If you’re running Paid Search (also known as PPC or pay per click) campaigns, the success of your campaigns will largely depend on how well you optimise your landing pages. The content you provide after someone clicks on your ad is essential for conversions so you need to make sure they align with your goals and objectives. 

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What is a PPC landing page? 

A PPC landing page is a web page that users end up on after clicking a PPC ad in the search results pages. 

For example, 

If we click on this ad: 

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We are directed to this landing page: 

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These landing pages may be similar to other pages on your site or they can be completely different, because they should be tailor made to complement the search ad you just clicked on. As you can see in the example above, you’re being shown Women’s Adidas running shoes because this is what you’re searching for. You don’t want to have to sift through thousands of results to find the brand you want. 

The landing page experience you provide is one of the factors that can help to determine the quality score of your ads so it’s important to get right. 

Follow these best practices and you’re well on your way to maximising the success of your PPC campaigns. 

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1. Make sure your landing pages are relevant to the keywords in your campaigns 

For the most successful campaigns, always make sure the landing page you create matches the keywords you are bidding on and that the page matches the promises or claims you make in the ad copy. 

Provide the user with exactly what they were expecting when they performed the search in the first place. This is essential for user experience and will help to increase the performance of your landing pages. 

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2. Keep customers in mind when writing content 

If you’re running any marketing or digital marketing campaign, it’s likely that you’ll have customer personas in mind. Creating your landing pages so that the language and tone of voice matches what your customer personas would expect. You won’t be able to cater to a range of audiences with your landing pages so just focus on the most important for the best success. 

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3. Include a strong headline 

When someone clicks on your ad and lands on your landing page, the first thing they will see is the headline. Always include a keyword that ties the page back to your ad and make it as relevant as possible. 

This can help to increase the conversion rate of your page because it will immediately tell your visitors that they have arrived in the right place. 

A good headline should:

• Get straight to the point 
• Be relevant to the keywords you use in your ads and campaigns 
• Address your visitors problems and provide them with a solution (your product or service) 

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4. Use imagery 

Imagery can have a massive impact on the performance of your landing page. Make sure that it helps to communicate the content of the page, why your product or service is beneficial and what the user will get from it. Always try to avoid using stock images unless they’re relevant to the landing page. 

For example, on product based landing pages, use interactive photos that increase the attention of visitors and make them want to find out more about what you’re offering. Use the best quality images and test and optimise for all devices. 

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5. Include trust signals on your page 

Trust signals are an important part of the conversion process. When a user is deciding whether or not to buy from you or provide contact details, they want to know more about you and build trust with your brand. 

The trust signals you use include: 

• Customer testimonials or reviews 
• Contact information 
• Accreditations or awards 
• Payment assurance
• Performance figures 

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6. Include clear call to actions 

Once you’ve driven visitors to your landing page, getting them to take the next step can be difficult. You will need to make sure your call to action is clear and tells them exactly what you want them to do next. 

The more obvious you make the call to action, the more likely you are to convert visitors to the page. 

How can you create an effective call to action?

• Visuals and colour - make the button stand out from the rest of the page so that it draws the visitors eye. 
• Wording - the wording of your call to action is important. Think about what will make your customers take action and think about what you want to achieve from the page. 
• Size - the call to action button should be big enough for visitors to see it and remember it but not so big that it distracts them from the content of the page. You can test different sizes, monitor the analytics and work out which option converts best. 
• Prominence on the page - make sure the call to action is as prominent on the page as possible. It should be above the fold and, if you have a long landing page, make sure you add multiple calls to action as the visitor scrolls down the page to keep reminding them of what you want them to do. 

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7. Optimise for mobile 

Mobile optimisation is essential for success. Whether you create a separate landing page or you use a responsive design, you should treat the mobile design with the same care and attention as you do the desktop version. 

If you’re paying to send traffic to your website, you want to get the best ROI and neglecting mobile can really affect the success of your campaigns. 

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8. Page speed 

Page speed is another essential factor to consider when trying to convert visitors from paid search. When you pay to drive traffic to your website, you need to make sure it loads when you get there, you can’t afford to have them waiting around. It is recommended that page loading speed is 3 seconds or below. 

If your page doesn’t load fast enough, visitors are likely to leave which means you have paid for their visit but you’re not making any return because they haven’t converted. 

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9. Keep your page focused 

When visitors land on your page, you want them to convert. That means you don’t want to distract them from your products or services or send them off on a tangent. Distracting elements to look out for include links, too much information, boring content, navigation bars or menus, or lengthy form fields. 

All of these elements can lead your visitors away from your landing page and the actions you want them to take. You might think you’re missing an opportunity by not mentioning other products or services or directing customers to the rest of your site but the benefit is keeping visitors focused on the main goal of the page. 

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10. Always test! 

Once you have created your landing page and followed all of the best practices above, it’s important not to just sit back and leave the campaigns running. Even if the page is driving conversions, you should be looking at insights and data and look at the elements you can tweak to improve performance. 

Think about the best practices you have employed and how you can tweak them to get even more from your landing pages. Always A/B test your PPC campaigns and landing pages because you will be able to test different elements and find out which ones have a direct impact on conversions. 

If you’d like to know more about how to get the most from your PPC campaigns, please sign up to our monthly newsletter. 

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