10 tips on what makes a great PPC landing page
Friday 29 May 2009
TAGS: Google AdWords | Pay per click
You’ve improved your PPC adverts, you’ve introduced a PPC landing page and you are getting lots of relevant clicks. You also have a great product, so why are the visitors not converting into customers? Neil M Hancock gives his top 10 tips for improving your PPC landing pages.
Landing pages are the least utilised tool by Google AdWords advertisers. A good landing page is proven to increase conversion rates from PPC campaigns. Are you talking effectively to your PPC visitors? Does your landing page make visitors want to convert into customers? Does it portray trust and authority?
Here are 10 simple tips to improving your PPC landing page, mark yourself out of 10, how many do you utilise?
The advert and landing page should be consistent.
A user has clicked on your PPC advert because they are interested in finding out a little more information about the text they have read in your advert. Therefore the promotional text on your PPC landing page must be consistent with the PPC advert text. You could even include your advert title as your landing page title.
Focus on getting your visitors to do one thing
The sole job of the landing page is to act as an effective tool for converting potential leads and enquiries. Therefore do not allow people to browse easily away from the page. You should remove all your standard navigation that could ‘tempt’ them to browse away and make the sole way of interacting with the PPC landing page to click through to purchase or leave their contact details. You want the reader focused solely on your copy and the offer you’re making without being tempted to wander around the website.
Write in the second person
The principal interest from a PPC visitor is how your product or service will benefit them. With this in mind do not simply tell the visitor about your services and how they are brilliant and are better than your competitors. Tell them what your services can do for them, e.g. it can increase their ROI, or treble their profit margins etc.
Use short and precise text
Most people are rushed or lazy when it comes to reading website copy; therefore they may skim read your copy, or be drawn to reading bullet points. So make sure your important text is either at the start of your text or punctuated by bullet points.
Data capture anyway you can!
As I mentioned in the ‘focus on getting your visitors to do one thing’ point, a common goal of a PPC landing page is to capture your visitor’s data. In this instance you should give them as many opportunities as possible to leave you their data. If you have any white papers or a regular newsletter, offer these incentives for free in return for their email address. If they are not confident to enquiry about your products/services then allow them to leave their data through a second medium.
Have quotes or feedback to reassure people to sign-up/buy
They may seem a very simple addition, but people react positively if they are confident that someone else has used your services and been happy enough to leave feedback. Possibly think about having a small photo too, the more personal the testimonial the more comfortable the user will be.
Give some free offers and incentives
This point backs up the ‘data capture anyway you can!’ point; people love getting something of value for nothing. They feel they are in a no-lose situation, if the free offer is good they have got something for nothing, and if the free offer is worthless in the long run they have lost nothing by getting it for free. All you need to ask for is an email address, and you have started your relationship with the visitor.
Don’t get greedy
Statistically you lose 30% of your potential sign-ups with every extra question you ask them to fill in, so don’t ask for anything you don’t immediately need. You can always ask for the extra information at a later date.
Keep your important copy above the fold
Once you have designed your landing page try and view it on a computer screen on a standard resolution. Does all your important information appear before you have to scroll? 25% of users don’t scroll at all and nearly 80% of users don’t scroll the bottom of a long page, therefore you must have your important messages and call-to-action above the fold.
Keep it simple, stupid
Don’t make your page and sign up process complicated, people want a swift and simple process to analyse your copy and decide if they want to proceed with an enquiry or a purchase. The more complicated and conflicting your message is, the more visitors that will get confused and frustrated and browse away to a competitor.
Neil M Hancock is the Search Marketing Manager at Silverbean. If you have any questions or would like to discuss how Silverbean can help you achieve your marketing objectives via search engine marketing; please contact our resident PPC management using one of the following.