• Did you know businesses that have 30 or more landing pages generate seven times more leads than those that have 10 or less landing pages?
• A well-designed landing page that is relevant to your ads, loads fast and is mobile-friendly can have a massive impact on your sign-ups, conversions and sales.
• But how do you create and optimise a landing page? And what type of ads should you use landing pages for?
• In this guide, we explain the purpose of a landing page, why it's important in PPC advertising and best practices for landing page optimisation.

With Google now the staple search engine for most people using the internet, the platform is a treasure chest for advertisers. But for every perfect Google Ad, you also need a perfect landing page.

So what are the best practices for creating an ideal landing page? And do you need to optimise a landing page to maximise conversions?

This article will help you understand:

• What a landing page is
• The purpose of a landing page
• Why a landing page is relevant to PPC advertising
• The best practices for creating a landing page
• How to optimise a landing page  

What Is a Landing Page?

A landing page is the webpage customers reach after clicking on an online advertisement or another type of link. Landing pages can be used as a means of getting customer contact information such as name or email address. Landing pages are usually focused on attaining a niche type of traffic on a certain topic.

What Is the Purpose of a Landing Page?

The purpose of a landing page is to effectively show what a customer expects to see from an ad, so it should be relevant to the advertisement. Unlike a standard web page, a landing page isn’t designed to show you as much of the website as possible.

When to Use a Landing Page

Below are some common examples of when you should consider creating a landing page to compliment your Google Ads:

1. Ebooks
2. Registering for events
3. Subscriptions
4. Course enrollment 
5. Online gift cards
6. Membership
7. Product trials 
8. App downloads

1. Ebooks

Ebooks are a common reason to create a landing page as they are a great way to expand on an existing blog post and build on a topic previously introduced. Free ebooks are also a great way to encourage people to share their contact details in order to download their own copy.

2. Registering for Events 

Event registration also allows you to gather information on those attending, including their name and email address. When a person registers for an event you can keep them up to date with everything related to that event and more. You can even use their details to invite them to future events or maybe turn them into a customer.

3. Subscriptions

By creating an email subscription service, you can offer your readers a way to stay constantly up to date with your brand. Subscription services and newsletters are best when used alongside a blog based call to action.

4. Course Enrollment 

Most businesses have skills to offer, and that means they can also provide courses. Just like email subscriptions, courses also require sign up details. This allows you to take the relationship past the course and possibly turn the student into a paying customer.

5. Online Gift Cards

Online gift cards are popular gifts nowadays due to their easy and quick process. They are also a great way to get details of not just one, but two customers. This is because one gift card needs the details of both the sender and receiver to function properly.

Source: Wordstream

6. Membership

Membership is something that can offer unique benefits to loyal customers. Benefits could include discounts or the option to buy/trial the product prior to anyone else amongst other things. To sign up for a membership, a customer could be asked to enter their name, email address and home address, as well as other things depending on your preference.

7. Product Trials

Product trials are a great way to draw people in, especially if they are free. This can even warrant its own landing page as people can sign up to trial a product whether it's online or not. You can even ask for information on their demographic background in order to check who is most suited to your product.

8. App Downloads

Apps are useful for users as they can access your service/product far easier than a desktop site. Within an app, there are numerous ways to engage customers further such as competitions, product advertisements and blogs. Push notifications also allow you to reach customers who aren’t even using the app at the time.

How Effective Are Landing Pages?

As of 2020, companies with 30 or more landing pages generate seven times more leads than those who use 10 or less landing pages (HubSpot). This highlights the importance of landing pages to your business. If those pages are tested frequently, conversions can be boosted by up to 300% (SteelHouse).

On the other hand, if your landing page is not designed well, and aimed at too many offers at once, conversions can decrease by up to 266% (Blueleadz). A slow loading, delayed page can reduce that by another 7% (EyeviewDigital). And with an average landing page conversion rate of just 2.35% in 2020 (WordStream), these reductions can really hamper your success.

Here are some additional 2020 landing page statistics to consider:

• 53.3% of web traffic is now on a mobile or tablet device (Broadband Search)
• Only half of all landing pages are actually optimised for mobile devices (Digital 2019, Adobe Blog)
• 77% of landing pages are homepages (OptinMonster)
• The average number of lead generation fields is 11 (Pagewiz)
• 9/10 viewers that read a headline also read a call to action (MarketingSherpa)

Why Is an Accurate Landing Page Relevant to Google Ads and PPC Advertising?

An accurate landing page is actually one of the most important elements of any Google or paid search advertisement. Google ads use keywords to target specific audiences, and therefore a landing page also needs to be relevant and targeted to that audience.

An inaccurate landing page would create a high bounce rate, due to viewers of the page not deeming it relevant. A high bounce rate is frowned upon by Google, and can even impact your domain authority. It can also be quite costworthy as you are paying for clicks that do not lead to conversions.

Therefore, by ensuring your landing page is relevant and accurate to your ad, you avoid unnecessary extra cost by keeping your bounce rate and cost-per-click (CPC) down.

What Are the Features of an Effective Landing Page?

Below are some of the key features of an effective landing page:

• Relevant to the advertisement
• Relevant to the advertisements call to action (CTA)
• Fast loading speed
• Simple and clear design
• Mobile-friendly
• Secure (especially if you are selling products)

What Are the Benefits of a Landing Page?

A good landing page that has all of the above features can do wonders for the effectiveness of your product feed and ad campaigns. Here are some of the benefits of using a landing page:

• Lower bounce rate and therefore lower CPC
• Your brand comes across as trustworthy due to a good first impression
• Google sees you as a positive advertiser
• Generates leads and conversions
• They can be used to support your business goals
• They can drive downloads, sign-ups and much more

How to Create and Optimise Great Landing Pages for Your Google Ads 

In order to create a great landing page for successful PPC advertising you need to:

1. Focus on the page's relevancy to your ad 
2. Use data to measure current and historic performance
3. Ensure the landing page is mobile-friendly
4. Make sure your landing page is clear and to the point
5. Make sure your landing pages load fast
6. Test frequently

1. Focus on the Page's Relevancy to Your Ad 

The relevancy of a page to your ad helps to create value for the user. If they get exactly what they are looking for when they click on the ad, then you are already heading in the right direction. A valuable and relevant page will also encourage users to engage with your landing page, share their contact information or download your content.

2. Use Data to Measure Current and Historic Performance

Data is a great way to keep track of your advertising campaigns. By using data to measure both previous performance and current performance, you can spot the areas in which your campaign is performing poorly and make adjustments. Perhaps you’re getting a lot of impressions but not a lot of clicks? Then the issue may be down to inaccurate keywords. In contrast, a high bounce rate may be down to a poor landing page.

3. Ensure the Landing Page Is Mobile-Friendly

Mobile friendly pages go a long way towards your success. Mobile and tablet browsing is becoming increasingly common. Ensuring you meet your audience's needs across multiple platforms has become all the more important.

4. Make Sure Your Landing Page Is Clear and to the Point

The most effective landing pages are attractive, clear and concise. A more complex page may lead to viewers of the page missing the point. Try to make sure your goal is the focal point on the page.

You should also consider cultures - for example, do your target market read from left to right or right to left? Does your content marketing strategy ensure your copy matches your audience? Do certain colours have positive or negative connotations?

Last but not least, you also need to make sure you catch the eye in the right manner and move your headline, call to action and images to where they would be most suited for your audience after clicking your Google Ads.

5. Make Sure Your Landing Pages Load Fast

Good load speed is vital for the success of any page. If a page loads too slowly, many users will simply give up and look elsewhere for what they are seeking. This could result in you losing valuable sign-ups.

6. Test Frequently

Frequent testing of a landing page is always a sensible thing to do. Even if you have a highly successful page, things can always be improved. Remember, things can change at any point. A competitor may become more effective, search terms may change or the external environment may even change. Therefore, it is important to keep testing and stay on top of those changes.

Final Thoughts

An accurate and optimised landing page goes a long way to improving your ad conversions. Not only does Google see an accurate landing page as a good thing, but it's also easier for your potential customers to reach the product/service they see in your ad initially.

By following this guide, you will reap the benefits of a more cost-effective advertising campaign.