So, you have also decided to jump into the world of PPC marketing. You’ve the right keywords, PPC campaign is on point, ad groups look perfect and you’ve set up amazing landing pages. You finally run your campaigns and wait for conversions.
Except – the conversions don’t happen.
In fact, nothing happens!
It’s a shocking outcome that you didn’t see coming.
So where it went wrong?
The problem is we work so hard on creating interesting ads that we forget about landing pages. And landing pages are what will convert visitors into customers. You need to rethink about your landing pages, how they’re created, and who they are targeting.
It’s an undisputed fact that every pay per click campaign requires a dedicated landing page.
According to Search Engine Journal, your landing page is like your Tinder profile. You’ve got only a couple of seconds to prevent someone from swiping left. And if you want to be a ‘match’, you’ve got to have a better and persuasive profile.
The same goes for landing pages. If you want to convert your ad visitors into customers, you’ve got to bring your ‘A’ game. You cannot just spend most of your time designing, writing and creating ads and compromise on landing pages. They are equally important.
Why your landing pages are not converting?
A weak landing page is one of the reasons that your ads are not converting. You can have an interesting headline that captures the attention of your audience and makes them click your ad. But if you fail to convert that visitor, your landing page is probably the “Culprit”.
1. Cluttered Landing pages
Landing pages are great tools for converting more, but most of them are not even user-friendly.
Just think about it – why have you created a landing page? The answer should be simple – to direct visitors down a particular path, and encourage them to click on the CTA without getting distracted.
Unfortunately, most marketers add too much information on the landing page, which makes it hard for a visitor to process. I understand that they’d want to educate their visitors but adding too much information can actually turn them away.
Just look at this example –
It has too much going on. First of all, it seems like a newspaper ad. The huge dog graphic does not let you concentrate on the big bold headline. If you happen to click on the ad, you wouldn’t see even a single call-to-action above the fold. Moreover, it’s a very lengthy landing page that runs on and on with very few CTAs.
Another example –
Again, it has too much information. “Marketing Simplified?” This is a plain headline and does not explain how it would help its customers. The graphics and statistics on the right are unnecessary and do not complement the whole design of the page. Moreover, there is again no CTA above the fold.
The amount of information you have on your page can immediately let your visitors make a perception about your brand. And trust me it ain’t a positive one.
Remember – You’ve got only a few seconds to impress your customers and persuade them to click on the CTA. If you fail to leave a good impression, they will quickly move to a competitor’s page.
Solution –
Start with decluttering your page. The landing page should be simple, concise and to-the-point. Minimize the distractions to put the most important item under the spotlight. This means there is no need of a navigation bar, footer, links to other unnecessary pages and too many CTAs.
Add an interesting headline explaining how you can help your customers and display more benefits in the bulleted points. It will help you convey your message in a more attractive way. Also, avoid adding too many graphics as they tend to distract your visitors.
In simple words, present your information in easy-to-read sections, with minimal graphics. This way your landing page will look uncluttered and clean.
A couple of examples of a good landing page –
Shopify –
2. Poor landing page experience
Let picture it this way –
You are planning a trip to Spain. You gloss over it for days and decide to get in touch with a travel agent. And you turn to Google. There are few ads appeared on top and you clicked on the first one. The moment you land on the page, you struggle to find a live chat option, or perhaps a contact number to talk directly.
Would you stick around or leave quickly?
If I were you, I wouldn’t stick around. And 80% of the users would also leave quickly.
Marketers get so busy creating perfect ad copies that they overlook the importance of delivering seamless user experience beyond the ads. In fact, landing page experience is a crucial element of your Quality Score. This means if your page has poor user experience, it will affect the visibility of your ads.
This is how a Quality Score is determined –
Solution –
- Here’s what a good landing page experience should have –
Loading speed – If your page takes more than a couple of seconds to load, you are driving customers away. - Responsiveness – If your landing pages are still not optimized for different screen sizes and platforms, it’s high time you make them responsive. It’s an undisputed fact that mobile optimization is crucial. It’s the need of the hour!
- Aesthetic content – Write compelling content in a concise manner. Don’t use lengthy paragraphs that are hard to read. Keep it short, simple and in easy-to-read sections.
- Calls-to-Action – You need clear and simple Call to Action across your page. This will help you get more conversions.
3. Ad Relevance
Ad relevance is yet another crucial element of creating a perfect landing page. Imagine clicking on an ad for “Book a trip for Spain” hoping to book your tickets, hotels and itinerary for Spain trip but you land on a page for “Trip for Las Vegas.”
It’s a huge glitch. People on the internet are impatient. If they don’t get what they want in a single click, they wouldn’t mind clicking away. It’s important that you deliver exactly what you promise.
Solution –
To avoid such irrelevance, group your relevant keywords in an ad group. Now, create landing pages dedicated to each ad group. Lastly, link your ads with the relevant landing pages and you’re sorted. You just need to be extra careful when linking to avoid linking wrong landing pages with the ads.
4. Ads are redirecting to the home page
Okay, I understand that homepages are extremely important, have all the information, links and even CTAs. But this does not mean you can link your homepage to every ad campaign you run. This mistake is usually common among e-commerce businesses where they link their ads with their homepages. Even though a homepage has links to the relevant page, it still confuses your audience and provides a poor landing page experience.
Solution –
If you’re running an ad for “digital marketing service provider”, it should be directed to a digital marketing service page. Similarly, if you have an e-commerce business and running an ad for “women’s apparel”, it should direct users to women’s apparel page. It makes your ads more relevant, and improves your user experience.
Takeaway-
Running Google adwords can be tricky and challenging. However, with enough experience and exposure, you can ensure you are paying less per click and getting better results.
We all make mistakes but only a few learn from them. Learn from your mistakes and improve your ads for better conversions.
When it comes to Google Adwords, take chances, make mistakes, but learn from them.
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