8 Simple Steps to Create Successful PPC Landing Pages

The most successful method to ensure a high number of conversions from your PPC traffic is to create high quality PPC landing pages. Many PPC marketers invest too much time trying to perfect both keywords and ads while forgetting about the importance of the actual landing page. Many marketers are often left wondering why a campaign is not performing when their cost per click remains high and their conversion rate low.

Many industry experts have devised complicated theories as to why PPC campaigns fail during their infancy. However the basic theory which is widely accepted by all is that Search Engine Marketing platforms such as Google Adwords reward or punish an advertiser based on how well they solve the users search problems or criteria. As a basic example if your ad has the text “learn HTML in 7 Days” then the content of your landing page needs to have them or at least assist them in building web pages like a pro within a week. If your landing page fails to accomplish this then very soon you will receive a fairly substantial punishment from Google. This punishment will likely be a significant reduction in impressions from your Google Adwords Ads.

Below are 8 simple steps which will help you to build successful landing pages which help to deliver the promises of your PPC Ads:

1)Deliver on your ad
The first task your landing page must accomplish is to deliver on the promise of your ad. This really is the key to success from a landing page. Search Engine such as Google actively track the bounce rate of landing pages. If Google determines this bounce rate to be unacceptable then it will penalise you accordingly. If your landing page successfully delivers on the promise of your ad then you will be rewarded with lower cost per clicks and increased impressions.

2) Create original page content
Secondly your landing page must contain unique and original content. Mass produced sites with generic content no longer perform successfully. All of the major search engines seek to provide searches with highly relevant and unique content. A mass produced site which contains duplicate content will be penalised. A landing page is a unique opportunity for you to impress targeted visitors coming from your ads. To ensure you achieve this, a landing page should be unique, novel and personal.

3) Ensure your page matches your ad
This may seem a very obvious requirement for any landing page but I am amazed how many advertisers I see failing to follow this simple rule. Typically visitors will make a decision whether to stay on a site or navigate away from it within a few seconds of browsing. It is important to ensure the top of your landing page matches the content of your ad which they clicked on to reach your site. A simple but effective technique for maximising conversions is to create a dedicated landing page for each of your ad themes. This will most likely involve you customising the top portion of each landing page to more accurately match each ad. The rest of the page content can in the majority of cases remain the same for all pages.

4) Get straight to the point
It is important to deliver the key marketing message to users in the shortest possible time. If this rule is followed then there is a much reduced chance users will land on your website and leave before receiving your main sales pitch. In addition ensure your landing pages contain correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. Mistakes in these areas can reflect badly on the website and lead to a significant increase in bounce rates.

5) Always have a goal
Another key feature of any landing is that it has a goal. You should keep in mind when planning a landing page what this goal might be to users. Are you trying to make a sale, acquire a lead or populate a mailing list? When writing landing page content you should write it based around this key goal. Ideally you should aim for only one goal per page.

6) Offer incentives
Another important marketing tool you can use to very good effect on a landing page is to offer an incentive to visitors. Almost everybody responds to the word “Free”. Free downloads are an excellent incentive to tempt users and can usually be provided at very low cost.

7) Credibility is paramount
As with almost all aspects of life, credibility counts. If you are a long established, experienced and successful organisation you must convey this through your landing pages. Your landing pages should be attractively designed consist with the overall design of your website. Audio and video should not automatically load when a visitor accesses a page. A landing page should be welcoming without looking like one big advertisement.

8) And finally, ensure your page conveys trust
Finally your landing pages should convey trust. Trust is a major issue online. Details of professional affiliations should be placed on landing pages where appropriate. Also graphics such as website security certifications should also be made visible. Users should gain the feeling that they are dealing with real people in a trustworthy and genuine organisation.

Summary
These 8 steps may seem like a lot to remember, however the rewards you will receive will far outweigh the required work. Primarily these steps boil down to you creating an online presence which appears real and genuine to users. With the number of websites increasing day on day, users crave quality and trustworthy websites to do business with. Following these simple steps will provide you with a huge advantage over your closest online competition.