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Home::Online Promotion
Is your PPC or Adwords Campaign Crashing on the Landing Page?
Author : John Krycek
What is a good landing page? The crucial half of a PPC campaign
most people don't know about.
Google Adwords, Yahoo (formerly called Overture Sponsored
listings) and other Pay Per Click (PPC) companies give you the
chance to get your ad or search listing at the top of the pack,
right up front and perfectly matched to the searcher's query.
With a clever and catchy, attention grabbing ad or headline you
can win the viewer in that critical split second he has to
decide to click.
He clicks, you score! Right? WRONG! If you can get that click on
a focused, targeted keyphrase and ad headline, you should feel
very good. You're halfway there. But, where does he land? On
your home page? On the specific product page if you have an
online store?
The page where the viewer lands is called a "landing page" or
"destination page." It is equally as important as your ad
headline and copy, if not more. Most sales, conversions, or
leads that cost hard cash to Adwords or Yahoo are often lost
because of poor, or non existent landing pages.
Why can't I just send my adword clicks to my Home page?
You can. But what if you walked into a five-story department
store with no sales people-- You're looking for a very specific
sweatshirt with a Penn State Logo that you saw at a football
game. You know the sports shop out in the mall will have it, but
you've got a store credit card so you'd like to get it here.
You're also holding onto two toddlers who are losing their
cuteness very quickly because they want the Happy Meals you
promised on the way home.
So there you are in an endless sea of perfume counters. You want
a sweatshirt. Maybe it's in the men's section...but where is
that? Or maybe it's in Active wear... would that be with the
men's stuff? And where are the escalators?!
"Forget it," you think, and walk out to the sports shop in the
mall, buy your sweatshirt and are on your way to Micky D's in
less than 10 minutes.
Your homepage is the department store. It doesn't matter if
you're selling a product, service, or giving away free
information. You have sections and categories which are probably
very well marked and labeled.
However, your Google Ad or Sponsored listing was specific. It
advertised a precise thing in about 70 characters or less.
People don't care about your home page. They expect to see what
they were searching for as soon as they click. Don't you?
So let's say your ads lead to specific destination pages of your
site. What's on those pages?
Destination Page Overview
For Pay Per Click, your destination pages are absolutely
critical. They are the second half of the sales pitch. Just
having the adword or PPC land on the product page is not enough.
First, you have to get someone to your site.
Remember the number of hits you get on a PPC or Google Adword is
an ever-increasing expense if you don't turn that click into a
sale and the only sales person you have is the page at the end
of that click.
You've got to convince someone quickly, "at a glance quickly,"
why they should buy from you and not the ad above or below you.
Think of your own web searches. You have seconds to entice that
viewer to read more, or lose them.
Build the page around a SINGLE goal incorporating:
* Well written content describing in clear detail what you are
offering
* Organization to make a fast read or "scan" of the page convey
as much information to the viewer as possible. Use bullet points
and straightforward language to make reading as easy as possible
* Show the benefits to the potential customer. Details that the
viewer can relate to on a personal, even emotional level are
what makes this page have a much better chance of getting a
lead, conversion or sale. It must show all the properties that
make you better than the rest. Don't be arrogant, but make the
reader feel they will be secure, better and confident if they
buy, fill out a form, or perform the action you're after.
* KISS- "Keep it simple, stupid" applies here too. If you don't
need a country and a phone number in your form, keep them off.
Make it easy and simple for your viewer.
Remember, when you land on a page, you ask "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?"
Destination Page Construct
* The first step is to provide the viewer with what he's looking
for immediately. Next, show him the features of the product.
* Most importantly, what is the benefit to the potential
customer? Why should he buy from you? What will he gain by
buying from you?
* If you're selling a product that is very similar to other
competing products, you need to focus your sales message on what
makes your product unique. What are the unique benefits for your
customer?
* Anything that can steal focus from your objective risks losing
a conversion. This includes other products, details not related
to the main idea, and even the navigation system you use
throughout your site. Don't give the viewer the option to go
anywhere else but to a form, buy button or call to action.
* Each destination page should have a single, obvious goal that
gently tells the customer what to do. Don't try to cross sell or
sign up for a newsletter and send an e-card. Stick to one goal.
* Some people might be looking for the specific product and buy
from you. But for those that are questioning and/or first time
buyers, don't give them a chance to question your credibility.
*The phone number and email address should appear (not
obnoxiously)enough times that they're always visible when the
page is scrolled. It's a proven fact, if someone has to search
for how to contact you, you lose some potentials.
Destination Pages and the Unique Selling Proposition
A concept developed in 1961 still holds merit today and is a
great check for the underlying tone of your landing page. That
is the "Unique Selling Proposition" by Rosser Reeves. The
concept explains how every company should strive to show how it
differs and surpasses its competition.
It consists of three concepts that should be applied to your
advertisement (or adword) and your destination page.
1. Tell the consumer what benefits you will be giving him. ?
"Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."
2. The benefits have to be unique to your product. Something
that separates you from what the competition has to offer. If
your products are sold by competitors too, find something that
distinguishes YOUR company.
3. The proposition must be so strong and convincing that it can
move the millions (attract new customers).
To be successful, you'll need to research and build a campaign,
then watch and modify, test and retest different changes, words,
prices, etc. I want to stress the importance of this.
The same testing, observing, tracking and revising apply to
landing pages as they do to ads and headlines themselves. It can
save you a lot of money. If you're not careful you can run up
thousands of dollars in PPC and adwords with insignificant sales
or leads.
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