How to improve landing pages and increase conversion rates

• What is a landing page?
• Top 5 tips to optimize a landing page
• The first impression
• Geographical limitations
• Navigation
• Shopping Cart

What is a landing page?

A landing page is the first web page a user will see after clicking your ad. This could be your homepage, a dedicated page for a product or service or a deep link to a specific product in your online store.

Top 5 tips to optimize a landing page

The following optimization tips for landing pages and web site navigation can help make your Sponsored Search campaign more effective.

• Offer transparent and easy-to-understand navigation, and create deep links that go directly to the advertised product or service.
• Use landing pages that show multiple ways to get in contact with you and additional information that might bind the customer to your offer.
• Make sure users will have a positive experience on the landing page.
• Ensure that your online shopping engine and shopping cart are safe and easy to use (if applicable).
• Maintain good server availability and remove any broken links from your site.

The first impression

As you develop and refine your web site, keep this simple principle in mind: make sure your landing pages are about the customer, not about your company. Providing users with the information they are seeking enhances the customer experience and improves conversion rates. For best results, include the following on your landing pages:

• Keywords in a prominent location
• Unique product photos
• Product reviews and comparisons
• Offers (such as free shipping), discounts and rebates
• Consumer testimonials or case studies
• Buyer’s guides
• Method of contacting you directly (email or phone number)

Geographic limitations

If you are a local store, local or regional service provider, or even an online store that only ships within a certain region, your landing page should contain this information. It would be best to provide this crucial information in the title and description of your ads.

Navigation

• Try to see your web site through the eyes of a potential customer.
• Make an obvious pathway to the product/service the customer was looking for.
• Avoid too many navigation layers between the customer and what they are looking for—2 clicks maximum.
• Deep links that lead directly to the offer and relate to the search query and ad are ideal.
• If a sale is your primary objective, move noncommercial related content/information below the fold.

Shopping cart

• Make sure that your shopping engine works with commonly used browser types.
• Incorporate easy navigation.
• Provide appropriate information and photos in case a customer decides to look at additional products.
• Ensure that customers do not lose information or selected products on their way to check-out.
• Make cross sales easy, but try to keep the focus on what the customer actually wants to purchase.
• Don’t collect too much information on the first purchase; try to create a customer profile bit by bit.
• Incorporate one-click shopping for returning customers.
• Use SSL and secure payment to make your customers feel safe when offering payment details.