Do you have some ongoing Google AdWords campaigns that, despite being optimized, are not performing to your expectations?

Oftentimes, the problem is with the landing page copy.

To illustrate this point, let’s say we have a software company that makes a great product at a very good price. Their AdWords account has been up and running for almost 2 months. The traffic is very targeted and the quality scores are good. The ads have a very respectable click through rate.

Everything looks great except the number of conversions. Which is everything in paid search.

If the problem isn’t the keywords or their costs, then the hurdle for the users must be on the company’s landing page.

At first glance, the landing page looks good. Visually, it’s not too cluttered, which is a common problem with underperforming landing pages. On closer examination, though, the sales copy doesn’t pop like it should.

Let’s try rewriting it. Before we start, ask yourself a few questions:

1) Why should I care? – Benefits, not features! I don’t care what IT DOES. What’s it going to do FOR ME? Clearly translate the features into benefits to the user.

The first snippet of text on the landing page to rework: Custom reports are a breeze. Using our report wizard, you select only the data that you want.

No, no, no. That’s what IT does. This is supposed to be about me.

This is better:

No more pouring over spreadsheets trying to figure out how to display only the data you want, the way you want it. With just a few clicks you’ll get your data exactly how what you want it. It’s so easy, you’re going to be wondering what do with all the extra free time you have on your hands.

The user (you) is mentioned 7 times.

2) Call to action – If you want me to do something, let me know!

Currently, they have a mediocre call to action:

Try our free trial today.

Better:

We’re so sure you’re going love all the extra free time our software gives you, we’re offering it to you to try now, risk free.

3) Why here and now? Why not somewhere else?

Lets add this:

In less than 10 minutes, you’ll realize how great this software really is. Try our demo version now and when you sign up you’ll also get our report: “The Biggest Marketing Opportunities of this Holiday Season.”

The above paragraph illustrates to the user that:

1) In just a few minutes, any doubts will be answered.

2) The free report, while working as an incentive, also creates a feeling of scarcity. The upcoming holiday season? Oh, fudgesicles. It’s almost here. There might be something in there I can use. I want to find out about it sooner instead of later when other people have the information.

You’ll be amazed at how much you can increase the conversion rates of your paid search with strong landing page development.

Remember: if you’re not testing your landing pages, you might be losing sales.

Landing page conversions, Landing page copy, landing page development, Landing Page Optimization

When in the landing page development phase it is important that you follow some simple guidelines in order to receive the best results possible.

Lets take a look at what we have identified to work best for a high converting landing page.

1 – First Impression:

Make sure your landing page clearly communicates what your product or service is.  If it is unclear as to what the page is about the common browser will usually click the back button to find what they are looking for.

2 – Above the fold:

Keep all of your important information visible above the fold of you landing page.  You want all of your text, bullet points, images, and most importantly your call to action to be visible without having to scroll.

3 – Simplify Things:

Instead of long paragraphs, make bullet points with your strongest selling points short enough for the visitor to scan and make a quick decision.  The longer you keep a visitors attention the more likely they will convert.

4 – Establish Trust:

Being a reputable company goes a long way these days.  BBB Logo, As seen on the News or TV, a secure check out, and guarantees all help to establish trust.  Make sure to only use these if they actually apply to your business, otherwise your defeating the whole purpose of establishing trust.

5 – Strong Call to Action:

The whole point of landing page is to have your visitor complete a desired action.  Whether it be a Order Button or Request more Info button make sure your Call to Action is easily visible and lets your visitor know what to do next.

6 – Testing:

Above all else the single most important part of landing page development is testing.  Your job is never done when testing landing pages.  Just when you think you have found the winning formula you can always change something as little as an image or the bullet point and find a higher converting landing page.

Landing pages are extremely important for any business, especially when you are doing Pay Per Click Advertising.  Remember that these are simply what we have found to perform the best, but I highly recommend you do some landing page testing and prove me wrong.  You never know, just because a certain formula works for one landing page, doesn’t it mean is best for yours.

landing page development, Landing Page Optimization, landing page testing

As I’m sure you’re aware, there are 4 toll-free prefixes – 800, 888, 877 and 866.

Although the “800″ prefix has been around for over 40 years, its next oldest sibling, “888″ is only 13 years old. The “877″ prefix came about 11 years ago, while the youngest “866″ has only been in use for 9 years.

Does the longer legacy of the “800″ prefix result in higher conversions when tested against the newer toll-free prefixes?

See which “800″ prefix yields the highest conversion rate in this search marketing industry study performed by Engine Ready.

conversion rates, Landing Page Optimization

You’ve probably visited some sites recently that featured a video clip explaining why the company’s product or service is perfect for you. While some sites let you start the video at your convenience, others launch the video when the page is loaded, forcing you to either:

a. Stop reading anything else on the page and watch the video

b. Stop reading anything else on the page, find the stop button and stop the video

c. Do your best to read the contents of the page, while trying to ignore a talking head

To determine what impact automatically starting the video has on conversion, we performed an A/B test of the exact same page for a B2C lead generation site – the control was the video automatically starting at page load; the test page required the visitor to start the video.

Here are the resulting conversion rates:

Video starting automatically            9.9%

Video not-starting automatically   11.9%

The results don’t surprise me, except i would have expected an even greater difference in conversion rate between the two pages.

Stay tuned as we plan to replicate this test on a B2B lead generation site as well as an eCommerce site.

Landing Page Optimization, landing page testing, online video