PPC 101: landing page optimization

Author: 

Peter Amerio

In pay-per-click marketing, landing page optimization is a key component of a successful campaign.  It is not enough to write compelling ad copy that drives visitors to your landing pages if no one converts into an inquiry.  Think about it – if you are paying for a visitor to come to your website, don’t you want the best chance at talking to that visitor and turning him/her into a student at your school?  

Far too often when taking over a pay-per-click marketing account from another agency, I am presented with some of the least thought out landing pages you can imagine.  There is no clear path to an inquiry form, no single phone number to call, information is scattered everywhere, and bad layout and design are competing for worst in show.  It’s no wonder that, on average, 98 percent of visitors to most landing pages leave without attempting to speak to someone at the school.  Bounce rates on many landing pages are as high as 95 percent.  For those of you unfamiliar with bounce rate, it can be appropriately defined as the number of visitors to your site that say, “I came, I puked, I left” – certainly not vendi, vidi, vici.  

It does not need to be that way, however, and with some planning, marketing strategy, and good old-fashioned A/B testing, you can create a great landing page experience that speaks highly of your brand and has visitors jumping through hoops to fill out an inquiry form or call your trackable phone number. (After all, you do want to accurately measure your return on advertising spend, right?)

Here are a few tips to get you started on your way to landing page bliss rather than the after-party regrets of a well-intended but poorly thought out night on the town:

1.    Keep it simple
Don’t try to do too many things with your landing pages.  The idea here is to present the user with one action you would like them to take – in this case, contacting your school to request more information about attending classes.

2.    Focus your users’ attention
We have one goal on the page: get your visitors to request information.  Make it the most prominent thing on the page.  Make your phone number stand out and make your web form large with a background that contrasts with the other colors on the site.

3.    Get your users invested
Multistep forms accomplish two objectives:  They make the form look less intimidating, and they ask your users to make investments in the process.  They are getting something out of the process before they give you something valuable: their personal information.

4.    A button is no place to be shy
Make it BIG! Make it bright! Most of all, make it stand out.  For all of you wallflowers out there, your submit button is not like you and does not like to get lost in the wallpaper.  Think of what all those individuals you are jealous of are doing and let it dance in the center of the crowd.

5.    Make sure you honor their privacy
Let’s face it – we have all come up against a web shyster.  You know the type – they take your information and apparently post it to every made-for-the-junk-pile, as-seen-on-TV huckster on the Web.  You are bombarded with emails promising fame, fortune, and the secret to never-ending youth and vitality. (And if you’re really lucky, you’ll lose weight as well.)  So don’t blame your visitors if they are a little gun shy to give you their precious identity.  Instead, post a rock solid privacy statement right on your web form – and make sure you honor it.  That little link to the privacy policy for your site produces the warm and fuzzy feeling your visitors need to stop thinking about what they are going to change their emails to next month after they are bombarded with spam.

The best landing pages are composed of simple, common sense best practices.  They evolve over time and through hard work, a little innovative thinking, and lots and lots of testing.  No single solution will work in every case, but if you follow these five rules of thumb, you will be well on your way to conversion bliss, higher ROIs and more profits … and it is a well-known fact that increased profits lead to more happiness at work.

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