4 Key Elements of a Successful Landing Page

Did you know that one of the factors to determine Google’s quality score in Adwords is the landing page experience? The landing page can also impact your Ad rank and advertising costs. According to the Google, landing page experience refers to how good we think someone’s experience will be when they get to your landing page (the web page they end up on after clicking your ad).

A mistake that many marketers make is sending the user to the homepage of a website or a service section based off of the keyword being advertised. According to Econsultancy, only 22% of businesses are satisfied with their conversion rate. The real question is why aren’t more online marketers spending time creating and optimizing custom landing pages?

According to Marketing Sherpa, 64% of marketers say that landing pages are the most effective way to test value proposition. Creating landing pages has so much value for a paid search campaign, yet is severally underutilized.

One of the reasons why marketers fail to implement new and creative landing pages is because it can be extremely difficult to coordinate the different components with a web developer. Landing pages need to be created quickly and are constantly evolving. If it takes a developer 3-4 week to implement, it might be too late. Luckily, there are amazing services like Unbounce and Leadpages that put marketers in control of creating the landing page experience.

Google provides 4 key elements to a successful landing page experience. It is my goal to elaborate on these factors so you can create a successful landing page and generate more leads for your business.

1. Providing relevant, useful, and original content

• Make sure to include text on your landing page that matches up with the keywords and the ad copy from your Google Adwords campaign. When Google refers to “relevant content” they feel that the user experience is enhanced if they immediately find words on your landing page that they typed into Google

2. Promoting transparency and fostering trustworthiness on your site (for example, by explaining your products or services before asking visitors to fill out forms sharing their own information)

• If you are a small business looking for a natural gas supplier, you should try and instantly establish credibility when someone visits your website. Talk about the awards you have won over the years and how long you have been in business and the credentials that you have. At the same time, it should be extremely transparent as to the product you are offering. Make your landing page simple and not overly complex as this can lead to an increased conversion rate percentage.

3. Making it easy for customers to navigate your site (including on mobile sites)

• We have a simple rule of thumb. When someone comes to your lander, they should instantly see the primary message, an image associated with the service you offer and a contact form with a direct call to action. If you can squeeze a testimonial in this space, that will do wonders as well. It shouldn’t take the user more than 10-seconds to determine what you are offering and how to take the next step.

4. Encouraging customers to spend time on your site (for example, by making sure your page loads quickly so people who click your ad don’t give up and leave your site prematurely).

• Test the speed of your landing page with this load time tester. You will be amazed how much of a difference quick site load speed makes. This is a critical component for Google’s quality score and for the user. Making your site easy to navigate and putting an emphasis on the page speed will ultimately result in more conversions.

Implementing a landing page strategy for your business can be a game changer. You can test different marketing messages, imagery and design to see what works best for your brand. If this generates more leads for your business, the real question is what are you waiting for?