Picture this scenario. You walk into a large department store and speak to a sales associate. You ask her to see all their red shirts in a women’s size small. She then takes you to the women’s department and just walks away. Now you have to search through all the cluttered racks to find what you need, or leave empty-handed.

Compare that experience to a Google AdWords ad that leads a potential customer to a home, contact, or products page. No new visitors want to spend extra time clicking through all your web pages to find what they’re looking for, and in most cases, they won’t. You’ll increase your bounce rates and lower your quality score. And, most importantly, you’ll lose out on valuable opportunities for conversions.

Instead, send potential customers from your pay per click ads to a landing page. That way, they’ll get what they need – and so will your business.

How landing pages will improve your AdWords campaigns

Landing pages for your pay per click campaigns should be created with one goal in mind and should help to narrow the focus of your visitors so they don’t get lost or overwhelmed and leave. The more your landing page matches your visitor’s search queries, the better your campaign will perform.

When you bring a customer to a landing page, add a call to action and include a form, and then you can track conversions by installing a Google AdWords conversion tracking code. Those elements of the landing page help you collect valuable information from your visitors, report on your goals, increase your quality score by aligning your ad copy keywords and landing page keywords, and drive them to convert on an action (download an asset, schedule a demo, contact us, etc.).

Pay per click landing page best practices

Take advantage of the following best practices when designing your next PPC landing pages.

• Keep it simple. Focus all the content on one clear goal, whether that is to drive blog subscribers, generate leads, encourage event sign-ups or some other results you’re looking for.
• Remember your target market. When designing your landing page, consider who is visiting your landing page and why they are visiting.
• Add a clear call to action. In B2B marketing, this will be to an asset (eBook, white paper, infographic, video, etc.), demo request, blog subscription, or contact us form.
• Design a straightforward form. Keep it simple. You don’t need every visitor’s entire back story. A long form that requires all the fields to be completed will detract your visitors and drive them away.
• Include a conversion tracking code. A code will allow Google to track when a visitor converts on your landing page. Make sure you add it only to a form or thank you page, not on the landing page itself. Then you will be tracking visits to your landing page rather than actual conversions.
• Make it relevant to your ad copy. To increase your quality score and reduce bounce rates, it is important that your ad copy and landing page are closely aligned. For example, if your landing page links to a white paper, make sure this is also mentioned in your ad copy.
• Mention testimonials and awards. Since visitors from PPC ads have most likely never visited your site or heard of your company, it’s important to add a trust element to your page.
• Make it mobile responsive. Your landing page should not only look great on a computer, but also on all mobile devices. Test your landing page design in different browsers and on different devices before you make it live.
• Test, test, test. You never know what your customer base will be drawn to until you test! Use data to guide all your landing page design and copy decisions in the future.

Landing pages are a crucial element in any PPC campaign. Even though they can be challenging and time-consuming, they will be worth it in the long run. Without them, you simply aren’t providing your visitors what they’re searching for. Going forward, your PPC ads should always take them on the path of least resistance.

For more PPC advice, check out our blog post, Do You Know These 4 PPC Best Practices?