Too often, business and individuals get totally despondent with Adwords because in their view it hasn’t delivered the results that they expected, and although it’s generally easier to blame the system than look at their own mistakes or errors, the landing page is frequently the reason that the campaign just hasn’t delivered.
Adwords and any form of online traffic is all about the journey, with the starting point that the visitor found your site right the way through to the final destination or landing page needing to be consistent and simple, as if you make things complicated or you make life a challenge for the visitor to find what they want, you are going to lose the sale.
If you are selling red shoes and you send your PPC traffic through to your home page instead of the main page for red shoes, you have just made the journey even more difficult for your visitor, and this one simple mistake, even if it just creates another click for the visitor to find the red shoes has major potential to send them elsewhere.
This is why your landing page is so important, as if you get this right then you will often see an increase in conversions, because if you are bidding on the right keywords and you are not getting the enquires or sales coming in, the landing page is usually the key part of the problem, which is why a highly converting landing page does not just happen overnight, it can take much thought and testing before you finally come up with a page that is going to make your visitors turn into customers.
Below, we look at the key things that can make your landing page start converting.
Relevance
I list this point as my number one thing to get right and it also sums up many of the other things to focus on below, but if your landing page is not relevant to the search, then you are wasting your money. For example, if you are trying to sell more TV’s and you are a retailer that offers many other products, you need to make sure that instead of just sending the visitor to your home page, you send them to your page that lists your TV’s. Even better, you can have specific landing pages for all of your TV’s and then send the visitor to the correct one depending on what they clicked on, as the more relevant and specific the landing page is, the higher the chance of a conversion. Remember the journey, if your Satnav sent you to a place five miles down the road from your destination then you wouldn’t be happy, and the visitor’s journey to your website is the same, so try to take them directly to the correct end point at all times.
Key Headline
Like a newspaper or a book cover, the headline is often the part of the page that really captures your attention, so always make sure that you have placed thought into this, as the stronger your headline, the more likely you are to get the visitor to stick on the page. If you are selling products then make sure you have a really good product headline and by this I mean think special offers, discounts or make a play on low prices, exclusive price, unbeatable price etc. If you are offering services, then think about how the headline needs to be to sell the service in just a few words, as if you get your headline right, then this encourages the visitor to stick on the page and hopefully explore further and then convert into a sale or enquiry.
High Quality Text
The quality of your text will often indicate the quality of your product, service or company, so if it is full of typos, poor grammar or just horrendously laid out, then this is going to turn people off, which is of course something to avoid. A landing page needs to be concise, to the point and engaging, as you want people to get the information they need to then turn them into either a direct sale or an enquiry to get more details, so make sure your text on the landing page is easy to read, flows well and covers everything you need to in as little words as possible.
Decent Use Of Images
A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say, but when it comes to online marketing then the correct use of images really can make a big difference when it comes to conversions. If you are selling a product then make sure the image reflects the quality and makes the visitor really want it, and if you are offering a service then try to use an image that captures the imagination of the visitor and makes them want to find out more. Rather than filling your landing page with loads of text, try using some decent images, but always bear in mind loading times and to not overpower the page by using images that are far too big or not even relevant.
Obvious Calls To Action
When a visitor lands on the page, what do you want them to do? Do you want them to make a purchase? Or are you interested in completed forms and phone leads as your main goal? The key to calls to action is to firstly work out what you want the visitor to do and then make sure your calls to action are obvious, in place and lead the visitor down the correct path, as if you do not offer anything for them to do quickly when they land, they likelihood is they will just leave without doing anything. Online shopping is slightly different to high street shopping, as more often than not people know what they want when they go looking for it and fewer online shoppers just head online to browse, so make sure that when they hit your site, the next steps are very obvious.
Reduced Distractions
A common problem with landing pages is that they still keep the usual navigation in place, which on one hand could be considered a good thing, but generally, it gives the visitor the chance to get distracted and wander off to other parts of your site. Whilst this might encourage a lower bounce rate, if you are getting the click through for a specific keyword, then it makes sense you serve the best possible results on your landing page and then reduce the amount of other places they can go, as if they find what they want then it should be pushing towards a sale, not giving them chanced to explore and then forgetting to convert. Try having a reduced menu and offer less options if you are sure the product or service matches their click, with maybe only a home page and contact link on your landing page, rather than your normal menu and adverts should you have them.