Going the extra mile – post-conversion bonus points

So your landing page is as sticky as tarmac in a Texas heatwave, your funnel is as frictionless as a greased up ice cube and visitors are literally biting you're hands off to be upsold. Where do you go from here? Well, no time to rest at this false summit, there is still plenty of work to be done to help improve your site performance. Let's talk about how to leverage some of your existing pages to create added value 'post-conversion':

Confirmation Page

One of the most underused pages on the site, the confirmation page is a) seen by every customer and b) one to which great attention is paid by every customer (got to note that order number, double check you did put the right address after all!).

This is a perfect opportunity to focus on your 'micro' conversions. These will be different for each business but here are a couple of examples of how the confirmation page can be used:

• Sign 'em up - don't let the relationship end here, you've got a social media presence, right? Make sure to include options to follow you on Twitter, Like or Share you on Facebook. Just as importantly (if you've not covered it during the purchase process) give the customer a reason to sign up for your mailing listby accentuating how much relevant information and how many timely offers they will receive through your targeted emails.

• Create an ambassador – Your product is a social item and your customers may very well want to share it. Sites like Blippy and Swipely are adding a whole new layer of social sharing and millions have already signed up to share details of every purchase they make. You don't need to go so far as integrating these services but adding functionality to allow easy sharing to Facebook and Twitter is a reasonably straight forward process. Not only have you made a sale but you've created social awareness for bonus points

Death, Taxes and 404 Pages

There's no point ignoring it – 404 errors will happen. But if life gives you lemons then make lemonade, accept an error page is being served and do what you can to help the user get back on track. If you know where they've come from, provide some alternative pages, if you don't have the ability to do so, provide a clear navigation to help the user progress as quickly as possible on the journey they want to make.

This example from 'Which Test Won' lays it out in black and white: the page content affects how likely a 404'er is to convert following this experience.

Like any mistakes you make in life, hold your hands up, admit you did wrong and do what you can to find the best solution to the problem.

Unsubscribe page

Lets face it, you're probably destined to lose someone who wants to subscribe from your newsletter. But if you chase every lost cause, you are sure to be repaid at some point. Groupon are a great example of this.

It may not get the user change their mind about unsubscribing, but the parting impression created is positive one of a company with some personality and a good sense of humour.