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By Yanik Silver
Most people don't pay enough attention to their order forms (or worse, they have no order form). The majority of sales are abandoned online at the order form or the shopping cart page. Translation – tons of lost revenue.
That’s why I’m going to give you some simple tips and a few examples to try and squeeze out more profit for you just by making a few simple changes. Your order form needs to reassure the prospect they're making a wise decision, restate all the benefits and the irresistible offer, plus be extremely simple to fill out. They need to make such a compelling case for your product that it could stand on its own. You want to think about your order form as a “mini pitch” for your offer. In fact, that's the way I would judge an order form.
Step back and consider for a moment if somebody just clicked on the "order now" link, would they be compelled to order? If not, rework your form with more compelling copy. But on top of copy changes there are some basic elements that I see missing in the majority of sites I review.
So let’s start at the top…
Order form mistake 1: Calling it an Order Form. Gee, how exciting. Think headlines – your order should also have a headline. In the past I’ve successfully used…
• "Risk Free Trial Action Form"
• "< Product Name > Acceptance Form"
• "100% Risk-Free Activation Request"
Order form mistake 2: No assurance of security. On our order forms right up top we use a “secure key” graphic so people won’t feel nervous about giving their credit card information. Yes, some people are still a bit nervous about handing over their credit cards online even though millions of transactions are run per day – but only if someone gets their credit card data hacked does it make big news.
I’ve also seen secure certificates, Hacker-safe, BBB Online, etc. all used to help alleviate concerns about safety and security.
Order form mistake 3: Not written in customer’s own, excited voice. I use a very similar order form format as mail order advertisers have used for decades usually starting with the word "Yes" (which is a very powerful selling word!). Then I use the prospect's own voice to restate the offer and the guarantee. This helps solidify the order in their heads.
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