It is an absolute necessity. If you use adwords (or any other provider of PPC advertising) you have to have good landing pages. They make the difference between a successful Adwords campaign and a complete waste of time and money. Having the experience of turning Adwords campaigns from money burning into money generating machines, through the use of landing pages, has made me an absolute promoter of the Famous Landing Page. It literally can be the difference between “no sales” and “more sales than we can handle”.

When people complain about the results of their Adwords campaign, my first question is: “What are your landing pages”. They either look at me wondering if I am a drunk pilot or they say it’s the home page. Either way, most people that complain about the ROI of Adwords don’t use proper landing pages (or target the wrong keywords but that generally goes together.)

Some people, after learning that there is such a thing as a landing page, start creating pages that are so targeted they completely lose their effectiveness. Helping visitors doesn’t mean you tell them where to click, nor does it mean saying you’re helping them. (that actually happens a lot more than imaginable) A landing page should always be part of the website. Even when you build new pages to serve as landing pages for PPC campaigns, they should become a logical part of the website. That will benefit the PPC campaign(s) and also result in more visitors through natural positioning in the search engine result pages.

One very successful type of landing page is the landing page that is informative (about the product or service) and gives choices, to either more information, a contact form or directly to the buy page(s). A simple lay-out that makes it easy to know where to go is vital of course. A first impression of trust can be achieved through a clean lay-out with, in the right places, some simple trust banners.

Other types of landing pages exist too of course and in reality each landing page is unique but most can be based on the one described above. The main point however, of this article is: Use landing pages properly and when you build landing pages for your PPC campaign, make sure they become a logical part of the website.

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I agree with your post Peter but was wondering if you have any samples of what you consider the perfect landing page?

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Agree 100% with landing page necessity!

We started using them a while back for one of the software companies and it did wonders. One tip, if you're using a landing page for a specific product, I'd suggest using a robots.txt file to exclude the landing page. My reason for this... company A sells "Asoftware". Assume there is already an Asoftware page created (for normal use and SEO)... along with all the support pages for that software. To stay out of the "duplicate content" area, we exclude the landing page because it contains much of the Asoftware info the "regular page" already contains.

Just a thought... not for all, but it can help some stay out of trouble.

As Janeth said, I'd love to see some comparisons of good and bad landing pages, maybe a list of things to put on a landing page? Things not to insert?

Great post! Thank you.

Chilly in Idaho Falls...

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<blatant plug>
My free Adwords mini course discusses Landing Pages and how to turn them dynamic to increase Conversion.

You can sign up at the site in my sig. ;)
</blatantplug>

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well that was nice that your blatant plug was dead - "Service Unavailable"...

I agree too that landing pages make all the difference and are very important. They can be customized content wise to hopefully what the user was searching for which can save money and increase conversions because the user usually finds what they searched for. Usually but ofcourse not all the time...Plus creation and perfection of landing pages is a part of seo. SEO means search engine optimization and in this context, by creating good landing pages we are helping the user get the info they need from the search engines and we are helping the search engines deliver relevant content.

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Landing pages are fun. You can change them around until you find something works without having to change major portions of your website.

One key thing to do is hook into a log viewer, even Google Analytics, and check the time spent on the pages. I can tell when I'm doing good things because the time spent on the page goes up. Hopefully that means more conversions, but not always.

One other thing is to not have other ads on your landing page. I do this sometimes even tho it is a no-no. You don't want to give the potential sucker .... uhm ..... customer a way out other than closing the window or following the path you have laid out.

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We have enough people that if everyone started posting samples we could tear them apart and come up with the perfect landing page.

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There is a great (free demo) tracker hosted by www.crazyegg.com that shows you where and on what your visitors click.

Reg

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Not to belabor the obvious but this page from Google might be a good place to begin.

https://adwords.google.com/select/siteguidelines.html

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Well I guess I will post "what probably not to do", first. www dot jumbocdinvestments dot com / ext / rates dot htm

Sorry for the mumbo, jumbo, but I don't want the page indexed.

I recently switched the site to have the entire site containted in the ext folder to track the ppc and where they went from the rates page.

The movement around seemed good enough, but after it being live for over a week, we only had 3 requests for more information. There was about a 50% exit rate. Our budget was $8.00 a day, and average click cost was $0.30 to $0.40.

The site does well enough with the organic rankings, but we were hoping to boost it some with the ppc campaign.

I think part of the problem is because of what we sell, we have to talk to the person (or I should say, the way we want to sell what we sell). I think many ppc type people want to go to the site, find what they want, pay for it, and away they go.

I don't want to go the route of bankrate.com, but somehow need to find a way to "service" those that don't want service.

Maybe if we post the cost right on the landing page instead of them having to go to another page would help. Also maybe posting the words "Fee Based" in our ad would weed out those that don't want to pay.

What do you think? And like Janeth, I would love to see some good and successful examples.

There is also a Javascript error that IE7 is giving that IE6 does not. But the links still work.

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Chris,
Frankly I am surprised that the page sells anything.

>>I think part of the problem is because of what we sell, we have to talk to the person

You would have to. Your page does not paint a clear picture of what it is you are offering.

The call to action is weak. After I read the whole page I was left wondering where to click.

Reg

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An example is difficult to give because they generally are being used and also most of my examples are in Brazilian websites.

But I would love to help somebody with building a landing page for them. I saw ChrisJumbo's post... Checked the website, and imediatly realized that I don't know much about their product. But if he's willing to send me (Send me a private message Chris) a full explanation of the product + keywords + ad description, then I will make a landing page for him.

Others may send me as well. In case there are many I will select a maximum of 2 to help out.

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It appears that Google has made an about-face with regards to landing pages. As the adage goes, follow the money.

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I'm going to through this page out there and will say that I'm 100% open to criticism because it does help us improve.

Here is what I did and my thinking behind it.

I've got 4 banners at the top of the page that give needed information or allows them to get started purchasing their bracelets. After that I have a little text and another banner that if clicked on takes them to the shopping cart so they can get started buying the product.

I'm still working on the text but I have live support on the left side of the page and a 1-800 number in the header of the page. I would love to hear some ideas on how I can improve this page.

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The page looks good to me. I did read about bracelets on your page. For a bit more history on the sports bracelet you may want to visit:

http://www.katalystshop.com/product_...products_id=28

Kevin Carroll (the black guy, not the white guy, if you do a search look for "Katalyst") worked for Nike a popularized the bands.

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Thanks, I will take a look at it now. I guess we could click on AdWord ads and check out landing pages. (-:

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May be it may clear the discussion to define what is meant by a landing page and this broader KW search,

define : Landing page

on Google.

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>>RegDCP wrote: Frankly I am surprised that the
>>page sells anything.

>>...Your page does not paint a clear picture of
>>what it is you are offering.

Well at least we agree that it is what not to do. :O) Although, somewhat in our defense, the PPC ad that the page is tied to tells people what they will find. The PPC ad is for people looking for "CD Rates - 6.00% APY". Most of the people using the keyword CD Rates and its derivites are looking for certificate of deposit rates.

I submit, that the landing page has been a failure, but the very top of the page says, "Best Certificate of Deposit Rates - 800-939-8204"

And right below that: "Federally insured by the FDIC or NCUA
Certificate of Deposit (CD) Rates are subject to change at any time.
$50,000 - $100,000 Deposit Minimum.
For Info On Opening a Certificate of Deposit, Click here.

I guess I don't understand why that isn't clear. And that is what WPW is always good at. Helping each other out.

Peter(IMC), I did send you a PM. Thank you.

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Janeth,

The page looks more like a home page than the ideal landing page. The content feels like you´re cold calling and the potential client never even thought about your product. Keep in mind that people that click on ads in adwords are much more likely to already be interested in buying. They´re just looking for a place to buy and will be most pleased if they end up on a page that helps them continue the buying process (i.e. selecting products, etc.)

Who are you selling to?
It´s not clear to me who you´re selling to. Do you want to sell them to companies that use them as a promotional or charity tool? It´s a suggestion made in the page, but it´s not completely clear to me if your goal is to sell them in large quantities.

If your goal is to sell in large quantities, then this has to be totally clear and comes also back in your keywords and ads I assume. Your landing page should follow up on this.

In case you also want to sell in small quantities to individuals, then you should create a separate landing page for these clients, and also create separate adgroups and ads for it of course.

Why do people buy silicon bracelets?
There may be many reasons which I don't want to get into now, but you can be sure of one thing: They don't buy them because they are made from 100 percent pure silicone nor do they buy them because they can be stored for long period of times,.. etc. etc. The copy is focused way too much on material properties. In your case it should focus more on the emotions behind the product, especially since it is possible to have messages added to the bracelets.

Example images
Where are the example images? I'd love to see some examples so I can see what I will be buying. It may even be a good idea to have some standard bracelets available to choose from. I would go for an approach of an image with a litte bit of copy next to it describing the bracelet, followed by a couple of call to action links. Then another one. Then a small explanation about designing your own bracelets. Again followed by some call to action links.

I will build a page for you if you´re willing to test in your campaign for a while. But send me a private message with lots of information. (and perhaps your MSN as well)

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Thanks Peter,

I will test anything you want to build and I can have my guys here help with anything you want them to do.

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Hi Janeth, nice to meet you. I know nothing but I will test my own theories against the rest of the forums.

1. The Live Support image on the left - in my opinion should be implemented into the "Questions, Call Toll Free" image at the top to the right. It's that whole "right handed shoppers" idea and the menu (Bracelet Forum to Special Bracelets) should be moved up to where it is more visible above the fold.


2. The vertical image of the bracelets to the left should then be under the nav menu I just mentioned.

3. Lastly, maybe, just maybe there is soo much text on the home page.

The reason I mentioned too much text is cause the site is awsome and the user pretty much knows right away what they can get from the site, the call to action is clear and motivating. That much text almost begs me to read and with those calls to action I just wanna get started making my bracelets! Step 1 !!!

But I'm sure you know what you're doing Janeth! : )
You're the one tracking hits and conversions etc. so again this is only my opinion without testing.

Those are only my opinions.

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Thanks jtracking, I'm making some of those changes now.

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Be careful landing page, also known as doorway page:

Wikipedia: Doorway Page.

"Doorway pages are web pages that are created for spamdexing, this is, for spamming the index of a search engine by inserting results for particular phrases with the purpose of sending you to a different page. They are also known as landing pages, bridge pages, portal pages, zebra pages (a humorous arbitrary coinage by Jill Whalen of High Rankings Advisor), jump pages, gateway pages, entry pages and by other names. Doorway pages that redirect visitors without their knowledge use some form of cloaking".
Read more in this WPW thread ...

GoogleBot is becoming advanced.

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that´s got nothing to do with this discussion kgun.

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As far as Doorway vs. Landing, I know the page that Janeth put up doesn't appear to re-direct and our page doesn't either.

Ours was tied to a PPC Ad and excluded in the robots.txt file as well as adding the nofollow, noindex to the meta tag.

We don't want our landing page indexed.

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Now what are some of the reasons one wouldn't want their landing page indexed.

On one of my site i added all the landing pages (50 plus) to our site map...bad idear?

*curious*

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Then Peter, make it absolutely clear what you mean by a landing page, unless it is difficult to give a meaningful answer / comment to your posts.

It is also meaningless to have a poll before we a have clear concept to give our votes to. I can not vote before you make this clear.

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In our case it would be viewed as duplicate content since it is a mirror of another page, but just has some of the elements re-arranged.

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From my original post: I don't see how any of what I wrote in the first post has anything to do with doorway pages. We´re talking about landing pages for PPC campaigns!!!

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In relation to landing pages being indexed or not. This is one of the reasons I mentioned that your landing pages should be a logical part of your website. It´s not wise to create landing pages just for an ad campaign.

However, there are some instances where you could consider not having it indexed. For example if you´re have a short lived promotion (the 2 weeks before christmas for example). In that case having it indexed is less necessary.

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Did you click on the second link, read my message and test what I wrote.

My conclusion so far on this experience is, if there is not an advanced form of cloacking or redirection.

• In Opera and FireFox, the partly loaded page has an Google PageRank of 10.
• When the pageload is finished, with non Google Ad, the page has a PageRank of 4.
• Is it two different pages, is it frames (I have not looked at the code)?

Then comes the important question:
If it is the same page, does Google discriminate on their own or other ad? If this is off topic, I hope a moderator split the post and move my posts to another under the following heading:

"What is this, Is the Google Pagerank a toy to disciminate (landing) pages with?"

This confuses me. May be there is a simple explanation that you as a programmer see.

By the way, I do not think I vote over Google AdSense landing pages.

P.S. Generally, does a page loose value if it has relevant / contextual ad on it or does "Google monopolize" the digital ad market? Has Google cornered the market. Then it may be time for webmasters to write:

GoogleBOT Nofollow, Noindex, Noarchive.

I see the Amazon ad on this page as relevant and important.

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A doorway page is usually deceptive. Landing pages are relative pages that we direct our searchers to when they click on our google ads...

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Now the subject title confuses me.

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If you use google adwords and want to create pages that are specifically relative to the user searches/your ads then you create specific pages that when the user clicks on your ad - they land on.

their totally accepted by google...

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OK, now back on track. May be I was confused (did not read the posts well enough) and are the confuser here.

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What Chris is doing to prevent the page from being indexed is the correct thing to do if the page is either a duplicate of another page (it is) or if the page does not have any links leading to it, which would make it appear to be a doorway page. Either situation could potentially result in a penalty.

My definition of a doorway page goes back to 1997 and 1998 when a lot of people were using doorway pages very successfully.

Chris, I also agree with a few others that the page is a bit weak and does not adequately address the user.

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Here is a example landing page image from Google themselves. I think this came from a Google Web Optimizer posting.



Here some core ingredients I feel should be on a landing page in no partial order:

1. Call to Action. Make sure all links are obvious for buying or selecting the right model/product to buy.
2. Less option based links, focus on your call to action links, ones that make you money. You already guiding the right customer to the right page. The next step should be sell, sell, sell! You don't need to offer them links to totally different products. This will hurt conversions.
3. Create personalized landing pages.
4. Track visitors beyond the PPC landing page.
5. Offer bonus/sales for only these PPC visitors.
6. Show client testimonials
7. Add "comfort" logos. Verisign, BB, hacker safe, etc...

I am sure their more but those are the top of my head.

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Now that was helpful. Thank you, incrediblehelp. :O)

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So then, what you're saying is if we have created landing pages for our adwords campaigns and don't link to them from within the site, they are considered by google as doorway pages and thus could be penalized?

This is news to me. However as I mentioned in this post previously I have linked most of my landing pages from the sitemap but I just did that out of a courtesy.

Penalized eh ??

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Ya that was helpful Incredible. Thanks for that. I totally agree but convincing everyone of the benefits takes a hot soldering iron (lot of convincing).

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That was the way that search engine identified doorway pages when they started penalizing sites for using them. They were never linked to from other areas of the site because each one was specifically designed for a particular search engine. A doorway page and a landing page are two different things. Doorway pages were designed for search engine spiders while landing pages are designed for humanoids. Sometimes doorway pages were stuffed with hidden text. Back then, most people submitted doorway pages to search engines. You did the right thing by linking to your pages from your site map, but that could cause problems if your pages are duplicates of other pages.

You can also block landing pages in the robots.txt file and use the robots meta tag to prevent the indexing of the pages.

I went to one of the first Search Engine Strategies conferences (I think it was in the late 1990s) and at the time everyone was focused on how to create effective doorway pages. That year the search engines started wacking sites using them. At the next SES conference, no one was pushing doorway pages. :) The stark difference from one year to the next was interesting.

BTW, good info, incrediblehelp.

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The ideal landing page is going to -- or certainly should -- very much reflect what your AdWord visitor is expecting. Thus, its content and design will depend, just as much, upon the action you are hoping to generate.
Nevertheless, I think it's possible to suggest that the fundamental basis of a successful landing page will be as follows.
1. If the objective is to sell a product or encourage an enquiry about an available service, the landing page should provide a precis of what the visitor will receive when they place an order or ask some question(s).
2. To some (if not a large) degree, the page content should incorporate links to pages that provide more detailed information. At the same time, though, it should allow the visitor to make immediate contact with you, if only by going to an order form or opening up an addressed e-mail message page.
3. Within these two points, it makes sense for the page to follow the AIDA formula. (Its four steps identify a problem [which the visitor is presumed to have]; explain that there's a solution [the product or service]; describe its [numerous] features and benefits [i.e. create the desire to place an order or request]; and "ask for the order / appeal for action.")
4. Subject to the advisability of linked pages that make the case in more detail, the landing page should, as it were, say it all in just enough sentences that can -- and will -- be readily understood by the visitor.
5. Although it isn't a perfect analogy, the landing page should be an Executive Summary -- and, as such, will probably be more difficult (and take more time) to write than the whole website. However, done right, it won't/shouldn't fail to give you the sort of ROI that makes an AdWord campaign so worthwhile.
6. There's nothing to stop all these points being applied/adopted/adapted regardless of the end-objective you have in mind (e.g. Sign up for our newsletter; Send us a donation; Write a supporting letter to your local MP; etc.)

Nothing to it, ha, ha. Just a compliance with basic marketing principles.

Duncan

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Now, understand that I'm only referring to landing pages created specifically for PPC ads.

1. They would consititute duplicate content if the landing page is at your site.
2. By isolating access to the landing page to PPC responders only - you can audit your PPC campaign and track the activity from the page to the rest of your site, giving you good information about how to change the page, your ad or both.

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Duncan... Thank you for such a succint outline. (I think someone is going to try to sell us SEM people a $500 ebook that tells us this in a 400 page manual and 7 dvd's )

My only objection is to number 3. In general, the people that are searching are at the "D" point of AIDA - that's where you get the good conversions.

So you don't really want to increase desire, but make them an offer - "Here's what we have to offer you - here's why you should want to buy it"

What I have found most essential is answering all of the customers objections. For example, a company would want to tell you about their warranty, number of years in business, and whatever other concerns people have.

and then a call to action... a button to the shopping cart, request a quote, live chat etc.

Yes, helping the user figure out where to click - especially in those crucial few seconds it takes to make a decision helps in conversions. You have to figure out from the ad the user clicks on what they are looking to find on your landing page and so almost right away and at the right spot give them the optioni to clickthrough...

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Hi there, I am somewhat of a newbie to PPC. This is a lot of information on good landing pages for PPC. I have the very unique problem though that we have an autoparts website that we do not have any admin access to and for every minor change we have to go through support and have them make changes. A lot of the times the changes take for ever, other times we are told it is not possible to make the changes.

Anyway, our site does not have a dedicated landing page and I cannot create one. My thought is whether we can set up a siteunder a different domain name (xy.com) to handle content and landing pages and then link to the store domain (ab.com) either directly or by the way of a subdomain (store.xy.com) which is then 301 redirected to the store domain (yz.com). Dealing with the issue this way we can manage our own content to increase the PR and be able to create and change our own landing pages. We are already using a 301 redirect at the moment as the original domain name for the site is just too hard to pronounce and remember.

I know the real answer to the problem is to give the webdevelopper the boot and find someone else, but that is not an immediate solution. We will be starting development with another company for a new site soon and we will be using the domain name for the landing page and content site for the new pages that we will develop soon. Does all this make sense? In my eyes this would work for us in several ways we would have landing pages we can create ourselves without making changes to the current site and the domain for our new domain would already be indexed, somewhat optimized and hopefully have a higher PR than a new one.

I am just not sure if we would get penalized by Google for redirecting traffic from the Adwords landing page to a different site. Maybe it is possible to use frames as well?

Our adwords campaign just received the wrath of the low Google quality score and virually all keywords have min.CPCs of 1.00 to 10.00.
Any insights will be greatly appreciated.

Ruben

Please start a new thread and you will find more help.

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I guess that would be the appropriate thing to do after all the thread is pretty old. Thanks, I do not use Forums a lot.
Ruben

If you are not using landing page(s) for your PPC your just throwing money away.


Here is a good example of what I am talking about

PPC Landing Pages

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