The Famous Landing Page

Peter (IMC) · #1 (**permalink**) 02-12-2007, 11:18 PM

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.

janeth · #2 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 05:46 PM

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

fctoma · #3 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 05:53 PM

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...

ditto · #4 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 05:57 PM

<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>

jtracking · #5 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ditto

<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>

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.

Dinghus · #6 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 07:23 PM

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.

janeth · #7 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fctoma

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...

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

RegDCP · #8 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 07:57 PM

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

Reg

Andilinks · #9 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 08:36 PM

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

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

chrisJumbo · #10 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 10:31 PM

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.

RegDCP · #11 (**permalink**) 02-13-2007, 11:30 PM

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

Peter (IMC) · #12 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 12:17 AM

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.

DrTandem1 · #13 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 02:48 AM

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

janeth · #14 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 08:42 AM

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.

DrTandem1 · #15 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 10:00 AM

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.

janeth · #16 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrTandem1

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.

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

kgun · #17 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 10:12 AM

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.

chrisJumbo · #18 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 10:31 AM

>>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.

Peter (IMC) · #19 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by janeth

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.

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)