We recently asked XBIZ.net members to share some of their favorite tips for building better join pages intended to increase sales. Here’s what they had to say.
While there are many factors that can affect the success of an adult membership site, its “join” page is the last chance it has to close the deal — or to lose the sale. As such, it behooves webmasters to build the best join page they can.
While there are many factors that can affect the success of an adult membership site, its “join” page is the last chance it has to close the deal — or to lose the sale.
Fortunately, the XBIZ.net community has some sage advice to offer on the subject.
One theme that several operators echoed was the need to portray a sense of security.
According to ‘Jimmy aka Wizzo’ of Exoclick.com, you should always have a picture of a lock and say it’s secure: “Believe it or not makes a big difference to average surfers.”
Relentless of WebsiteSecure.org says that his company’s certification seal “does a lot more for your site than any generic picture of a lock, shield, barbed-wire or similar cliché icon,” listing benefits such as “detailed third-party site inspections that cover terms pages, join pages, privacy policies, cancellation processes, test joins and more,” — factors that will have traction with many prospects.
Karen Campbell of Orbital-Pay / Global Electronic Technology agrees on the value of lock images, adding that payment pages with valid SSL certificates display a lock image.
“Then it will be an ‘https’ page and the lock is there because the page is secured,” Campbell explains, noting that “Many companies don’t allow custom hosted payment pages unless you have a direct merchant account,” which her company specializes in.
EddieK from SafeCharge / GTSBilling told XBIZ that it’s important to offer a variety of options in a secure atmosphere; with examples such as direct API-based integration; adding “buy now” or “subscribe” buttons for selling individual items; and using iframes to match payment forms to a merchant’s look and feel, as ways in which payment pages can be tailored to fit a merchant’s particular needs.
AJ Hall of Elevated X Adult CMS also says fostering a sense of security is a big one, which can be helped along by a good privacy policy statement. “Restating all the benefits of joining on the join page is helpful too,” Hall told XBIZ. “Showing info on the amount of content inside, frequency of site updates and live shows, free bonus sites, etc. can help close sales.”
Hall recommends using Google’s Website Optimizer for A/B split-testing different join pages to see which version performs better.
Regardless of the tools you use, having a range of metrics to measure changes against (i.e. unique join page views vs. form submissions), will allow you to build better pages.
Bluebird Films’ Kelli Roberts emphasized the importance of focusing on fundamental aspects — such as having a join page that is fastloading and free from obvious errors or mistakes, including typos or broken images.
“I’ve tried flashy pages; I’ve tried the short and sweet method with almost nothing but the basic ‘enter your info’ pages,” Roberts told XBIZ. “I’ve tried the lots of text method. I spent $1,000 on creating graphics to have a super special pretty page.”
“In the end the best one in my experience is the short and to the point [join page], the plain Jane, let’s get down to business page,” Roberts says, explaining that to be effective, this page “above all must make the end user feel safe and secure.”
RyuLion from ClubDom-Cash.com is also a fan of simplicity — advising webmasters to remove navigational or other links that may have been in the footer of other tour pages and to simplify the join buttons.
“The less distraction in the join page the better!” he stated.
Although straightforward pages may be preferable, this only highlights the need to pay attention to the details, since they be more obvious against a streamlined design.
One pet peeve for some prospects is the placement of the dollar sign: It is $19.95 not 19.95$ — a common mistake made by overseas operators, targeting American audiences.
This can be a deal-killer, as it signals a non-U.S. supplier (no one wants to endure dealing with foreign customer support staff if there’s a problem); and if they can’t get that right, what else did they get wrong or act careless about?
C-Paylink’s Amy S. agrees, saying, “That dollar sign is like nails on a chalk board.”
These details are important and change from market to market. You may not know how they do it in Mozambique, but you better know how we do it in America, if you want to make sales to U.S. customers.
This doesn’t mean that other nations are any easier, with regional interpretations of how amounts are expressed in Euros, rather than one set standard. For example, € 20 in the Netherlands is 20 € in Germany. Getting it right for your target market is important.
Beyond currency designations, clear translations are vital.
Bluebird Films’ Roberts advises operators to have native speakers go over join pages to ensure there are no little mistakes that oftentimes someone who doesn’t speak English (or other targeted tongue) as their first language, makes.
This includes keeping an eye on artists and the graphics they create, such as banners.
“Little translation boo-boos can be cute,” Roberts says, “but can also be the kiss of death on a join page.”
“Perception is everything,” Roberts concludes. “Lots of us have foreign clients and little things do set them apart and make it obvious they are foreigners and while there may not be anything wrong with that company, in many of our minds we take pause when doing business with them because well, let’s be real — we all have a little concern about anyone who is foreign.”
By taking advantage of the advice presented here, you could stand a great chance of boosting your bottom line via a better join page.
