By Drew Schulthess
Digital Influence Strategist

Search Advertising is one of the most efficient and surefire ways to get your brand appearing favorably within major search engines. Using search advertising, advertisers, marketers and organizations can target the key search terms and phrases their most-valued prospects, customers and stakeholders look for every day.

Sounds pretty simple, right? The basic principle of search advertising or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a simple one—drive brand awareness and traffic to your site and ultimately improve your marketing ROI through new business. Sometimes, however, the process seems so simple, many of the most important things that impact overall performance and ROI are overlooked. Those who use search advertising must remember that effective search advertising involves two primary focuses:

2. Getting your ad to appear, be noticed and get clicked for the keywords you desire. With a website set as the default location, you should be able to direct visitors to your homepage or subpage. But DON’T STOP THERE.
3. Once searchers click your ad, they need to enter an engaging, relevant and actionable environment that directly pays off what the keyword or concept they searched. Getting the visitor to take the desired next step/action or “conversion” doesn’t happen automatically. You need to build optimized and targeted landing pages for each ad and each unique set of keywords. This is critical to ensure a positive return for every dollar you invest in search advertising.

So, with that in mind, here are five simple rules for building effective landing pages.

1. Create the ultimate call to action (CTA). On your page(s), clearly provide one simple way visitor can take a next step. This is different for every company and every brand; it may be a free download or something more complicated, such as sharing demographic information in exchange for a coupon. By having one call to action, you won’t overwhelm every visitor with additional ways for them to interact with you. Also, make sure you amplify the button for your CTA and make the signup process as simple as possible with as little fields as possible.
2. Write an integrated, compelling and relevant page headline. To make your headline integrated, simply include a keyword (or two) directly from the ad headline appearing in your ad. To make you add compelling, make sure to include an actionable benefit or reward, such as “learn,” “save” or “download.” To make your headline relevant, keep in mind who your audience is and speak directly to them.
3. Visually engage the user. Tell a story with the ad copy, page headline and the supporting visual.
4. Convey reputation, trust and security. Back up your work with examples where possible. Make your landing page look professional and secure. Remember that people need to trust you before clicking an advertisement.
5. Less is more. The least amount of information, design and development it takes you to produce a compelling and trusted environment the better. Try not to overwhelm visitors with any over-the-top Flash displays or fancy navigation formats. Keep it simple.

With properly crafted landing pages, you will increase the potential value of every new visitor who was intrigued by your search advertising efforts. It’s a big opportunity so take the time to create the appropriate environment for each ad group.

MicroArts specializes in landing page design and the implementation and management of search advertising campaigns. Need help? Give us a call!