Google Adwords - How to make more profit with The Landing Page

In creating a Google AdWords campaign, advertisers often spend most of their time creating their ads and researching their keywords. There is often little or no thought to where the surfer will be sent when the ad does its job and generates a click. Often advertisers send the surfer to the home page of their website, hoping the website will do the rest of the work. These advertisers are neglecting a very important part of their AdWords campaign: the landing page. A good landing page is just as important as a good ad, good keywords and strategic bidding. By creating an effective landing page advertisers can increase conversions, which will make their campaigns more competitive and profitable.

When creating your landing page remember to make it specific to the ad that is sending the traffic. As with everything else, the landing page must be highly targeted. If a surfer clicked an ad expecting to find gold plated doorknobs, then you better make sure the corresponding landing page has just that. There is nothing worse than having a customer who is ready to buy but can't.

The role of your ad is to get clicks. The role of your landing page is to convert those clicks into leads or sales. Make sure you can convert the surfer within 3 clicks or less. If the surfer has to click more than 3 times to buy your product you will probably lose the sale. Ideally you want the surfer to click only twice, once on your ad, and once on your landing page to get to your order page. That's it. The more clicks you have, the less sales you make.

Remember that surfers are impatient. You need to give them what they want with as little effort as possible on their part. Therefore, it is important to always keep your original objective (conversions) in mind, as well as to refer to the specific keywords and calls to action in your ad, when creating your landing page.

Can Adword clicks be sent to a Home page?
Yes. 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:

1. Well written content describing in clear detail what you are offering

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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

1. The first step is to provide the viewer with what he's looking for immediately. Next, show him the features of the product.

2. Most importantly, what is the benefit to the potential customer? Why should he buy from you? What will he gain by buying from you?

3. 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?

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.