Email marketers looking for practical ways to beef up return need look no further than their own landing pages--the page people are taken to when they click a link in an email, said Stefan Tornquist, metrics editor for MarketingSherpa.

"If marketers spent as much time on their landing pages as they do putting together their campaigns, they could see significant improvement," he said, noting that the average increase from testing and tweaking landing pages, on conversion, is in the range of 40 percent.

Tornquist, who presented his information to an audience of email marketers at Silverpop's third annual Digital Marketer Customer Conference May 19-20 north of Atlanta, said everybody should consider improving their landing pages.

In his presentation, "A Sherpa's Guided Trek to Email's Secret Places," Tornquist noted that email marketers often go to great expense and effort to create and carry out a campaign, only to ignore the destination.

 "What's funny is, we're spending 95 percent of our effort on something that only brings people to the door . . . whereas, the landing page, where everybody's headed, is really where the rubber hits the road on conversion."

Tornquist said instead of being relegated to the realm of afterthought, landing pages should included in  campaign strategy. He suggested marketers build each one around a specific point or product, or even create different landing pages for different groups of customers within a campaign.

Tornquist shared four practical and easy things marketers can do today to spruce up landing pages and increase ROI.

 Use relevant images

Tornquist cautioned against using generic-looking stock-photos and "hero" shots, noting that people decide within about eight seconds of arriving at a landing page whether they will stay or go, and spend most of that time looking at the image.

"In those eight seconds, you need to connect with them," he said. "Don't worry about being boring. If you're selling a hub, put a picture of a hub there. That's what people are buying."

 Use readable text

 Another area where marketers commonly stumble is in using too-small type in an effort to fit as much information as possible 'above the fold'--the section of the page visible without scrolling.

 "The thing about small text--especially if you're over 40--is that you can't read it," he said. Tornquist also advised against using colored text or backgrounds because, while pretty, they also can be difficult to read. 

"What's much more important is to actually convey the message--and I'm talking about two sentences or so--because that's all people are going to read before they decide to commit," he said. 

Keep your email privacy statement simple

 When asking visitors to enter their email address, marketers should keep it simple.

 "Yes, you absolutely want to say, 'We value your privacy, and here's a link to our privacy policy,'" Tornquist said. "But after you cross a certain point, there's actually a negative impact to over-assuring people in your privacy disclaimer." 

"If you're really going overboard, saying, 'Do not worry,' you're going to worry people."

 Customize forms and buttons 

Marketers also tend not to give much thought to the forms they put up. Yet making subtle changes, such as customizing buttons so that they extend a campaign, can make a real difference, Tornquist said. 

Stock buttons, such as 'submit' and 'buy', not only are stale, but one in particular can actually be detrimental. Tornquist pointed out a page on the web site of a venerable advertising magazine showing a 'submit' button positioned beside a 'reset' button. 

"You've got a button that commits, right next to a button that clears the entire form," Tornquist said. "Do you know what the conversion rate is on people who clear the entire form?" 

"There's absolutely no need for a reset button at any point in your marketing," he added. 

Small changes such as these can have a real and immediate impact, said Tornquist, noting an audio-content vendor that experienced a nearly 50-percent jump in conversions in the three months after it began devoting more effort to its landing pages. 

"What's great about improving your landing pages is that, the ways to improve it are so simple, and they're free," he said.