So your boss wants to increase the business’ website traffic and get your brand out there for people who are searching for it. One of the ways to do this quickly is by paying for it with Pay-Per-Click ads or PPC, and you'll need to create the best landing pages to make the ads effective.
When you set up your PPC ads, you need to direct them to a page on your website, thereby directing more visitors to your site, which ultimately helps you reach your goal of increased customers. Don’t get so focused on setting up the PPC ads that you forget about what happens when visitors actually click on the ad.
Remember to keep the whole process in mind and to set up your landing pages to be the best they can be. When you do this, your conversion from website visitors to leads will increase. Another word for making your pages the best they can be is ‘optimizing’. This is a key term in the internet marketing industry and no doubt, if you are at all responsible for an internet marketing piece, you have heard this buzz word.
Creating the best landing pages for your PPC campaigns is not too difficult, especially if you have great software like HubSpot or Unbounce. But as you use your tools to set-up your ad campaigns and the landing pages the visitors “land on” you need to keep a few things in mind:
Keep your eyes on the goal
Whenever you create an ad, you need to have your end goal in mind. But we can get so caught up in the creativity, the message, the tools and assets, that sometimes we forget what the purpose is and what we want to see happen when all is said, done and gone live!
Create an offer that can’t be passed up!
What is it that your business has to offer? Pick your product, service, piece of great content, video, checklist or whatever it is that your company is offering. Craft it and create it so that someone can use it! Whether you are offering a free sample or a great resource to answer questions, have it prepped and ready for your leads.
Know your customer persona-who’s in the audience?
Who is your target persona, your ideal customer, or the personality type that is looking for what you have to offer? Who do you not want as a customer? Ask these questions and refine who you want your ideal customer to be. When you know who your ideal customer is you can build a persona and dig down to find what the ideal customer is looking for when they are searching for your product or service. The best landing pages speak to a specific audience and focuses on what they need and are searching for.
Create a landing page that clearly shows where you've taken me!
When an internet search brings up a PPC Ad and the user clicks on your ad, where does it take them? Have they “landed” where they thought they should? Scent is an important element for creating the best landing pages. If your PPC ad is claiming you have cozy socks for sale, your landing page should offer cozy socks. If you offer laundry detergent that can keep those cozy socks clean, well…your visitors may feel like they have landed on the wrong webpage and are more likely to bounce off to another website.
If you keep your offer, headline, images and content copy focused on what the ad says you are offering, your conversion rates will increase. In other words: Give ‘em what they paid for-or in the case of PPC-Give ‘em what you paid per click for.
Make a dedicated page-
Another aspect to consider in creating the best landing pages is to have a dedicated landing page for each PPC ad, this way you can increase the scent for each. Added to this is the strategy of isolating the page as well. Take off all the “extras” like navigation and multiple buttons. Keep the page focused on the offer you are presenting. When landing pages are focused and clearly promote one offer on each page, you will decrease distractions!
SEE ALSO: The Best Landing Pages Use These 6 Simple Techniques
Write a relevant headline-
This is the first thing that visitors will read and it could possibly be the only thing they read if you are not clear and compelling. Create great headlines that are simple, clear, and match what your PPC ad says. Consistency is key! Headings and subheadings can be in the form of a question or include a solution to the problem visitors are seeking answers to. Using action words or ‘words that sell.' Capturing your visitor’s attention and compelling them to read the rest of your content, as well as take action on your landing page is up to the headline on the best landing pages.
Add a CTA that shows value-
Including a call-to-action that has value and relevance is another critical aspect of all the best landing pages. The language you use on your “submit” or “download” button should be relevant to the offer as well as add value. So try adding language that shows the value of your offer such as changing “Sign-up” to “Sign-up for Daily Tips” or changing “Download” or “Download Your Free Copy.”
Color makes all the difference-
Use colors that have contrast when you are directing attention to the CTA button. Use your color palate to find a contrasting color for your landing pages.
If your color palate is blue, your contrasting color is orange; since contrasting colors are located opposite one another on the color wheel, blue and orange contrast as do purple and yellow, and red and green.
In choosing a color for your CTA button orange and red are popular colors, but test it out on your landing pages and see which color performs best.
Choose your form fields wisely-
Forms on the best landing pages are short, simple to fill in and ask for information that is connected with the offer. If a form has too many fields to fill in, visitors are more likely to not fill out your form. Choose your form fields carefully, depending on the value of the offer or what the offer is. Other aspects to think about are the actual design, color, size and shape of the form. And lastly, have a clear title on your form directing the reader to the form.
K.I.S.S.-
If you forget the list of “900 Tips” or the “83 Qualities of the Best Landing Pages” just remember one thing- Keep It Simple Silly! Keep your landing page simple and clear; take out all unnecessary words, be concise in your description of the benefits and keep your form short and design a CTA that stands out.
Last, but not least, TEST!!!
Each of these aspects of a landing page needs to be put to the test. And they should be tested, and tested and tested. Think of yourself as the “mad scientist” doing experiments in your lab. Do A/B testing. Change one thing, test. Add a color, test. Change an image, test. You will find what works for your industry, your PPC ad campaigns, as well as for your offers. Ultimately you create the best landing pages to reach your goal of more customers and your boss will be elated!
