Successful PPC campaigns are about more than simply choosing ad words that attract the attention of your target audience. Many marketers falter in the “what happens next” post-click phase, and a big reason for this is sending paid traffic to the wrong type of page.
Roughly 80% of paid search traffic is sent to one of the following page types:
If you fall into this category then your highest converting call to action is likely to be the back button on your browser – which means you are wasting money.
This stat also means that only about 20% of traffic is being sent to promotion specific landing pages, which is crazy. Most marketers know that landing pages improve conversion rates, but did you know that they can have a big impact on Google’s decision of your quality score (QS) – translating into a reduced cost-per-click (CPC)?
Simply put, you should send PPC traffic to landing pages whenever possible. Here’s the scoop on why:
You want a high quality score because it reduces your cost per click (giving you more clicks per advertising dollar) and it improves your ad rank (making it more likely that your ad will be seen and clicked).
By way of comparison, here’s why a landing page is better for achieving a high quality score than the other types of page:
| Landing Pages vs. | |
| Homepage | The landing page portion of Quality Score is largely determined by the relevancy of message match – how accurately the content on your landing page reflects the words and meaning of your ad.
With a landing page you can tailor your content to be specific to a single focused topic giving you a 1:1 content relevancy mapping. Conversely, homepages often have multiple messages based on different product areas or services and are likely to produce a higher mapping ratio – perhaps 1:4 (or higher) – diluting the potential for the landing page portion of your Quality Score to be successful. |
| Registration Page | Sending traffic directly to a registration page from an ad is a terrible conversion strategy from a human perspective – too much of a hard sell with no supporting material. Witness an exception to the rule (Campaign Monitor have a kick ass registration page – emulate this: http://signup.createsend.com/signup.aspx) – however it’s still unlikely to help your QS – just your conversion rate.
Likewise, Google (or other PPC ad bots) are unlikely to be able to find enough original and semantically relevant content on a sign-up form to be happy with the landing page portion of your Quality Score. Testing and tweaking your registration page is a very time consuming and complex thing to get done (usually for political and technical stability reasons). This is another good reason to avoid using it as the target page for your PPC campaigns because you want to have the freedom to experiment and optimize. Instead, you should use a landing page to warm your prospects with product/service/brand benefits before passing them on to your registration page. You’ll be able to create a page that gets the Quality Score checkmark (by adding valuable content and messaging) and increase your conversions at the same time. |
| Shopping Cart Page | Most shopping cart pages are dynamically generated using product id’s and as such will have poorly constructed URL’s. This is a factor considered by the ad engine when determining your quality score.
A cart page is also unlikely to contain more than a basic product title and description, making it hard for Google to figure out what it’s really about. Similar to the registration page, it’s naive to assume that someone is ready to buy your product without first being exposed to your brand or real product information, so get your customers and Google excited with a landing page before sending them to the checkout. |
| Product Detail Page | Google specifies that original content is an important factor when determining quality score. If you are selling products that aren’t unique or if you have hundreds of products, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to differentiate sufficiently to grab extra quality score points.
Like the cart page, the URL is also often faceless, using a product id rather than a descriptive name. Having said that, if you have a lot of products, creating a separate landing page for each would be overkill. The time when you do want to use a landing page is when you are running a special promotion for your product, as you’ll find it simpler to produce a new page with promo based content, than to try and alter a template used by your whole product line. |
As with any PPC target page, when constructing your landing page be sure to focus on the following to achieve a good quality score:
A good way to test this approach is to create a landing page and compare the quality score you get vs. the other page types – then iteratively optimize your landing page until the number is superior. You’ll find it much more cost effective (and less political) to massage a landing page compared to your homepage or site templates.
Your landing page is the most likely funnel point to produce a conversion lift on your campaigns. Many of the reasons why landing pages work so well to improve conversions are similar to the quality score factors, but instead of appealing to the Google ad bots, your landing page is now responsible for persuading human visitors to become customers.
Here are some reasons why using landing pages to engage your paid search traffic will increase conversions:
When a customer clicks on your PPC ad, they will typically spend 5 seconds on your page before deciding whether to stick around or not. By providing a very clear headline on your page that strongly matches your ad message you give people a sense of positive reinforcement – that they made a “good click”.
This allows you to survive the 5-second rule test and gain the opportunity to tell your story to your prospects.
Strongly related to message match is subject focus. Your homepage probably communicates multiple messages, or shows multiple products.
If you count the links on your homepage you might count 20-75 interaction points – this is focus dilution.
A correctly designed landing page should have only one.
Consider the example of a ninja tossing a throwing star at you. If you’ve got some decent reflexes you might catch it before it strikes you. However, if he threw 4 stars simultaneously, you’d be unlikely to maintain focus on any of them, leaving you with a bunch of metal objects sticking in your chest.
Clearly that’s no way to treat a potential customer.
(Image source: http://www.commandomag.com)
Effective salespeople are good storytellers. Effective landing pages take an idea (the ad) and expand it into a clear and powerful motivational story. This is done through the implementation of persuasion design techniques. These include a hierarchy of content types or “chapters” including:
The goal is to lead visitors through this series of “chapters” to persuade them to become your customer.
Your homepage often has to do this in a way that it generic enough to talk to multiple personas or to support multiple products – and would be come too content heavy if it tried to accommodate the story or sales pitch for every campaign you are running.
Conversion isn’t about standards or best practices, it’s about experimentation and creativity. A landing page can use content in ways that breaks the structure or rules of your website (while still staying on brand). Maybe a page with 15 testimonials on it will convert really well, perhaps you just need a headline, a short list of features and a video? You can test many variations of message and layout by using standalone landing page without redesigning your website or seeking the consent of multiple departments.
Landing pages simplify and improve the PPC conversion experience both for Google and your prospective customers. They do this by enabling more focused messaging which boosts your quality score and reduces your cost-per-click. At the same time they reduce the post ad-click bounce rate which improves conversions.
All of these factors combine to produce a higher return on your marketing spend.
You will see a better ROI by optimizing your landing page for improved quality score and conversions, than by simply increasing your PPC campaign budget to get more traffic.
[...] questo infographic viene spiegata la relazione tra campagna PPC e Landing [...]
Well these are really good and awesome landing info. Thanks for every thing here
[...] Unbounce l’80% degli utenti che provengono da una campagna pay per click atterra su pagine non [...]
Could you please list some of these landing pages?
Which type of landing pages are you referring to?
[...] Gardner from Unbounce brings us this great infographic that shows you why you should not send paid clicks to untargeted pages like your homepage, product [...]
Very interesting article, it shows you that people should work on fixing up their landing pages as they are a very effective source for extra conversions. Thanks for sharing this I have sent your site to some friends.
This is sweet! I’m going to refer to it when talking to prospects about my suggestions to create landing pages for their campaigns. For some unknown reason, it can be a hard sell sometimes.
Excellent. Hopefully it’ll provide a bit more arm twisting power for you.
[...] your ability to gain budgetary approval). The reason why you want to direct your paid traffic to a landing page vs. your homepage is that your homepage is often designed to be a generic entry point to your brand and business. It [...]
[...] your ability to gain budgetary approval). The reason why you want to direct your paid traffic to a landing page vs. your homepage is that your homepage is often designed to be a generic entry point to your brand and business. It [...]
[...] sollte man Landing-Pages aufbauen um die Klick-Kosten zu senken und die Konversionsrate zu erhöhen. Diesen Artikel [...]
[...] Konversionsraten dramatisch verbessern. Worauf es beim Design von Landingpages ankommt, zeigt ein Schaubild der Konversionsberatung Unbounce. In dem dort gezeigten Beispiel geht es zwar um die Frage, wie mit [...]
[...] sure that your landing pages have short load time, relevant and original content (use your keywords!), high usability (easy path [...]
Now I am motivated to build new landing pages.
[...] link to “Landing Pages for PPC” at unbounce.com, who also provide the 12-step landing page rehab [...]
Finally a blog that didnt contradict it self, amazing writing. :)
can you provide some links with PPC dedicated LP created in unbounce? thanx
As a PPC consultant one of the first things I look at with a new client are their current destination URLs if they have an existing PPC account. If it’s a client just getting started with PPC we initially develop solid landing pages for their PPC traffic. I believe that the first step in successful, profitable PPC is to make sure that you can convert traffic on your website, whether it’s a product purchase, a download, a sign-up, or a contact form completion. I have used Unbounce with several clients and it has worked very well. Great product.
Thanks!
Dana
Your Partner in PPC
ClickToast.com
Thanks for the positive reinforcement of using Unbounce for PPC success Dana.
This is a great post. I really like the diagram. Since I am new to this whole process, and tend to be more of a visual learner, the layout was perfect.
[...] 英文原图原文见“LANDING PAGES FOR PPC”。 [...]
Perfect sheet for PPC-Landingpages. I will use this for my this with thematic “schwanger werden”.
[...] reason why you want to direct your paid traffic to a landing page vs. your homepage is that your homepage is often designed to be a generic entry point to your brand and business. It [...]
[...] 英文原图原文见“LANDING PAGES FOR PPC”。 [...]
This is a very good overview for ppc-landing pages and tests. I will us and try to increase my conversion rate.
Seriously a KILLER rundown of this topic. Landing pages are pretty much the perfect solution to my PPC campaign clients. They have a hard time understanding that you have to deliver something that is crafted to the visitors that you are getting.
Visitors to your site’s homepage are not the same as visitors that reach you through ads.
[...] good and trustworthy? (tip: If you’re sending PPC-purchased visitors to your homepage, stop it. Read this, urgently. ) • Is there enough information for visitors to create a good first impression of my brand [...]
Yes…having the right landing page does kick some serious ass.
But you also have to know how to use it for maximum effect. I’ll read your stuff and try to incorperate it into my approach.
After all, you have to keep an open mind. And there’s some good stuff on this site.
That’s dope. Im really interested in internet marketing and this is great!
Wow1 What a wonderful description and answer all my questions article. I think I know what is my next step to engage the internet business.
[...] Web Flipping is important as it provides site owners with important information that could lead to greater conversions, increased sales and higher customer numbers. If you enjoyed this article, [...]
Oli… you are awesome. Thank you SO much for this information. I’ve currently just started learning about PPC, SEO, and all of that fun stuff in regards to e-commerce. I always wondered what are the pros and cos of homepages vs squeeze pages vs landing pages for a 1-product campaign and your site here just answered everthing. For now I have just registered my domain and have a host. The next step of figuring out how to design a site for real sales was daunting. I can’t thank you enough. /bookmarked
Thanks Rahul! Really glad it was useful.
[...] No go rock those PPC ads and start converting more. And don’t forget to send your Pay-Per-Click traffic to a landing page! [...]
[...] No go rock those PPC ads and start converting more. And don’t forget to send your Pay-Per-Click traffic to a landing page! [...]
[...] Now go rock those PPC ads and start converting more. And don’t forget to send your Pay-Per-Click traffic to a landing page! [...]
Thanks Rahul! Really glad it was useful.
Yes…having the right landing page does kick some serious ass.
Thanks for your fedcbaek Deb! Please let me know if you have any suggestions for future tutorials
[...] 英文原图原文见“LANDING PAGES FOR PPC”。 [...]
Does a landing page need to be in the website navigation, or can it be omitted? Would this affect SEO?
[...] 英文原图原文见“LANDING PAGES FOR PPC”。 [...]
[...] Source: Unbounce [...]
[...] http://unbounce.com/ppc-landing-pages/ [...]
Very good information on ppc landing page design, you can check some of my ppc landing page here http://www.semanticppv.com/featured-ppv/
[...] de conducir nuestro tráfico hacia las landing. Para ello os dejamos con la siguiente infografía, extraída del magnífico post que lo acompaña, que explica todo esto que estamos hablando. Esperamos que os [...]
[...] Landing Pages for PPC – this infographic provides some more information about how Google rates landing pages (the web pages to which PPC ads link) and is a good supplementary lesson after looking at the infographic link above. [...]
[...] Fuente: Unbounce [...]
[...] 英文原图原文见“LANDING PAGES FOR PPC”。 [...]
[...] It has bugger all to do with Click-through-rate, but it has a massive impact on what happens after the click. So remember to create one landing page per ad and make it unique (that means original content and a matched message to what your ad is saying). For more check our this infographic and blog post on the subject. [...]
Terrific work! This is the type of information that are meant to be shared around the net. Shame on the seek engines for not positioning this post higher! Come on over and consult with my website . Thank you =)
landing pages are so important ,thank u
[...] this Unbounce interactive guide to targeted landing pages for PPC campaigns leading to higher conversions and lower [...]
[...] quiero enseñarles una infografía que encontre en bluecaribu, Esta infografía fue realizada por Unbounce y gracias a la colaboración de Oli Gardner y se ha traducirla al [...]
[...] Landing Pages for PPC [...]
[...] escribe Angela Ramirez de Blue Caribou para comentarme sobre una infografía desarrollada por Unbounce y traducida por ellos al español, que trata sobre Optimización SEM con Landing [...]
This morning I was discussing with a customer – an education provider – why landing pages make sense but a fellow social media marketing professional was arguing otherwise by saying that website visitors hate to fill in information therefore landing pages are not useful.
I was telling here that call to action does not need to be a RFI (request for information) form but a call to action needs to be there (like links or a call to action button) but somehow the business owner and the ‘online marketer did not seem to agree with that.
I wish I had this infographic in my arsenal and I would have had the firepower. Nevertheless thank you for sharing the infographic as I’m more prepared for future battles.
I’m glad it helped Pali – albeit a little too late.
[...] of Highly Optimized Landing Page Design The Perfect Landing Page. Landing page examples and 12 tips Landing Pages for PPC Landing Page Examples A Simple Device Diagram for Responsive Design [...]
data did not showup in google analytics…we ran test using gwo and found the redirect caused us to not see data for the “B” page version in the ga flow reports…will this solution allow us to see where visitors are leaving on each landing page?
Not 100% sure of your issue, whether it’s conceptual, a Google issue, or an Unbounce problem. If you think it’s on out side, please email success@unbounce.com.
Cheers
Oli
[...] español (“Infografía: Optimización SEM con Landing Pages“) con la colaboración de Unbounce y nos ha parecido interesante compartirla con todos [...]
[...] infografía fue realizada por Unbounce y gracias a la colaboración de Oli Gardner la empresa bluecaribu.com ha tenido la suerte y la [...]
[...] experts recommend creating unique landing pages for every type of marketing you are running to increase conversions from your prospects. But for [...]
What about the extra pages you need for Google Quality score like Site Map, Disclaimer, Privacy Policy etc. do you include those at bottom of LP?
Hi,
Thanks for the info very informative with some good tips that I now plant to implement.
I also thought I should let you know that the link the ibriteapp that you hi light as an example, no longer works.
Thanks again.
[...] 英文原图原文见“LANDING PAGES FOR PPC”。 [...]
These are great recommendations but at the same time many landing pages have apparent disadvantages.
1. The user has do make one more click before s/he gets to the conversion page. It is possible to avoid this extra click by integrating a sigh up form in the landing page.
2. Many landing pages are too minimal and have very typical commercial “landing page layout” which discourages many users. Making a better designed landing page instead of a typical template may help.
[...] Others where mostly focused on PPC style landing pages. [...]
[...] So there you are. You’re all set to go rock your PPC. Just remember to use a landing page. [...]
Great infographic! Landing pages need to be more than just a good design and it can really impact your sales. Check out what our account manager thinks @ http://www.insivia.com/the-importance-of-using-landing-pages-insivia-insights/
[...] how you’re advertising an offer, the clicks should be directed toward a landing page. According to lead generation expert Oli Gardner, directing first-time website visitors to your website will result in much-lower conversions due to [...]
Do I have to create a different landing page for every ad I run? I’m currently sending all the traffic from google to one landing page with several variations. Should I other landing pages for various ads?
You don’t have to, but if you do, you’ll be able to make the message match between ad and landing page much better which will help to boost your Quality Score. You’ll also be able to A/B test the pages without interfering with your other ads/groups.
Internet marketing experts – http://www.kentstonemedia.com
Your article is very fasinating and useful with in my background and i will be trailing your strategy out to see if this is going to make a dramatic difference in reducing the cpc.
Many Thanks
http://www.kentstonemedia.co.uk
Well thank you much for this very informative and amazing post of yours. I learn a lot from this, specifically about the Landing pages, i will try doing this so that I can experience a lower CPC.
Nice article with some really good basics for creating a good landing page, I recently bought a new software package for creating landing pages, it’s called TLC Platform and I have to say I have been very impressed by it.
Internet Marketing Jacksonville FL – http://www.embarkdesigns.com
Thanks for the infographic, its very clean and informative. There are far too many website owners out there investing in PPC managment who would get so many more conversions.
Internet Marketing Experts – http://www.kentstonemedia.com
This article is spectacular and give lots of information and understanding for anyone needs to understand PPC(Pay Per Click)
Kind Regards
http://www.kentstonemedia.co.uk
[...] Quelle: unbounce.com [...]
This is really great informational tips for creating and optimizing landing pages. If you’re really serious about creating landing pages and you want them to not only look professional but be able to build incredible lists to generate a nice income, I found an incredible software that’s novice friendly, works with wordpress, and is integrated for mobile devices called Lead Rocket Plugin.. The guys that created this software, Anthony Aires & Derek Pierce not only help you train and learn the software but they show you step by step how to build huge lists and convert incredible landing pages in minutes.. This is something that will last the life of your business…For more information just go to leadrocketplugin.net… I can assure you, you won’t find a more powerful software as affordable as this….
The infographic is very helpful especially for PPC first timer like me. I love the way it presented both wrong and correct way. Honestly, within less than an hour of digesting the information presented, I’ve learned a lot than those cheap PPC courses offered online. This gives me a good and solid foundation of PPC, although I still have a lot to learn more.
Great landing page breakdown! If you mix in PPC Management & expertly match the keywords to the ad copy then the landing page you have a winner. Thanks, Steve Smith from PPC Professionals, Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL.
[...] dejar ese tema más claro aún, os dejo con esta fantástica infografía publicada en unbounce.com: Landing Pages para campañas PPC (pago por [...]
[...] dejar ese tema más claro aún, os dejo con esta fantástica infografía publicada en unbounce.com: Landing Pages para campañas PPC (pago por [...]
[...] esclarecer mais ainda esse assunto, veja abaixo um fantástico infográfico publicado em unbounce.com: Landing Pages para campanhas PPC (pago por [...]
dejar ese tema más claro aún, os dejo con esta fantástica infografía publicada en unbounce.com: Landing Pages para campañas PPC…
The infographic is very helpful especially for PPC first timer like me. I love the way it presented both wrong and correct way. Honestly, within less than an hour of digesting the information presented, I’ve learned a lot than those cheap PPC courses offered online. This gives me a good and solid foundation of PPC, although I still have a lot to learn more.