How to Improve the Performance of Your Online Pay Per Click Marketing Campaign

The main things you need for effective internet marketing can be boiled down to these three endeavors:

1. Get found by those who search for your services or products;

2. Convert them into leads; and

3. Analyze what worked and what didn't and adjust accordingly.

If you are running a Pay Per Click marketing (or Search Engine Marketing) campaign on Google Adwords or elsewhere, developing a process of landing page optimization to revise and tweak them to improve your conversions is an essential element for success. As a San Jose Pay Per Click marketing consultant I tell my clients the most effective way to do this is by doing A/B testing. We always create two Landing pages (version “A” and “B”) that have the essential design elements with a message that corresponds well to the ad copy shown to the visitor when they do a search on Google or elsewhere. No matter how good you think your landing page is, based on my experience as a San Jose Internet Marketing Consultant you need to go through the testing process to confirm what actually works in the real world with your targeted customers. Often times you will find your hunches were not quite right or you need to modify the messaging so that it works better with your targeted customers.

Statistics from MarketingSherpa indicate that a well designed landing page is effective for the majority of B2B and B2C marketers. Landing page optimization is a process that needs to be regularly reviewed along with your ad copy. How well do your online ads and landing pages work for your business?

Key points to Consider When Developing Landing Pages for Your Pay Per Click Marketing Campaign:

1. Write from the perspective of your prospect, not your company’s. A landing page communicates beneficial information to prospects. Don’t just describe your company product or service, briefly explain how you solve your prospect’s problems. Focus on the specific value propositions that directly relates to your prospect.

2. The use of images is important. Using the right images can help heighten interest in your product or service offer, and illustrate what it is and or how to use it. This could be as simple as a screen shot of people smiling. The images used will set the tone to be fun, easy, urgent, or sophisticated for your brand.

3. Use some psychology. Make your call to action button simple and as well as appealing. Don’t just use the word “Submit” on your form buttons! Nobody wants to submit to anything. You’ll get more responses with button labels like “Download Our eBook” or “Sign Up Now”.

4. Clarify and keep things simple. Work to eliminate all possible roadblocks and distractions your visitors may encounter in following your call to action. Keep the headlines you use simple and to-the-point. Make sure the instructions are simple and straight forward, and the flow follows in a logical and intuitive order. There should be only one choice to make, like sign up or download a doc.

5. Provide credibility and built trust. Adding a short testimonial or two from a happy customer is a great way to build trust.

6. Don’t ask for too much information. Ask for just the minimum amount of personal information in the contact form. The more information you ask for the less likely a prospect will fill out your contact form. Also include a note (usually at the bottom of the contact form) to indicate that you will not share their contact information elsewhere and reference a link to your privacy policy.

7. Always follow up. The best thing about an effective landing page is that it will bring you lots of qualified leads. Make sure you follow through with each prospect as quickly as possible in hours, not days.

If you need further help to improve the landing page or results of your pay per click marketing campaign, the author's contact information is listed below.