Don't Be This Kid

Going into 2010 many businesses are looking at how they can improve their online marketing and many are considering Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising as one option. PPC is attractive because it offers the opportunity for immediate traffic (at a price) and the Return on Investment on a PPC Campaign is much easier to calculate than other online marketing methods.

Most businesses find that using an online marketing firm to manage PPC campaigns is a wise investment, however many come to this realization only after trying it for themselves. Therefore, I’d like to offer these suggestions to avoid PPC pitfalls that many encounter:

Irrelevance – The ad should direct the user to a relevant, appropriate page. For example, an advertisement for a sale on a Panasonic Model TC L37 S1 flat screen television should direct the user to a page that is focused on that product. Therefore, the advertisement should not send the user to a home page, or even a category page that discusses television sets in general. Overall, a landing page should be designed to be highly relevant to the searchers stated intent not only to overcome the quality hurdle imposed by the search engines, but also to convert visitors that do arrive on the page.

No Clear Call To Action – Many businesses become overly enamored with the design, advertising copy, snappy graphics and forget to clearly ask the user to take the desired action. Think big, red “Buy Now” button in the upper right-hand corner

Too Much Information – Advertisers often include extraneous information that confuses the user; this can include advertising copy, graphics, video and more.  The Landing Page should focus only on getting the user to take the desired action. This can include making a purchase, signing up for an email list or requesting more information.

Complexity – Use the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) method when designing Landing Pages. Start with a template that is consistent with the website’s existing look and feel.  If possible, remove the unnecessary navigation to avoid distraction. Write copy that is highly targeted and keyword-rich focused on a single topic. Finally, create a clear call to action. If several people shown the page for 3 seconds can answer the questions: What is this page about? and What is the next step? Then it should be ready to use.

Failure to Test – Many new PPC advertisers become engrossed in the design of their Landing pages and fail to test their new creation. Let’s be clear: we’re not talking about advanced A/B or Multivariate testing, we’re talking about simple functionality and appearance. Before committing hundreds or thousands of dollars in a PPC campaign, test the Landing Page to ensure that it works and appears as intended. You can save the advanced stuff for later.

PPC advertising can be a very effective method for driving targeted traffic to a website, however many new advertisers get burned by making some pretty simple mistakes. Hopefully, by avoiding these pitfalls, they can climb the learning curve quickly enough to avoid some expensive mistakes.

Do you have some Landing Page design horror stories? If so, please share them in the comments and tell us what you learned from them.

Bill Rowland