Making the Most of Thank You Pages

Every website page is a content opportunity. At the risk of sounding like Rain Man, let me repeat, every website page is a content opportunity. That includes Site Maps, 401 Error pages and, even more importantly, Website Thank You Pages.

THANK YOU PAGE ADVICE

There are already a lot of ideas out there for improving your Thank You Page content, so here are a few articles to get you started:

• 10 Opportunities You’re Missing on Thank You Pages
• Conversion-Optimized Touch Points: The Thank You Page
• Every Touch Point Matters: Optimizing the Thank You Page
• What Makes a Good Thank You Page?

Note how most of these writers focus on 2 key points:

1. Make the End-of-Sales Cycle crystal-clear to customers – Provide prominent links for tracking, printing receipts or tickets and other important post-sales information. You can also answer any immediate questions they may have (how long will my order take to ship?) and set expectations about what comes next.
2. View the Thank You page as a launching pad for More Customer Contact – Your user already trusts you enough to have made a purchase, so why end the relationship there? Why not offer them further discounts, opportunities to share or news about the latest events? Shopping doesn’t always stop when the register rings.

E.G. 1: “THANK YOU FOR SHARING”

For example, here’s how Shutterfly handles a Thank You on its website. Once you’ve completed your order, it shows you a picture (here blanked out) of your project and invites you to share it on Facebook, or embed it on your blog or your website and receive $10 off your next order.

• Not only does that promote return sales and social sharing, but it builds valuable backlinks for their company.

E.G. 2: NOT JUST FOR ECOMMERCE!

The power of a Thank You page is not limited to Ecommerce companies. Every business should have a way of capturing online leads – be it a form or a discount offer – and a way to thank the form fillers when they’re through.

So why not take full advantage of that opportunity and let them know what else you can offer? Here are some tips from an article I wrote a few weeks ago about the power of website thanks:

• The Power of a Business Thank You – Part 1

And some useful design hints from Chrissie Brodigan of Think Vitamin, the creator of the Thank You page featured above:

• Low-Hanging UX Fruit, How a Well-Designed “Thank You” Inspires Community Uptake

HAVE MORE THANK YOU PAGE TIPS?

Let me know in the comments below or head on over to www.squamcreativeservices.com to check out more copywriting tips and resources.

Tagged: business thank yous, online thank you pages, optimizing thank you pages, thank you pages, website thank you pages

Posted in: Online Marketing, Website Design, Website Writing