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Lessons Catalog
Lesson 6b: Your Website
Choosing Landing Pages
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Objective: Learn how to optimize your website and landing pages, and how to choose effective landing pages for your ads.
The landing page is what your site visitor sees first after clicking your ad. Therefore, it's imperative that your landing page works in conjunction with your ad text. If your ad describes a specific product, the landing page should display that product. If your ad describes a general category, that category should appear on the page. In short, your landing page should deliver on your ad's promise.
When optimizing your website and landing page, strive to: (1) Make the content useful, relevant, and trustworthy and (2) Make the site easy to navigate.
If users don't quickly see what they clicked on your ad to find, they'll leave your site frustrated and may never return to your site or click on ads in the future. Here are some quick pointers to ensure that doesn't happen:
- Link to the page on your site that provides the most useful and accurate information about the product or service in your ad.
- Try to provide information without requiring users to register.
- Create unique content that relates to your service or product and that can't be found on other sites.
- Clearly define what your business is or does.
- Deliver products, goods, and services as promised on your site.
- Treat user's personal information responsibly. Be honest and clear about why and how you might be collecting a person's information.
Landing pages should offer clear, simple navigation, allowing your site visitors to find product overviews and details easily. Remember, confusing landing pages will discourage your site visitors from taking the actions — such as making a purchase — you desire.
Here are some tips to follow:
- Provide an easy path for users to purchase or receive the product or offer in your ad.
- Avoid the misuse of links or browser controls, such as pop-ups, poor back-button functionality, and other obtrusive elements throughout your site.
- Make sure your page loads quickly — under four seconds if possible. Slow load times deter visitors from staying.
To see a more complete list on how to improve your landing page quality, visit the Google AdWords Landing Page and Site Quality Guidelines.
In addition, you can take advantage of the Website Optimizer tool by testing different versions of your content. To learn more, visit the Website Optimizer section in the Help Center.
Let's say you sell printers from all major manufacturers, including the fictitious Acme printers. When a user searches for the keyword Acme printers, your ad appears as follows:
Acme Printers
Find hundreds of all-in-one,
home Acme printers. Buy today.
fictitious-wesite-address.com |
What would be a good landing page for this ad? Let's explore the following options:
- Option 1: Displays a list of all printer manufacturers. Since your site visitor entered the search query for Acme printers, this person is likely interested in Acme printers only. A page that includes all printer manufacturers isn't the most relevant to your visitor's interests.
- Option 2: Displays the Acme 710c Printer. The user's query was for all Acme printers, not just specific models. Therefore, this page may be too specific for your visitor's query. At a minimum, you should offer clear navigation from this page to the rest of the site and to similar products within the Acme line.
- Option 3: Displays Several Different Acme Printers: This page delivers content that is neither too broad (all printer manufacturers) nor too specific (a single printer model). It's the most relevant to your visitor's query, and is therefore ideal.
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