If you misunderstand the value of your landing page, it can cost you in sales. Fortunately, two simple campaign metrics can help you categorize any landing page into one of four segments that consider performance and potential. We’re sure you are familiar with click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rates, the components of pay-per-click data that can tell you how attractive your ads and landing pages are to users. We also recommend setting thresholds for each metric: high and low. To maximise your landing page optimisation, you can get the experts to help you determine how an ad and its landing page are performing, what degree of optimization is necessary and whether any fixes need to be made.
#1 segment: High CTR / High Conversion Rate
In first place, this category includes your best results by combining clicked ads with landing pages that drive sales. These leaders are usually based on rigorous testing and optimization, so most of your hard work is done. But just because you’ve found top gear doesn’t mean you can’t maintain that performance or improve it further.
Explore bid adjustments to win or hold on to first place. Keep adding irrelevant queries like negative keywords to avoid expensive traffic. Use clear language to communicate availability, lead times and delivery times, and other key details that influence purchasing decisions. Improve the vitals of your page, especially load time, as the first five seconds are the most important.
#2: Low CTR, High Conversion Rate
Not always easy to find, but useful when you do. When you find an ad with a low CTR but its landing page is converting well, it’s an indication that your ad isn’t as compelling as it could be. So if you can work to increase traffic, your conversion rate should lead to more sales.
These combinations are often eliminated by optimizing underperforming ads. And since your landing page is obviously not the problem, this is probably the best place to start looking for leads. View a list of keywords for the ad group where the low CTR ad is located. Ads targeting too many keywords will have a hard time getting impressions, and irrelevant ads will be shown to the wrong audience. The longer your ad with a low CTR is shown, the more Google realizes that it is not relevant and shows it less often. Start testing new ad variations using highly effective landing page language. If you don’t have ad extensions enabled, Google search shows an average 10-15% increase in CTR when changing it.
#3: High CTR, Low Conversion Rate
These landing pages get a lot of attention but are not known to back it up with conversions. What you thought was a guaranteed winner, might turn out to be pretty worthless in the long run. And if the previous category was a stronghold of good landings, then this one belongs to the bad ones. An ad with a high CTR but low conversion rate is the epitome of “too promising and not enough” in digital marketing. Fortunately, the list of recommendations for these types of landing pages is overflowing. The reach of the landing page test is huge and there are many ways to increase conversions.
Addressing your buyers’ fears on your landing page has been shown to increase your conversion rate by up to 80%. Overcoming objections can make the difference between hesitation and a sale. Matching intent is key, so make sure your landing page text includes your ad’s target keyword. You don’t want your shoes ad to lead to your hats landing page. Include at least one form of social proof or testimonials to give your brand added credibility.
#4: Low CTR, Low Conversion Rate
When your landing page is barely getting any traffic and fails to convert a good portion of the few people they visit, it’s a sign that your campaign is probably not working from head to toe. Unfortunately, if the people you’re selling think both your ad and landing page don’t matter, there’s little you can do to change that particular combination. Since much of search engine marketing is based on user behavior and signals, this combination of ads and pages has already earned a bad rap on search engines and social media platforms. It’s almost always easier to start over in a low CTR, low conversion scenario.
When recreating, it is best to put your trust into a well known digital agency who are sure to use best practices for improving CTR and conversion rates from the very beginning to avoid repeating the same mistakes that led to the initial disappointment.
