How to Create Effective Landing Pages for Your AdWords Campaign

Your landing page is perhaps the most essential component in optimizing your AdWords advertising campaigns. Your landing page is the first page your customers see after clicking on one of your adverts, and the response they have to the page is what decides the success or failure of your advertising campaign. In addition, Google now examines your landing page when evaluating your ad's quality score. A high quality score will increase your ad's ranking and CPC, making your advertising campaign more cost-efficient.

Implement the below recommendations to convert more of your click-through into conversions.

Be Single-Minded

having a single driving objective or resolution: DETERMINED, DEDICATED

Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Despite being a commonplace, this advice is worth expressing. In order for a landing page to be effective, it must be a landing page. Create landing pages whose primary objective is to convert click-through visitors into customers. Don't simply send your clients to your homepage and hope they click the right links, and don't simply send them to a basic product listing page from your online store. Your landing page is one of your most significant marketing assets, so treat it accordingly.

Ad-Specificity

Each ad group should have its own landing page, and building a landing page for each individual ad may be preferable. By developing ad-specific landing pages, you can more precisely match the content to the ad that was clicked.

Suppose, for instance, that you offer accessories for Jeep Wranglers and Jeep Cherokees and that you have prepared advertisements for each model. If you direct prospective consumers to a landing page that has information for BOTH product ranges, the information that the customer is specifically interested in may be more difficult to locate and may be confusing. The customer must quickly recognize that the landing page is relevant (for instance, a picture of a Jeep Wrangler with relevant text for Wrangler purchasers) and beautiful enough to hold their attention.

Remember that you only have a fraction of a second to grab their attention, so irrelevant content on your landing page will increase the likelihood that your visitors will go on.

Reflect Ad Text in the Title of Your Landing Page (s)

This is yet another method for ensuring that your landing pages are ad-specific. The headline is one of the first elements that visitors will examine on your landing page. The closer this title is to the text of the ad they clicked on (especially the ad's headline), the more likely it is to maintain their interest in the remaining material.

For instance, if your ad is for "Radio-Controlled Widgets for Left-Handers," ensure that the title of your landing page specifically mentions "radio-controlled widgets for left-handers" and not just "radio-controlled widgets" or "Widgets." The more precise your advertisement, the more probable it is that a very specific landing page will hold the attention of your customers.

Consider "Usability"

Your landing page must adhere to online usability concepts, such as "heat maps" and "swimmable content."

According to studies examining where visitors actually focus on web pages, certain parts receive the most attention, while others are almost disregarded. Jakob Nielsen, for instance, found a "F-shaped" reading pattern that is very congruent with Google's own "heat map." Therefore, to optimize your landing pages, you must arrange your most vital material where it will be most likely to be viewed!

Notably, the left side of your website is more likely to be viewed than the right side, and the top of the page is "hotter" than the bottom. Therefore, if you have a really appealing product image or important piece of information, you should position it in the most prominent locations to draw attention. Keep in mind that once you have their attention, they are more likely to view the remainder of your website.

Regarding your actual copy, it should be formatted for "scanning" rather than word-for-word reading. Web visitors typically do not read every word on a page; rather, they scan for the most important information. Your pages should be optimized with this in mind; again, Jakob Nielsen's recommendations are an excellent place to start. Remember that less is more when it comes to web page copy; keep it brief and concise.

Use Casino Principles

If you've ever visited a casino in Las Vegas, Reno, or elsewhere, you've definitely noticed how difficult it is to locate the exit. [Which seems somewhat contradictory to consumer safety, but that's a different matter!] Clearly, there is a rationale behind this; if consumers cannot find an exit, they are less inclined to leave and thus more likely to remain and bet.

Similarly, if your landing page solely contains links to your intended destination, users cannot be diverted by links to other pages. Seems clear, doesn't it?! However, many landing pages maintain the same navigation structure as the remainder of the website, therefore it's not unexpected that visitors do not convert on your page.

Now, I'm aware that many web designers, or those for whom they build, have the following mentality:

Even if they decide not to [buy/sign up for/inquire about] the item advertised in the ad they clicked on, there's always a chance they'll be interested in [buying/signing up for/inquiring about] another of our products/services, etc.

Web users are not like those who shop in brick-and-mortar establishments; we've all bought something different from the grocery store when we simply intended to buy milk. Web users are extremely goal-oriented and impatient. If they have clicked on an ad for "green wikbots," it is because they are interested in purchasing these items. Even if you sell the most exquisite "yellow flisbos" on the planet, if John Doe has clicked on your "green wikbots" advertisement, he is highly unlikely to purchase one of your "yellow flisbos."

Therefore, construct a casino and eliminate all of your extraneous links, including the link back to your homepage.

Consider the Customer

When deciding what content to put on your landing page, you must assume the perspective of a prospective consumer. If you're uncertain about how a potential buyer would think, click on an ad for a product you may purchase and ask yourself, "What information would I need to view to make an informed decision about purchasing this product?" Also, inquire of others what facts they would require to make such a determination.

Once you have this information in hand, present it in a clear and succinct manner, keeping in mind the aforementioned usability considerations. Ensure that you have provided your prospects with all the information they need to convert; don't make them hunt for it, but instead provide a clear path to the objective; otherwise, they will likely abandon the process and move on to your competitors.

Eliminate these Weak Links

When it comes to landing pages, you must ensure that the links containing your calls to action are robust and effective. By their sheer nature, the links on your landing page will be among the first components that your visitors examine. Therefore, they must be links that drive your visitors to your objectives. Linking a full sentence containing a call-to-action is a very powerful method for achieving this.

Order our 28-page guide to making money with Google Adwords, for instance.

Also, do not be afraid to provide many calls-to-action in a link on your landing page; what does not work for one consumer may work for another. When determining what to include in your hyperlinks, make sure they are not your weakest link.

Do not request too much of your Visitors.

As stated previously, the language on your landing page must provide your visitors with all the information they need to make an informed decision. Likewise, you must not be greedy in your requests of them. Generally speaking, individuals dislike filling out forms. If your landing page wants customers to fill out a form, don't be greedy and request more data than necessary. However, if you can't resist asking that one additional question that would make all the difference in your statistical study, or whatever, make it optional rather than necessary.

Be advised! Your greed will likely be a barrier, preventing prospects from achieving your objectives. Therefore, avoid being greedy and take exactly what you need, no more and no less.

Don't Sit on your Laurels

You've designed your landing page, following all of these suggestions, it looks fantastic, it's a casino, and it is your crowning achievement as a web developer. Now is the time to relax and watch the money pour in! . . . WRONG!!

You cannot rest on your laurels; no one wants their laurels crushed, and neither should you. Instead of sitting on them, you should continually test them! Compare this landing page's performance against that of another using any means you have available. It might be a minor adjustment, modification, or whatever. However, you should never assume that your landing page is perfect because there is always space for development. Therefore, conduct comparison testing for two pages over a reasonable amount of time, discard the one that performs less well, and continue the procedure to keep your laurels fresh and green.