We often like to think PPC campaigns begin and end on search engines. It’s a natural conclusion to draw: short, snappy ad copy and a quick link to your home page.

But there is still a very important process going on after that initial click. A visitor still needs to convert to a customer. Past the point of consideration, what they see on this web page will have a huge impact on their decision.

This is where landing pages come in. A bespoke page created for your PPC campaign, it is the designated spot people clicking on your ads ‘land’ on.

Sounds simple so far, but how do you know when you actually need a landing page?

Signs You Might Need A Landing Page

Straight off the bat, let’s dispel a myth: not every company needs a landing page. If you’re a simple and straightforward service with a broad target area, all a landing page does is consume time.

Landing pages are best suited to people looking to do any of the following:

• Cater to a specific area.
• Offer a variety of services through PPC ads.
• Spell out aspects of their offer more succinctly.

All three of these instances are where landing pages come into their own. They’re delivery vehicles for specific and focused marketing.

Signs that you might need a landing page can include:

• When one of your services is massively outperforming others
• When you’re spending the same amount for worse returns in different areas
• When your home page is performing worse than the rest of your site

In all these cases, landing pages can help. But what are their precise benefits?

Benefits Of Landing Pages

Landing pages make your marketing more cohesive. Any PPC management service can tell you: catering a site page to match the messaging of your ads works. It avoids a massive tonal whiplash. It also allows for much more focused copy than your homepage. You can spell out your offer to the target audience.

Targeting is another big benefit of landing pages. Whether it’s a local area or a specific service, different landing pages allow for you to target both. Visitors are always more responsive to this sort of personalisation.

This targeting also extends to your PPC campaigns. Campaigns are segregated into ad groups, and landing pages help you reinforce that. This is a chance to test the performance of your landing pages against one another.

For PPC campaigns, landing pages also save you money. How many people clicked on your ads, crowded to a page that failed to spell out your specific offer, and left? All that is lost money. With individual pages, you’ll improve your conversion rates and reduce your bounce rate.

Landing pages also avoid a few of the perils of home pages. Menus and redirects can distract from the offer. A landing page is a single destination directly spelling out the offer. Engagement is immediate and direct.

In short: landing pages allow for a focused, engaging experience. They allow you to boost your conversion rates and save you money on your PPC campaigns.

But with the benefits clear, are there any good tips for creating a good landing page?

Creating Your Landing Page

We’ve established the importance and benefits of landing pages for your PPC campaigns. Let’s delve into the best practices for creating a landing page.

Pick A Strong Headline: Immediately show your unique value proposition or offer. You should appeal directly to your target audience.

Spice It Up With Visuals: Integrate visual prompts into your landing page. Striking images, engaging videos, or informative infographics all work great. Visuals are excellent for enhancing the effectiveness of your landing page.

Optimise Your Copy: Good copy is focused, concise, and persuasive. What are the benefits of your offer – and why are YOU the one to deliver it? Format your copy with bullet points, subheadings, and short paragraphs.

A Good Call-to-Action (CTA): A strong CTA helps people convert. Make it compelling and action-oriented. It’s a call to action – so address the reader directly to take the action! Experiment with different CTA placements, colours, and wording to better optimise.

Social Proof and Trust Signals: Use testimonials, reviews and case studies. These build credibility. They confirm your offer, and encourage engaging with your brand. Place social proof throughout your landing page to reinforce trust and credibility.

Keep On Top Of Mobile Optimization: Adapt your website to mobile browsing. Use a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes and resolutions. Test your landing page across various devices and browsers. Ensure a consistent experience across devices.

A/B Testing and Optimization: Check and analyse the performance of your landing page. Test different headline variations, CTA designs, layout structures, and content formats. Identify what resonates best and drives the highest conversion rates.

Streamlined Navigation: Keep your landing page focused and cut distractions. Remove unnecessary navigation menus, links, and extraneous information. Keep the focus on your offer and the desired action you want visitors to take.

Tracking and Analysis: Use robust analytics tracking to track metrics and performance indicators. Track conversion rates, bounce rates, average session duration, and other relevant metrics. Use data insights to iterate and optimise your landing page over time.

Keep Your Tone Consistent: In branding, messaging, and visual elements. A cohesive experience reinforces brand identity and strengthens the connection with your audience.

These essential best practices create landing pages that capture attention. Driving engagement and conversions for your PPC campaigns. Remember, effective landing pages are dynamic and evolving entities. They need continuous optimization and refinement to deliver optimal results. Experiment, analyse, and iterate on your landing page strategy.

Landing Pages And PPC

Landing pages and PPC campaigns can be in a symbiotic relationship. The health of one will often dictate the other. Not everyone will need to implement landing pages as part of a PPC strategy. Yet they represent an opportunity to augment and expand on your marketing.

It is important with landing pages to bring a different set of standards than PPC marketing. But despite the visual and technical dimensions, the same analytical tools and testing strategies unite the two.

As the digital ecosystem continues to evolve, the importance of optimising this symbiotic relationship cannot be overstated. By harnessing the combined power of landing pages and PPC, marketers can unlock new realms of possibility, forge deeper connections with their audiences, and chart a course towards sustained growth and success.

Interested in finding out more about how to improve your PPC marketing? Why not contact a professional PPC services company for a free audit?