Have you ever known somebody who just never says “thank you” for anything? What about somebody who says “thank you” in such a way that it’s not even believable that they’re appreciative? That can actually be even more frustrating that not even saying “thank you” at all. This same mentality applies to Thank You pages online.
If you’re just going through the motions with your Thank You page on your website, think of it like falling into that second category. You’ve found a way to get people to sign up, which is great, but don’t alienate them right away with a generic, run-of-the-mill Thank You page. Even more importantly than using the Thank You page to connect with customers, they can offer big opportunities for research for small businesses if created right.
Tips to Optimizing Your Thank You Page
Let’s start with the basics: A Thank You page is the page that a consumer sees after filling out a web form, making a purchase, or completing some other form online that you and your site recognize. Basically, a Thank You page shows up when a consumer and potential customer does something that you and your company would like to be alerted about—usually completing some sort of conversion.
First, think of your Thank You page like those Thank You cards you have to send out after graduation or your wedding. Sure, it can be annoying to go through and handwrite all those responses with such gratitude, but you don’t have to handwrite anything on a website. You can program different Thank You pages for different tasks or leads. You want the page to make the potential customer feel welcome and you eventually want to get more from them, whether it’s more information (like email address, cell phone, etc.) or more business. A few ways to optimize this page include:
Set a goal
Start by setting a clear goal and motive for your Thank You page. Make sure you and your company know exactly what you want to get out of the page and only then can you put a plan in motion to make sure everything falls in line to meet that goal.
Remember to Actually Say “Thank You”
This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget these two simple words (or one word if you opt for “thanks” instead of “thank you”). You can’t have a thank you page without actually expressing gratitude.
Spell Out the Next Step
Great, they’ve done something that prompted the Thank You landing page to pop up. Now what? Make sure your intentions and goals are clearly defined to the potential customer. Are you going to email them with instructions or the results of some contest? Do they get something just for signing up? Let them know what will happen next and then make sure you follow through on that. There’s no point in making a promise or gesture via a Thank You page and then not following through. Consider that potential customer gone for good.
Give Something to Get Something
Offer a coupon, provide more information about your site, hold a contest, etc. All of these options are great ways to catch a consumer’s attention on your Thank You page (especially a coupon). Look at it as a reward for the consumer signing up and taking that first step. It will help you build a rapport with the potential customer and make them feel more inclined to provide their own information or continue interaction with you and your business.
Make Sure You Include a Call to Action
As we’ve discussed, you want to utilize your Thank You page in such a way to get more information from the potential customer. To do that, you need a call to action of some sort to get the ball rolling on acquiring that vital information. Something like this from ClickZ:
There is the line at the bottom of the drop-down menus stating the company will not sell or share this information with any other company, providing a level of security to the incoming customer. Remember: Don’t make any of these fields mandatory. You don’t want potential customers to feel like they have to sign up. Your goal is for them to want to sign up.
Socialize with Sharing Buttons
Include easy access to share your page/company on your customer’s own social media profiles and, if possible, provide incentive for sharing with a giveaway or coupon. Below is an example from NatureBox that goes one step further and actually has a Thank You page on their actual social account because someone entered to win a free box, but this same style could work on any Thank You page:
Provide Links
Give them somewhere else to browse on your site. Provide links to pages they may be interested in or other products you’re offering that could be right up their alley. Amazon does a great job of this with their Related Products option that shows up on every page, including the Thank You page.
How Your Thank You Page Can Help Your SEO
Acquiring information from customers and increasing your consumer pool is always one of the ultimate goals of any company. You can use the information customers provide via your Thank You page to hone in on what they’re looking for and how you can get them what they want, building a quick rapport. That can lead to more interaction from the consumer, more sharing and even simple word of mouth to their friends and family. Increasing your customer pool provides more eyes on your social media profiles and your website as a whole. It will help improve reach and engagement, which will lead to backlinks and more, all of which improves your SEO ranking across the board.
What experiences have you had with Thank You pages, either as a site manager, SEO or even a consumer? How have you seen or heard of other consumers reacting to various Thank You pages? Let us know in the comments section below.