Google AdWords campaigns are designed to drive traffic to your website. The combination of the right keywords and correct messaging will bring people to your website, but the true measure of success is getting visitors to take action. This is where the landing page takes over. It’s the first interaction a customer has with your website and your company. Make the interaction productive by inviting them to download, watch, call, schedule, shop or ask for more information.

The right landing page provides credibility to your AdWords campaign. Customers will feel validated when they’ve clicked on something useful to them. It builds their trust and makes them more likely to buy your product or give you their information. Customers want something in exchange for their information. A free white paper or a PDF guide gives them a valuable tool in exchange for their valuable e-mail address.

A quality landing page will do more then just make customers happy, it will also boost your AdWords quality score. Google evaluates everycampaign, assigning  a rank to each page. This rank is then used as part of the algorithm to decide when and where to display your ad and at what price.

Google wants consumers to find good information when they click on an ad. If they don’t, people will stop clicking on ads and advertisers will stop paying for them. So to support their objectives and the user experience, they give priority to ads which are supported by good landing pages. Ads supported by good landing pages are also less expensive to run because Google will discount your bids for high ranking pages.

What makes something a good landing page?

  • Content Related to the Ad – This is not the time to bait and switch. If the ad promised a free coupon, make sure that’s the first thing the visitor sees.
  • Clear Calls to Action – Have something for the visitor to do. You have paid for them to come to your website, make their visit worth your investment.  Have a clear offer to download, watch, register or buy.
  • Relevant Content – Keep the content on the page tightly focused to what you promoted in the ad. This is not your chance to tell the customer everything you do. They came for specific information. Make sure they get it before they leave. To get high rankings from Google, make sure the keywords you are hoping to win show up in the copy of your landing page. To avoid keyword stuffing, consider creating multiple landing pages each with a slightly different focus and keyword.

For more tips on landing page design check out this post from KissMetrics. 

Your landing page strengthens your ads and can help keep your budget cost effective. It doesn’t matter if your budget is $100,000 or $10 if you can’t convert clicks into business. Decide what your goal is and build your landing page around it.