Spent money on pay per click ads (PPC), optimised your web page, got your social media going with Facebook ads and you’re generating good traffic to your site? BUT for some reason you’re not seeing conversions once that traffic is on your site? Perhaps you’re wasting valuable resources and your marketing efforts are failing…mmm wait a minute have you considered the quality of your landing pages?

I recently ran an AdWords campaign for a client. We had gained good positioning on the search engine results page (SERP), average 2/3 and had a low cost per click and a good click through rate to go with it. However, we just weren’t seeing the conversions that the client was after. We raised the question, is the landing page getting the most desired action (MDA) from the visitor? In a word, no it wasn’t.

Note: It has recently been alleged that the landing page quality does not directly affect the quality score in Google AdWords. Google led us to believe quality and relevancy of your landing page to your ads could improve the ‘quality score’ of your AdWords campaign which can help move your ads move up the SERP’s. However, some SEO’s now believe that this was a ploy to ensure Google seachers/users were getting the best results from their searches!

With that said it is obviously still absolutely essential to strive for the best quality score you can because it affects your conversions once the visitor is on your site, which after all, is the most important factor to you. The purpose of your ads is to get visitors on your site and convert them into taking the desired action.

 What do we need to think about?
  • Headline
  • Call to action
  • Offer
  • Layout and ease of navigation
  • Visuals
  • Simplicity and transparency
  • Social validation
Headline

Don’t try to be clever.  Use a simple, clear and explanatory headline that confirms to the visitor that they have found what they’re looking for. Explain exactly what you can give them i.e. you’re selling an online football coaching tool. You may say something like ‘Want to become a better football coach?’ or perhaps you’re offering a marketing consultancy ‘want to improve your marketing?’ Make the headline visually bold, even more than the logo. You want you’re visitor to be certain they’ve clicked through to the right page.

Call to Action (CTA)

Make it very clear what you want your visitor to do i.e. click here, download, trial now. You can easily test what works like the colour, size, copy and placement of the CTA. Be sure to make it obvious and distinct. Perhaps use visual cues to draw the eye to it. De-emphasise other visual cues compared to the primary CTA. If you have content below the CTA repeat CTA underneath to make it as easy as possible for the visitor to take the desired action.

Offer

Consider giving your visitor something of value in exchange for them taking your desired action; a free trial, a whitepaper, a gift or reduced price. If you pair it with a deadline it creates a sense of urgency and encourages action.

Layout and Ease of Navigation

Consider that many users still have smaller screens and they may not see what you see on your big retina screen. Keep important information near the top i.e. headline, logo, CTA and a visual that supports it. Have a supporting message and a further call to action further down the screen. Don’t overcrowd your page and use menus and navigation links to allow easy access to further pages and desired information. Create mobile and tablet responsive pages to make it as easy as possible for visitors to view the page and click the CTA.

Visuals

Keep your page clean and simple with plenty of white space. If it is over cluttered with too much information, links to this and that, ads, too many visuals the visitor will get frustrated and choose a site where they can easily see what they’re looking for. You have seconds to win them over so make it count! Keep fonts large and easy to read and write compelling and informative copy. Perhaps use bullets, bold fonts, pictures or videos to make the page easier to read and understand. Use colour schemes that complement each other and reflect your brand.

Simplicity and Transparency

Don’t try to be clever. Keep it clear and simple and focused around your MDA. Don’t overload your page because you have lots to say. Select your key features and benefits and give a few good reasons why they should take the action you want them to. You can test different approaches to see what works well. Remember not to distract from the CTA.

Social Validation

It is true to say people place greater value on things when others have approved them. So display evidence of this. Perhaps in the form of testimonials, press mentions or a customer list. You should include links to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ where they can see what great things people are saying about you!