I must make a hundred decisions a day as a business owner.
Some days, it feels like 600. And if there’s one thing that absolutely grinds my gears, as a CEO, consumer and basic human being, it’s wasted time.
So I was doomscrolling on a news site the other day, as is my custom on weekends, and I saw a well-designed ad for a specific pair of sunglasses. I’m not in the market for new sunglasses, but the ad worked on me and they happened to be on sale. (I’m only human!) I clicked on the ad and instantly lost interest.
Why did I lose interest? Don’t be silly; it’s not because I came to my senses and resisted the urge to impulse buy. Rather, the company made it harder for me to buy the glasses. I clicked on the ad, and instead of being taken to a page that’s easy to navigate and make my purchase, I landed on the company’s busy homepage. I clicked the ad to buy sunglasses, not to search, scroll or to sign up for another newsletter I won’t read.
As it turns out, this is a pretty common problem that is costing companies revenue and ruining conversion rates. But according to Google, the problem is even bigger than that.
Google Changes the Rules, Again
Last year, Google quietly announced a major shift in how they evaluate ad quality, and many organizations completely missed it. The update focuses on one simple principle: When someone clicks your ad, they should land exactly where they expect to land, without hunting, scrolling or giving up.
Google’s message is crystal clear here. If your ads don’t deliver users to a focused destination where they can quickly carry out their intent, fewer people will see those ads. Period, full stop.
I know what you’re thinking, because I thought it, too. “This is just about appeasing the big machine’s algorithms.” But Google is a business above everything else, and they are susceptible to the same conditions as other businesses. That’s why I truly believe this change is to prioritize and respect customers’ time and attention. Because when you waste either one, they’re gone.
What Google’s Update Actually Means
In their announcement, Google explained that they’ve developed a new prediction model to help their ads quality systems more precisely capture the quality of navigation experience when visiting a search ad’s landing page. Or, translated to English: They’re getting much better at knowing when you’re wasting people’s time.
According to Google:
“While landing page content has always been a key aspect we look at, this update emphasizes the importance of relevant content and easy-to-navigate landing pages. These changes will improve your Search experience by making it easier for you to find the information you’re looking for—and help drive long-term value to advertisers.”
Basically, a landing page should be:
- Relevant to the ad and search intent, and
- Easy for users to navigate to the information they’re looking for
So, when you’re putting together the budget for a marketing campaign, you need to think of a dedicated landing page as a requirement, and not just nice to have.
Your Homepage Needs a Break, Anyway
Your homepage has a ton of responsibility. It needs to educate as many people as possible about your business in as little time as possible. That means there’s a lot happening when prospects visit your site: navigation, persuasion, education, conversion, information architecture and about 10 other critical functions all competing for attention on the same screen.
Homepages are built for discovery, and that’s why landing pages are built for decisions.
When you send ad traffic to your homepage, you’re essentially asking someone who’s already made a decision to figure out the rest for themselves. And like me with the sunglasses, most people won’t bother.
The numbers back this up. Recent research shows the median landing page converts at 6.6% across industries, while homepages typically convert at 2-3% for the same traffic.
You’re already paying for the click. Now you have to maximize what happens after it with a solid landing page.
What Landing Pages Shouldn’t Be
Before we talk about what makes a great landing page, let’s establish right up front what makes a bad landing page. Bad landing pages are just stripped-down versions of homepages with the navigation removed.
Landing pages require a completely different messaging strategy. Everything (e.g., the copy, the call-to-action, the visual hierarchy) needs to be quick and to the point. You’re driving traffic to a landing page for one reason and one reason only: conversion. And your landing page should make it as easy as possible for your audience to complete that one desired action.
So if you’re running a lead generation campaign and the offer is an exclusive white paper, the landing page should make it ridiculously easy to download that white paper. It’s not the time to encourage them to explore your services, learn your company history or browse your blog. They came for the paper, give them the paper.
The moment you start adding secondary paths you think are helpful, you’re sabotaging your conversion rate.
Three Essential Elements of High-Converting Landing Pages
1. Lead with Your Value Proposition
Don’t overthink it. You want people to convert, right? So come right out and tell them why they should. Acknowledge your audience’s biggest pain point right at the top, then immediately show them how your organization can help solve it.
Save the background and storytelling for your homepage. The landing page should deliver a clear, defined selling point that addresses what your audience cares about most. Make it impossible to miss.
2. Prove It
What’s the first thing most people do when trying to decide if they should buy something? They do research, and more often than not, that starts with reading reviews.
Make it easier and put a few reviews right on your landing page. If you have compelling case studies, include one. People are tribal by nature, and if they see that others have had success with your product or service, they’ll be more willing to take the plunge themselves.
Testimonials from real customers carry more weight than any claim you could make about yourself. And it’s not bragging if someone other than you said it, right?
3. Focus on One Specific Action
This is where most landing pages fall apart. The goal is for the landing page to get your prospects to focus on taking one action, so the last thing you want to do is give them multiple actions to choose from. You can do this a few different ways.
First, write clearly and concisely. The landing page is not the place to present your entire brand story. You want the landing page to adhere to your brand guidelines, yes, but understand that brevity wins here. You have about two seconds of attention to get people to do what you want them to do. Use short sentences, simple words and bullets when necessary to cut words.
Next, put the form in a prominent spot. I prefer the upper right, above the fold on desktop. Use a color that stands out from the rest of the page so the form is impossible to miss. And, most importantly, make sure users don’t have to scroll to find the form and fill it out.
Finally, keep your form fields minimal. The more information someone has to provide to take action, the less likely they are to complete the form. Limit it to only the fields you absolutely need to verify the lead and contact them. Name, email and company name are usually sufficient. Phone number can be optional if you need it, but not required unless absolutely necessary.
The Bottom Line: Landing Pages Aren’t Optional Anymore
Google’s update is a reminder of what we should have been doing all along: respecting our audience’s time and intent. If you want to increase conversions and get the most out of your ad spend, you must have easy-to-navigate, hyper-focused landing pages.
Because while you’re still debating whether landing pages are worth the investment, your competitors are already building them, and Google is already rewarding them for it.
Want to talk more about building high-converting landing pages that pass Google’s test? We live for this stuff at Brand825. Let’s talk about how we can help you turn more clicks into customers.
Kedran Brush, Brand825’s Co-Founder and CEO, has more than 28 years of marketing leadership experience at the SVP and CMO levels, including revenue growth, customer satisfaction, brand awareness, etc. When she’s not helping brands be their best, Kedran can be found relaxing on the lake, at Tennessee Titans games and trying to stop her dog from chasing the elusive neighborhood squirrel.
