We’ve noticed that the most effective PPC landing pages share six common traits. These features are all designed to guide the user to a call to action that consistently converts.
The best landing pages don’t just grab people’s attention. They offer value, reassure the customer, and are clear and easy to navigate.
Most importantly, they are refined over hours of testing and experimentation.
If you’re looking to create a page that converts, follow these secrets of effective PPC landing page design:
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Grab Attention
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Offer Value
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Show Trust
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Keep It Simple
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Offer One Clear Path to Conversion
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Test! Test! Test!
1. Grab Attention
Whether it’s an offer people can’t refuse, amazing visuals or flashing neon signs, great ads capture a customer’s engagement and doesn’t let it go.
And that’s what a PPC landing page is: An advert. But it’s an advert people can interact with. We’re not writing web pages here, we’re writing adverts.
Email automation is technical and very data-driven. But MailChimp throws all that out the window on their landing page. They grab your attention with a clean yet exciting style that immediately draws you to that succinct, 2 line heading.
If your campaign is focused on a great discount, put it up there front and centre. Everyone loves a great deal, so a 20% discount on your service could easily convince them to give you a try.
2. Offer Value
When it comes to the perfect PPC landing page, never bury the lead. If you have a great offer, make it the front and centre of your landing page. If you notice that people are scrolling past your amazing offer, it means they want more information.
This is where you can hit hard with the benefits of your service to show why it’s valuable. Bullet points, ticks and positive language help convey your message quickly and clearly.
Spotify is in the challenging position of having to compete with iTunes and Amazon Music. The price point is a key consideration to customers, many of whom are already paying for other subscription services.
To help demonstrate the value of their service, Spotify offers a free trial. But for people who can’t be bothered to sign up to a service they already see the benefits of the service on-page.
Scrolling down shows a simple comparison of Premium against Free, with a positive GET PREMIUM call to action.
By using simple icons and a short list, Spotify does a great job of showing you why you should pay £9.99 per month for their Premium service.
3. Show Trust
Not everyone who lands on your page knows who you are. You need to reassure them that your brand is a trusted one. The best way to do this is to follow one of the golden rules of writing: show, don’t tell.
We’ve seen that testimonials and quotes from happy customers are far more effective than simply telling people you’re a trusted brand. Another way to create trust is to affiliate your brand with other, more established ones.
You may not of have heard of Webflow. But you’ve probably heard of Volkswagen, MTV and Dell, right? This creates a link in people’s minds that Webflow is in the same league as those well-known brands, which reinforces trust.
Establishing trust is essential if your brand isn’t widely known.
As well as testimonials and logos, you can use colour psychology to reinforce your brand. Blue is the go-to trust colour. It’s associated with trust, order and loyalty, it’s used in many banks and building societies like RBS, Halifax, and Nationwide, as well as PayPal. This is not an accident.
4. Keep It Simple
The best PPC landing pages have one message and one action. This keeps your offering clear and decision making easy. Many brands have a wide range of products and services, but a perfect PPC landing page focuses on just a single offer.
Analysis paralysis, as well as being fun to say, can be a major pothole on the road to conversion. Giving people too many options when they are close to committing to a decision only serves to confuse customers.
The moment customers hesitate, you’ve lost them. They feel repelled by their online experience and go elsewhere.
Quickbooks offers a dizzying array of accounting services and products. But the PPC landing page you land on when you search for payroll software doesn’t mention their other offerings. It’s all payroll, all the time.
Match your offering as closely as possible to searcher intent. If they’re searching for strawberry ice cream, give them strawberry ice cream, not every range on your counter.
5. Offer One, Clear Path to Conversion
Effective PPC landing page design teaches us that less is more. Lose the header nav, the footer and body links. Give people one place to go and one thing to click on to maximise the chances of landing a conversion.
The last thing you want to do is distract a lead when you’ve got them right where you want them. Keep your landing pages sparse and the focus on your form or your BUY NOW! button.
Monday offer us a prime example of less being more. This landing page has one field and 3 bullet points. Scroll down and you see a table and then the same field. Simple, clean, with no distractions.
By comparison, Monday.com’s homepage has a Log In section, a nav that takes you around the site and a footer that can take you to 29 different places!
6. Test! Test! Test!
PPC is one of the most transparent marketing channels available. Thanks to the analytics tools we have available today, you can track pretty much every aspect of your campaigns.
A/B testing will give you insights that will allow you to refine your landing pages. Don’t trust your gut, take a data-driven approach when making changes. You might think you know your customers, but if the data says otherwise, take heed.
Landing pages are the final step in the PPC journey that begins with deciding on a strategy. Don’t let that final step become a hurdle that turns your customers away.
If you’re looking for advice on your PPC strategy for your next marketing campaign, get in touch! Our paid search team are supported by in-house designers, who help create landing pages that consistently convert.
