Better Landing Pages = Better Conversion Rates

When marketing your site via PPC (pay per click) campaigns, it's easy to get caught up in the myriad options available within your management platform, like AdWords for example.

There are at least a dozen components you can spend time optimizing, from keywords and ad text to individual bids and geographical targeting.

What can sometimes get overlooked, however, if you're only giving thought to the ads themselves, are your landing pages.

Landing pages are crucial to your PPC campaigns' success. Not only will your landing page likely be the first on-site expereince your visitors have with your company, but these pages will serve as your first--and sometimes, only--chance to close the deal.

There's much that can be said about a good landing page, but for starters, ask yourself the following important questions regarding your existing landing pages:

• Does the content on my landing page match what the ad says? In other words, if your ad is bringing in visitors who clicked it expecting to find pricing, you should make sure your landing page clearly displays that pricing.
• How much content do I have on my landing page? Too much content may distract and interrupt a fast, clean conversion.  Too little content, and you may have wasted your PPC budget on visits with exceptionally high bounce rates.
• Am I making it easy for visitors to do what I want them to? One of the biggest offenses we see in non-optimized landing pages are calls-to-action that aren't clear. The Internet may not be new, but even in 2011, users still need a clear pathway when visiting unfamiliar sites. Big, obvious buttons ("Click Here To Get Started") are a simple way to influence this
• Where am I sending visitors after the landing page? If the call-to-action is leading potential buyers to a new page that's irrelevant or adds an unnecessary step in the conversion process, you may be shooting yourself in the foot.

These are good tips to consider, but they're still just the tip of the iceberg. For more information about our PPC management and coaching services, contact the Internet Maketing team at August Ash today.