Desirable Descent

Google has further confirmed the above verity with the recent tweaking of its AdWords algorithm to give landing page quality more weight in the Quality Score formula. Whether you are managing your own paid search accounts or contracting management with an agency, the critical, top priority task of creating a high quality landing page is your responsibility. What makes a landing page quality, you ask? Follow the best practices and guidelines below to join the eminent advertisers in landing page salvation. 

Relevance – Relevance has always been touted as the paramount focus when creating and optimizing landing pages. Make sure your page is relevant to both the associated ads and keywords and to the searcher’s user experience after clicking through. Use similar and relative keywords when writing content and always keep the user in mind when considering what and what not to include on your landing page. 

Transparency – Don’t promote any special offers or products in your ad copy if you are not prepared to follow through on your landing page. If your ad copy suggests a sale on socks, there better be some discounted hosiery clearly visible. Even more nuanced, don’t advertise German Shepard specific dog food if your landing page is selling chow for Border Collies. Google will not be deceived and the requital is far from worth it. 

Usability – From navigation to aesthetics, user experience will go a long way. Bear the shoes of the searcher and scrutinize every business-driven decision that you’re thinking about making. It would be an ironic tragedy for that unattractive ad at the top of your page to lead to your Quality Score being vitiated. 

Always keep the above three principles in mind when crafting your landing page. If your proclivity is for lead generation, I have even more goodies for you! 

Focus on the Lead Form – The star of your landing page should be the lead form—this is the primary purpose of the landing page. Over-emphasizing details and prices can confuse consumers and lead to a drop in conversion rates.

• Hyperlinks – Links to other parts of the site are helpful for direct website traffic, but when it comes to lead generation landing pages, too many links can confuse the visitor and result in clicks to other pages instead of a lead form fill out. 

• Simple Design – The simpler the design the better. There is less room for clutter and more room for the lead form plus basic information relevant to your product / service. Specific costs for every single type of package is unnecessary—this is reserved for the sales person who will be contacting the prospective client. 

• Above The Fold – Visitors should not be forced to scroll down to the bottom or middle of the page to fulfill the desired action. When designing a landing page specifically for paid search traffic, try to include all appropriate information “above the fold” with no or little scrolling necessary. This will give a clear and concise display of the lead form, and optimally, simplify the user’s experience. 

You are now prepared to create an optimized landing page that Google will indubitably be enamored by so get to designing and prepare yourself for Quality Score rapture.