You don’t, of course, need me to tell you that a dedicated landing page can be an essential component of a PPC strategy. The part where those clicks are turned into customers – or whatever outcome you are trying to achieve.
But as best practice evolves over time, what should businesses and other types of organisation be including in a landing page in 2022 – especially given the extraordinary times we are living in.
On that point, there is always pressure on budgets but now especially, with so much uncertainty around, you really want to ensure you are getting the most bang for your buck from your PPC spend.
So optimising the landing page should be one area of focus. At internet marketing agency Atomic Leap, our ethos is to take the scientific approach in everything we do – developing hypotheses and then testing them rigorously to continuously refine campaigns. A/B testing the landing pages is an important part of this. So everything I am about to look at should be seen through the prism of this testing.
This is an essential question to ask of your campaign. It will often be to make a sale or capture enquirer data when requesting product information. So the design of the landing page will include strong CTA mechanisms for whichever goals are relevant.
However do remember that your conversion will be a long way off 100%. So, you want to create value for yourself and the visitors who do not convert. You can do this through giving them a good user experience, displaying strong branding and including contact details for other sales channels so they have the option of buying (or taking another relevant action) in their own way later on. Providing such contact details also helps to build trust.
Let’s move on to five traits which good landing pages should have in 2022.
Relevance is absolutely vital to any PPC activity. People are visiting a page with a direct goal in mind so you need to serve that up to them and serve it up clearly so they can see it is what’s on offer. I find that you only have 8 seconds max to make an impression. Relevance is achieved through ensuring a logical continuity between the ad copy and the landing page headline – often having them identical. And having CTAs which match the buying intent – so “Buy now” or “Request a guide” for instance – are important too.
If there is a time-sensitive nature to your landing page, make sure it is updated or replaced at the appropriate time, as arriving at a dated landing page will kill relevance and therefore conversion.
Failure to do this will not only damage your conversion rate, but can also lead to you being adversely affected by the ad host’s algorithms.
Research from Xerox found that users are 80% more likely to read content which is supported by images. Stock photos just don’t cut it in 2022, people see right through them. Relevant bespoke photography can create an emotional connection between you and the visitor, so consider who your audience are and what it is they seek and reflect this in the imagery. Beyond photography, good design not only conveys quality, but also aids navigation and user experience. Video is increasingly used. Again ensure high quality production and that it is short and sharp, as attention spans are short nowadays.
Your copy needs to be persuasive of course, but there is much more than the tone and messaging to consider on a good landing page. Quantity for starters: you want to convey enough detail without making the page look wordy which is an immediate turn-off. Make use of devices like headlines, sub heads, bullets and break out boxes to deliver key messaging effectively whilst managing the space on the page.
If you need to provide more detail – and for high cost/commitment decisions it may be necessary – tabs or concertinas are a good way of ensuring it does not get in the way of the call to action. A good rule of thumb is to be aiming to provide just enough information for the user to take the next step.
When shoppers are considering their options, they don’t just want to hear how great you think you are. They want this reinforced by what others think. So if you have won awards or other customer satisfaction metrics get those logos on your landing page. Include testimonials from other customers and share stats or facts which present your product as the attractive choice that it is.
Your visitor comes to your landing page for a specific reason. And you want them there for that specific reason. So minimise their opportunity for doing anything other than following your CTA.
In normal web navigation, your logo would lead to your home page. This is a no-no on your landing page where everything should be directing the user towards your CTA. The same goes for clickable graphics and navigation bars. The latest research shows that 84% of landing pages still have navigation bars, when the whole point of the landing page is to focus attention on a single offer.
I said it at the beginning and it is so important that I’ll say it again. A scientific approach pays dividends, so A/B test as much as you can on your landing page as often as you can. Industry research, and I find it is true in our own work at digital media agency Atomic Leap, finds that conversion rate optimisation tools increase return on investment by 223% on average. No-one is going to get it exactly right first time but with continuous testing and tweaking you will continue to drive performance gains in your campaign.