Top tips for effective landing pages

I am continually amazed at the poor quality of some landing pages used by companies advertising on Google (and other search engines).

Perhaps I should first explain (for those that don’t know), that a landing page is the page at which you arrive when clicking on a sponsored advert in a search engine.

Typical problems I encounter when visiting websites through sponsored search results include:

• The landing page is a splash screen – a prelude to the actual website (that’s so 90’s!).
• The landing page takes me to the home page of the website, even though my search was very specific.
• The landing page is text heavy or overly technical. I fall asleep reading it or click away.
• The landing page is deep-linked to the product (well done!), but the product is out-of-stock.
• The landing page looks like something my 8-year-old niece chucked together.
• The landing page is a dead link and goes nowhere (Google still charge you!).

All of the above have one thing in common, they result in a poor user experience and a waste of your advertising budget.

So before you go wasting more of your precious marketing budget, here are my top 5 tips for effective landing pages:

1. Keep it really simple – minimal text, strong graphics and a clear headline.
2. Make it relevant – take the user straight to the product or service they are interested in.
3. Don’t get technical – put your marketing hat on and stick to business benefits.
4. Include a clear call-to-action – buy now, enquire, call back are all OK.
5. Check out the competition – and don’t be precious about stealing the best ideas!

And finally, always test your landing page against the AIDA principle and you won’t go too far wrong:

Attention: Capture attention straight away with a strong call-to-action or headline.
Interest: Create interest in what you offer. Your website text is an opportunity to create interest by addressing user needs or concerns.
Desire: Make users want what you have. Display your products as the solution.
Action: Tell users what to do. Buy Now! Click here and save! It’s amazing what a quick directive can do.

To find out more about effective landing pages, download our pay per click guide, Making every click count.