Connect the Dots Between Your Paid Search and Landing Page Promotion

It's all too easy to leave a disconnect between your paid search marketing and customized landing page promotion. Although many believe the job to be done once a click through has been secured, the reality is that landing pages are the true source of alchemy, converting curious looky-loos to the bona fide gold of paying customers. Happily, there are several steps you can take to connect these most crucial dots of your marketing campaign.

Aligning Search With Sales

The alchemy of mixing these marketing channels is little more than aligning a buyer's search with a suitable landing page. A simple concept, yet one that requires a subtle blend of empathy and attention to detail.

In some cases, your customer is simply searching for exactly what they're looking to buy. Other times will see more general queries that can be led to a purchase by a convincing landing page promotion. Either way, Google has recommendations on what makes for an attractive ad.

Competition for attention and those Google top spots is of course fierce nowadays, making your ad copy all the more important. Integrate these ideas into your PPC adverts to make sure you don't miss a click:

• Include keywords in your ad headline: Repeating what the customer searched for in your ad attracts attention (search terms appear in bold) and reinforces the relevance of your offer. 
• Use specific descriptions: Tell the searcher exactly why yours is the ad they should click. What sets your offer apart from competitors?
• Include a call to action: Even if seems obvious, tell the reader exactly what you want them to do next.

Drawing the Conversion

Even as they click through, your prospects still need to be convinced by the page that you take them to, if you're going to convert a visit to a sale.

If your ad focused on a specific promotion, your landing page must again push home the value of that offer. Use the same terms and tone that you employed in your ad. Consistency is important, as every little helps to reinforce the customer's decision to investigate your offer. For example, a special on implant dentistry should lead to a page that addresses a specific procedure, rather than the general benefits of cosmetic dentistry.

Although there are different approaches to crafting a landing page that converts, the following themes run through the best of them:

• Use client testimonials and media recommendations to add weight to any claims you make.
• Don't overcomplicate things. Maintain a laser focus on the details of your offer and guiding the customer to what they should do next.
• Speak to the customer in their language and address any common concerns that put up barriers to buying.
• Repeat an individual call to action (yes, just one!) many times. If possible vary the way you make the ask, but always ask several times in case the reader misses your first or second attempt.
• Test different versions of your landing page to compare conversions. If one is performing noticeably better than others you can keep the best and ditch the rest.

The Bottom Line

The creation of an effective landing page promotion need not be complicated, but it does require a certain amount of empathy and a detailed focus on what your customer wants to see. Once you understand their intent and concerns, start with your landing point conversion goal and work backwards to craft promotion page copy, ad copy, and search term targeting that supports that goal. If you can align the experience throughout, you'll have successfully connected the dots between paid search and a landing page that converts for your business.