The school of thought from early pay-per-click ads assumed that all ads, regardless of their keywords should go to the same intricately designed landing pages for marketing. Companies obsessed over what should be seen on that first page to create great brand recognition, some of which was quite effective.
However, I believe the content of this page is incredibly important to set the tone for the users experience. Above all, the ability for the viewer to connect with the brand and quickly find what they are looking for. After all, it is the one chance that your business has of conversion after paying for a clicked ad.
Given that diverse keywords draw customers to your site, why would you assume that one static page can give you everything you need? If you have more than one major keyword it is worthwhile to have tailored landing pages for each.
It is the one chance that your business has of conversion after paying for a clicked ad.
Landing Pages for Marketing Particular Products and Services
If for example your company offers 4 distinct products, I’d recommend clustering your advertising keywords and creating separate landing pages that directly point to the product that person is most likely looking for. Sure, showing them everything you have to offer might work, but the real goal is to be right where the customer wants you, holding out exactly what they need, when they click on your ad.
The same is true of services: if you want someone to be able to quickly and conveniently book your services, give them distinct landing pages that take all obstacles out of the way. These days, if consumers don’t find what they are looking for within seconds on a website, they can click the “back” button and immediately find one of your competitor’s sites instead. My perspective is that it is better to give the person what they want so quickly that you cannot help but build a little brand loyalty in the process.
Landing Pages for Marketing Particular Segments
Even if you have one major product or service, I find it important to think about who needs this business and why. If you’ve identified multiple profiles of people who might be looking for your service, you can segment keywords according to which kind of person is probably searching for this.
If your product, for instance, appeals to both amateur gymnasts and professional cheerleaders, you can create landing pages that show specifically why the product works best for that specific audience. This kind of attentiveness means that your website visitor feels instantly understood when they arrive at your page, making them more likely to purchase the product or service because they realize that it is for a person who is like them. Take a look at the two examples below, the first appealing to a new mother while the second to a nurse.
Example 1:
Example 2:
An extra advantage I’ve noticed with microsite landing pages is that they contain content that search engine crawlers can “latch on” to. You may find that your rankings in search engines rise organically when you have content on your site that appeals to your various market segments. This means less need for pay-per-click advertising and more free traffic to your site, though I tend to recommend both in combination rather than relying only on good search rankings.
Innovating Landing Pages Based on Analytics
If you choose to change your landing pages, developing that copy takes a lot of time and work! It’s worthwhile if you see results, but I always say that the results are key. Checking the analytics to see how my conversion rates have fared since the latest version of a landing page went up is important to me; it allows me to decide whether I am hitting the targets I set for myself or if I want to push for greater engagement with this particular landing page.
nvision can help you move through the process of creating digital content that is truly iterative: we employ an approach toward continuous improvement that means we’ll measure the impact of our work and make sure you understand what is and isn’t working as you work toward a great landing page experience for all your website visitors.
