PPC Landing Page Best Practices

Author

Brian Bourque
December 02, 2023

Well well well.

Hello to every unicorn in the galaxy.

Today we’re talking about PPC landing pages.

It’s incredible how much ROI people leave on the table.

Google tells you where you suck:

  • Expected CTR

  • Ad relevance

  • Landing page relevance

Profit can be gained by simply spending the time and effort to follow the guidelines.

In the case of landing pages, it’s all about increasing the relevance of your page to the searcher’s intent (in ways that google can understand).

This will not only increase your conversion rate, but often increases your quality score, leading to a double cost reduction (and more profit for you).

Here’s a basic summary of Quality Score. Feel free to skip if this is old hat.

Quality Score is a metric used in Google Ads that indicates how relevant and useful your ads and landing pages are to searchers. It ranges from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest quality. Google uses the Quality Score to determine your ad rank and the cost-per-click you will pay. The higher your quality score, the better ad rank and lower CPCs you will receive.

If you need a primer on how to increase your quality score, that link is for you.

Now let’s get to today’s growth strategy: PPC Landing Page Best Practices

Table of Contents:

PPC landing page best practices:

I’ve divided these into 3 categories:

  • Page design

  • Message relevance

  • User experience

Lastly, we’ll go through some FAQs to give you further clarity to build these LPs.

Page Design

Use a simple design

  • Stick to a clean design with appropriate white space between sections

  • Aim for readability, skimmability and clarity

  • Structure the page to naturally direct attention to the important elements for conversion

Remove on-page distractions

  • Get rid of site header navigation, sidebars, footers and unnecessary columns

  • Everything visible should support the targeted conversion path

  • Avoid links that enable users to leave the page. Links should only enhance the conversion journey.

  • Reduce choices: too many options leads to fatigue

Optimize page speed & device compatibility

  • Use a responsive template that auto-adjusts for smaller screens

  • Optimize and compress images

  • Minify CSS and JS files

  • Implement browser caching

  • Choose lightweight fonts and eliminate render-blocking elements

  • Test page speed

Messaging Relevance

Create dedicated landing pages

  • Every PPC campaign, ad group or keyword should have its own tailored landing page aligned to the specific offer or value proposition (depending on search volume and your level of obsession with profits)

Align ad copy with headline, images and CTA

  • Consistent messaging brings clarity to your offer

  • Mismatched messages confuse people and detract from persuasion

  • Appeal to both emotional and logical reasoning

  • Classify intent as informational, commercial, transactional etc.

  • Echo the identified search intent through relevant page messaging addressing underlying needs

Matching intent builds credibility and relevance and shows the user you understand and can solve their problem.

Boost engagement with relevant visuals

  • Use images, infographics, videos that show the value of the product/service value

  • Reinforce the main value proposition with visual representations

  • Visuals can effectively grab attention and convey brand stories

Test subtle urgency signals to encourage action

  • Use implied urgency instead of overt pressure tactics

  • Appeal to loss aversion by highlighting benefits missed by delaying

Signal trust with testimonials and security badges

  • Build credibility through testimonials, secure payment badges, certifications etc.

  • Social proof and indicators of legitimacy reduce doubts and hesitation

Use SEO On-Page Practices to Increase Relevance

  • Use your page title, meta description and header tags in a way that shows Google your page is solving the searcher’s problem

  • As with SEO, Google will crawl your landing page to assess its perceived relevance

  • This will naturally increase the user’s perception of relevance

  • Full guide to on-page SEO best practices here

User Experience

Remove friction

  • Use an intuitive interface that follows the general conventions of your industry (not sure what your industry’s conventions are? Spend 5 minutes clicking on big brands in the paid search results)

  • Offer guarantees to minimize or eliminate risk to the consumer

  • Address common concerns preemptively

Add FAQs to answer objections

  • Directly tackle potential objections and concerns through FAQs

  • Transparent elaboration of policies, processes, pricing dispels doubt

Try offering alternate communication methods

  • Got a phone number? Try including it on the page

  • Have a customer service email? Try including it on the page

  • Chatbots are the rage. Most suck but you never know…

Balance page length based on offer complexity

  • Assess the familiarity level, cost, and effort associated with conversion

  • Higher complexity and lower awareness requires elaborating to educate and guide

  • Optimizing information sufficiency reduces false drop-offs while sustaining relevance

Important Questions to Consider (FAQs)

What is the goal of my landing page?

This determines design.

Your landing page goal should match your ad campaign objective.

Lead gen pages have simple messaging, focus on capturing contact info, and incentivize opt-ins.

Sales pages highlight products/services, have dynamic visuals, emphasize value, and push for conversions.

Should I use my main website or build a dedicated landing page?

Dedicated landing pages focus on one conversion goal and eliminate distractions.

Single-purpose pages will generally convert at a higher rate and get a higher quality score because they are tailored to the search intent of the searcher.

How can I make the design and messaging relevant to my target audience?

  • Do audience research to understand demographics, pain points, motivations and buying triggers.

  • Use research to inform your messaging and address the audience's needs and pain points.

  • Write copy in the audience’s language. Use phrases and terminology they can relate to.

  • Use images and video specifically tailored to their demographic and needs

How do I focus the page on a single, clear call-to-action?

Identify the one conversion action you want visitors to take and make it the hero CTA using contrasting colors, shapes and placement.

  • Remove any secondary CTAs and avoid confusing menus or navigation.

  • Use copy and design techniques to guide visitors to the CTA.

What is the most effective way to build trust and credibility on the page?

  • Show reviews and testimonials from real, happy customers

  • Include the most badass guarantee you can afford (eliminate risk)

  • Don’t use a crappy website

How much information should my page contain? More or less text and visuals?

Avoid text-heavy pages, but include enough info to inform and persuade visitors.

  • Supplement copy with supporting visuals like product images, charts, etc.

  • Find the right balance through testing - some verticals/products require more detailed explanations.

  • Consider structuring content by emotional then logical benefits

  • Put non-critical info in secondary page sections.

Should I use a long or short form on the landing page? What information should it collect?

A bunch of idiotic boilerplate advice is out there about forms.

Don’t trust it. Test it.

Depending on your business you may want fewer, higher quality leads.

Depending on your business, longer forms may converter at a higher rate.

Test it.

Generally speaking, only collect info that’s critical to contacting the visitor and continuing their journey through your funnel.

What is the right balance between simplicity and engaging design? How minimal or flashy should it be?

A simple, focused page is less confusing and focuses attention on critical elements. But you need some degree of visual appeal and professionalism.

Test minimalist pages against more visually rich designs to find the right balance for maximizing conversions.

How can I make the page intuitive and easy to navigate?

Use clear, descriptive headers and a logical content flow moving visitors down the page.

Include navigation aids and prominent CTAs.

On long pages, add buttons to jump between sections and a sticky header with CTA. Format content in short, scannable paragraphs, lists and blocks.

These won’t always work, but are worth testing.

How do I eliminate distractions from the page to maintain focus?

Remove main site navigation, sidebars, excessive ads or widgets, and any links not directly related to the conversion goal.

Disable pop-ups and auto-playing media.

Use a simple color scheme and avoid cluttered layouts.

Keep pages focused on one purpose without tangents.

What kind of incentive or offer would be most enticing for my target audience?

Common offers provide real value tailored to your audience’s interests.

This could be a coupon, discount, free trial, consultation, sample, downloadable content, etc.

Make sure you can actually deliver on the incentive.

Test different options.

How should I match landing page messaging with my ad copy?

Ensure continuity by featuring the same keywords, phrases, value proposition, and calls-to-action.

Repurpose the ad's headlines and description text on the landing page. Maintain the same offer and theme.

Consistent messaging builds trust and relevance.

What metrics should I track to determine landing page effectiveness?

You’re generally best served by optimizing toward a revenue or profit metric such as revenue per visit, cost per lead / sale, return on ad spend (ROAS), etc.

Should I A/B test different page elements? Which ones impact conversions most?

Yes, continually test elements like headlines, copy, layouts, images, offers, and calls-to-action.

Use different tests to isolate the impact of each element.

Most people want to test designs, but often the words themselves impact conversions the most (your headline, CTA etc.).

That’s all I got for now on PPC landing pages.

Keep in mind that in marketing there are no absolutes or rules.

Best practices won’t always perform the best.

I hope this helps you on your growth journey.

-Brian 🦄 

PS - what marketing challenge has got you frustrated these days? I want to hear from you…

Recommended Reading: