Many of us rely on Google Ads to drive traffic and generate awareness of our brands and online presence. However, when the numbers are crunched, it seems obvious that a lot of us are actually doing something wrong.
According to a new study by WordStream’s Mark Irvine, although Google Ads generates almost a yearly $80 billion profit, overall conversion rates are strangely lacking at 2.70% across all industries studied. This is pretty dismal. Out of 100 people who visit a site, less than 3 will actually go on to convert that click into action on the site.
Why are these numbers so low?
The techie superheroes at Instapage have a feeling it has to do with landing pages. With so many companies focusing on refining their AdWords campaigns and directing a sizeable budget in that direction, oftentimes the landing pages of the sites themselves are neglected – leading to serious consequences.
When companies only focus on shoveling people into their site and fail to give time and thought to the user’s experience of the site, they miss out on a key element of the experience.
We have all felt the frustration of optimistically clicking an ad only to be bounced to an unappealing landing page that is maybe only partially related to the content of the ad we were initially interested in anyways. We end up leaving the site quickly, and hunting around the web for a competitor with a superior, more comfortable and informative site. So how can you improve the experience of the transition from ad to landing page to ensure that your AdWords investment is maximised?
Send them to where it matters most
Instead of shuttling your visitors to your site’s home page, why not send them to the product page they were obviously interested in. Product pages should also be informative, elegant, and engaging – you shouldn’t be relying on home pages to draw in conversion rates.
With a clearly focused product page featuring keywords matching the ad and a distinct call to action, you’re sure to develop more conversions than if you just throw interested visitors at a generic homepage they then must navigate through to find the product they were originally interested in.
Know what they want
One of the most important steps to understanding your market is knowing how visitors act on your site. Using a heatmap for your site can help you to learn more about how your site is used and what features of your site you need to emphasise or do away with. In just one glance, you’ll be able to learn about your site and the way it’s used.
Make it responsive
We can’t emphasise the significance of responsiveness enough. Increasingly traffic is being moved to the mobile realm – traffic of all varieties. Having a fully responsive website will mean that you’re able to reach out to users regardless of the device they happen to be on. You can test your site’s responsiveness with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
With the right set of tools, you can create a landing page that will make your visitors stick around and convert clicks into revenue. So next time you increase your AdWords budget, take a moment and reflect – can the landing page experience you’ve created be improved? And then carry on.
Are you interested in how your landing page could be improved? Speak with one of our developer masterminds today!
By Jeff Sheridan
By Irene Hislop