilet while blindly trying to figure out why sales or leads aren't coming in. I have been able to use the knowledge I gained during this program to improve the conversion rates of my own landing pages. What's more, I've helped increase my clients' conversion rates by as much as double.

As usual, I'm impressed with the Marketing Experiments workshop. It leaves you with immediately actionable steps you can easily implement right away that will bring you greater success. This workshop/course gains my full approval.

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