PPC Landing Page Optimization
Tweaking a poorly performing PPC campaign may get you thinking about revising keyword choice and match types, writing new advert text, or implementing better targeting techniques. One of the first things it should do however is kick start a landing page optimization strategy. You can have the most appropriate keywords, be targeting the best possible traffic, and have perfectly crafted advert copy yet be losing conversion after conversion because your landing page is not up to scratch. Making changes at page rather than campaign level is a sure-fire way to convert good click-throughs into great sales figures.
Are you meeting expectations?
When a user clicks on your AdWords PPC ad, they develop certain expectations about the page they are being transferred through to. If you’ve flagged up things such as the web’s biggest selection of a certain item, free shipping, a downloadable brochure, or a handy e-book, this promise must be repeated in a prominent position on the landing page.
A cohesion of messages creates synergy between the PPC advert and the product or service itself. If you fail to meet these expectations by showing only a small selection of goods, fail to provide the promised downloadable brochure, or choose not to display the e-book in a prominent position, your landing page will fail to resonate with the reader. The result is a higher than necessary bounce rate or far fewer conversions.
Do you have a call to action?
Even browsers clicking through with the clear intention of getting in contact or purchasing from your website can falter if a clear call to action is not presented on the landing page. Hiding contact forms or ‘buy now’ buttons amid unnecessary on-page clutter dilutes the impact of the call to action. Adding a very clear call to action such as a large button will increase web site conversions by giving the reader a clear path through to the next stage of the conversion process.
A common mistake made by PPC advertisers is to point adverts at brochure pages and then assume the visitor knows what to do next. Make your desired behavior very clear – for a catalog page something as simple as increasing the size of the ‘buy now’ or ‘add to cart’ link or image can make a notable difference.
If your landing page has more than three or four paragraphs of text or is otherwise quite ‘busy’ due to graphics, make sure you scatter your calls to action throughout the page – you shouldn’t leave your PPC visitor with the need to scroll back up and down the page to take action.
Have you stuck with testing?
Testing performance is a pretty simple piece of advice but, it’s surprising how many advertisers let this basic good practice guideline fall by the wayside after the first flush of enthusiasm has passed. Testing a landing page’s effectiveness can be as simple as trying two different titles or as complicated as changing form layout, some fields, content length, and style.
Getting the most out of your landing page will often also hinge on how visitors got there in the first place so while you’re in a testing frame of mind, you could also test the messages used within the advert text. Typical parameters include changing titles, the inclusion of different offers, the use of varying calls to action, and value propositions.
Don’t forget your ‘Thank You’ page.
When your landing page is sufficiently optimized and performing well, there will be lots of traffic going through your site’s ‘Thank You’ page. This is the page that is shown to visitors after they have completed your form or downloaded the brochure. This page should also be looked at in conjunction with your landing page as it is your last opportunity to up-sell or cross-sell your products and services to that particular visitor on that visit.
The most common ‘Thank You’ pages are just that – very simple pages that thank the visitor for having filled in the form / downloaded the brochure. The visitor is left with no other incentive than to head off to a search engine or navigate directly to another site. This course of action is sometimes unavoidable because the user has got exactly what they want from that visit but that’s not always the case. Adding more elements to your ‘Thank You’ page could extend the site visit and result in further conversions.