The landing page is the first web page a visitor sees on a website. This means it is a very important page. For this article, we are specifically referring to the first page she sees when she clicks on an AdWords ad (the little text-only ads you see on the right hand side of a search results page). The web address for this page is sometimes called the “destination URL” or the “clickthrough URL”.
Since the idea of placing AdWords ads is to generate an action from your website’s visitor, the landing page should help the visitor continue on the path to completing the action. She already has initiated the action by clicking on your ad. You don’t want to lose her after that – you want to “convert” her.
The best landing pages consider the visitor’s intent when she clicks on an ad. You should consider your keywords and ad’s text on that page. Ask yourself, “What information does the visitor need next in order to (fill in this blank)?” The whole point is to give the visitor what she wants and don’t make her hunt around your website for it. The best thing would be for the visitor to land on a page that gives her the most useful and accurate information about what she’s just clicked on.
The landing page may or may not be the same as your homepage. There are a few different ways to think about this:
- If you’ve advertised about a specific product or service, the landing page should prominently feature that product or service. Maybe that product or service is the only one on the page. For example, if you’re a shoe store advertising yellow boots, take the visitor to the yellow boots page, not the homepage.
- If you’re have a special offer, your landing page should make the special offer very obvious. The special offer might be the only topic on that page.
- If your ad references a section of your business, such as “cat boarding” in a veterinary hospital, you would want the user to land on the cat boarding services page of your website (not the homepage).
- If your ad advertises your whole business, for example “cat boarding”, your landing page would probably be your home page.
Another reason to provide quality landing pages is that it could end up costing you less. According to Google:
“As a component of your keywords’ overall Quality Scores, a high landing page quality score can affect your AdWords account in three ways: Decrease your keywords’ cost-per-clicks (CPCs), Increase your keyword-targeted ads’ position on the content network, Improve the chances that your placement-targeted ads will win a position on your targeted placements.”
Over the past few years, Google has made changes to its algorithms for landing page quality in AdWords and Google’s guidelines have changed as well. We recommend reviewing Google’s current guidelines on Quality Score. What’s useful to know here is that Google is looking at your website the same way a potential visitor would.
Real Examples
I googled “acupuncture for headaches”. Here are the Google search results:
"Acupuncture for Headaches" on the Google Search Results Page
Here’s what happened when I clicked each of the four Sponsored Search links on the right side of the screen:
Moss Acupuncture took me to this San Francisco clinic’s homepage. The list of commonly treated conditions on the homepage includes “headaches” and contact information. The website also includes a web page with a longer list of commonly treated conditions.
Acupressure took me to the home page of the National Holistic Institute with 5 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Migraine Relief lets me sign up for a clinical study in California about migraine headache relief run by PRI Research.
Acupuncture Walnut Creek is an acupuncturist in Walnut Creek. Notice that the clinic’s actual address is listed (and the advertiser lists its phone number right in the ad text). The landing page is the “Services” page, which gives the acupuncturist’s biography, a list of commonly treated conditions and contact information.
If you were an SF Bay Area acupuncturist specializing in headaches and used local AdWords search, you’d be one of three advertisers for this keyword that accurately matched the keyword used, and you could do a much better job with your landing page just by reading this article.
Landing Page Content
Figuring out and answering the questions your visitors will have is the key to an effective landing page which results in conversions.
Taking the above example, some of the things I might want to know if I were to land on an Acupuncture clinic page include:
- Is the acupuncturist licensed or accredited? Is this the industry standard?
- Is the acupuncturist experienced? How many years has he been practicing? Did he go to a good school?
- Does he specialize in particular conditions?
- How long does treatment last? How will I know that this treatment is going to be effective?
- Can I use my medical insurance?
- I want to feel comfortable about the acupuncturist, the facility and the acupuncture process.
- Does he have referrals from Western doctors or other clients?
- Does he give well-thought out and useful information on his website?
- Does he know a little about a lot of alternative therapies or a lot about acupuncture?
- Can I get sense of what sort of person the acupuncturist is? Are there photos?
- How do I make an appointment or ask questions?
- If I had a specific condition that I had typed into Google, I would want to know if he treated it and about his experience and knowledge of treatment of that condition.
When setting up or refining your AdWords, ask yourself what the intent of a visitor typing those keywords into Google might be and how well does your landing page serve her needs. This will increase your Quality Score, and more importantly, increase the likelihood of your visitor “converting” when she reaches your website.
References
Wikipedia entry on landing pages
Seth Godin on Landing Pages
Google AdWords Landing Page & Site Quality Guidelines
Inside AdWords, the Google AdWords blog
Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing for Dummies, Peter Kent, 2006.
[Thank you to Tracy Rabold for this article - Ed.]
