10 Steps to an Effective Advertisement 'Landing Page'

Have you ever spent hundreds or thousands of dollars advertising and got little or no result? This may be the answer for you.

Since I take banner advertising on my site and ads in my e-mail newsletters, http://www.wilsonweb.com/ads/ I've had plenty of opportunities to see the so-called "landing pages" that my clients' ads point to. In many cases it is obvious even before the ad runs that the campaign will be ineffective. The ad can be wonderful, but if the "landing page" doesn't accomplish its task, the advertising dollars are spent in vain. Here are 10 important steps that will help you improve your landing page to the point that you maximize your sales -- and your advertising dollars.

Step 1. Relate to the Specific Ad Clicked On

When a prospect clicks on your link or banner ad, he knows a little bit about your product or service -- at least he knows enough to pique his interest. But when he comes to your site you need to make a careful transition. Let's say you offer a free "white paper" on a topic in which he is interested. If he abruptly comes to a webpage with a form to fill out, he may be taken back. He may have expected to see all the info on a webpage, and may not be ready to give you personal information until he's sure he really wants this information. The transition process is a two-fold one:

First, you need to make sure he feels he has come to the right place. The best way to do this is to include a headline or graphic at the top of the page that reminds him of what he just clicked on. If he clicked on an offer for a "white paper," then the heading ought to say, "Here's that white paper we promised you." If the ad came with a graphic, then use the same graphic on the webpage so he makes the connection: this is the right place.

To do this well, you may need to create a separate landing page for every ad, or at least for every offer.

Step 2. Repeat and Re-Sell the Offer

You've "sold" your customer enough to click on your ad. But have you sold him on taking the next step? Probably not. Don't assume because he has landed on your site that he is ready to buy or take an action. Now is the time to list the benefits. Remember, when selling, stress benefits to the customer, not just features of the product. Restate your offer.

Step 3. Answer the Obvious Questions in Your Visitor's Mind

When your customer arrive at a landing page, she's going to have some questions:

Step 4. Remove Distractions

It may be easy to use your site's homepage for a landing page. Unfortunately, that's a very bad idea. Usually the homepage is too general to be a useful sales tool. You don't want a person browsing all over your site trying to find the specific offer -- you'll lose prospects at each successive click. Ideally, your landing page should have few if any distractions. Even your site's navigation system might be disabled in order to restrict the byways in which your customer can get lost.

Have you ever tried to capture a mouse loose in your house? Once you locate the little guy, you create barriers to other parts of the house, trying to restrict his movement so that you can force him into a specific area where you have the best chance of capturing him. Not that you are trying to capture or trap your customer -- exactly. But you don't want him to get away or get lost.

Step 5. Counter Objections and Build Trust

Instead of distractions, any links on your landing page should be ones that counter objections and build trust, as suggested above. A single webpage is best if it isn't too long. But as you anticipate your customers' questions you can create a FAQ or links to other short webpages that answer specific objections. At the bottom of each auxiliary webpage in this system, place an order form or a link to the order page. Keep moving your prospect toward completing what Ken Evoy calls your Most Wanted Response (MWR).

Step 6. Ask Only for Necessary Information

Ideally, you'll provide an order form or customer information form at the bottom of your landing page. The fewer clicks between your customer's landing and completing your MWR, the better. Don't be tempted to find out every conceivable thing about your customers. Find out only what you absolutely need to know to complete the sale or to follow up later. For each additional piece of information you ask, the response rate for the form will go down that much more. The shorter the form, the better. If you must, ask the vital information in the first screen, and then collect additional information in a second screen -- after they've already placed the order or give you permission to send your more information.

Step 7. Incentivize the Desired Action

If you want your customer to take an action, make your offer compelling. "If you order ... in the next 24 hours we'll include, at no extra charge a $49 whiz-a-ma-jig absolutely free. But you must order today." Limited time increases the pressure to act now and helps motivate your customer not to put it off.

It may not be an order that you're looking for, but a subscription or request for information to help you identify your best prospects. I've learned that giving away free information in addition dramatically increases the response rate. Look for incentives that you can provide that don't cost you anything extra to deliver -- downloadable or e-mailed information is ideal.

Step 8. Make the Next Step Clear

Make it very clear what you want your customer to do. I've been in too many online stores where how to complete the order isn't intuitive. I've had to search to find the "Finalize the Order" button. But if your customer doesn't know to look for it, she could have filled out the form and never submitted it, and thought everything was completed. Don't assume she is an experienced Internet shopper.

Step 9. Limit Forms to a Single Page

If possible, use a single page order form on your landing page. Unfortunately, many shopping cart programs require you to click to put something in your cart, then click to finalize, then click to confirm, then click to see a thank you screen. You loose customers at every click. Try to compress all of these into a single screen, if possible, even if it requires you to pay for some extra programming.

Step 10. Track Each Ad's Effectiveness

Finally, make it a point to test, test, test. Test every advertisement to see how effective it is. One way is to have a separate landing page for each and every advertisement. That way you can track the URL of each landing webpage and relate it to sales from customers that landed on it. Another approach is to include a code following a question mark in your URL. Anything following a question mark in the URL won't affect the page the customer lands on. Let's say your advertisement has a link to:

It is easy to capture that URL with its attached code on the form that collects your customer's information. There are functions in PERL, ColdFusion, ASP, or other languages that allow you to capture the HTTP_REFERER information. Ask your programmer to do this. Caution: Some Netscape browsers will interpret

differently than

After a directory, make sure you include the trailing forward slash before your question mark. But a question mark after .htm or .html doesn't require a forward slash.

Those are the 10 steps. Leave out one or more and you create barriers to your potential profits. But if you include all ten in your landing pages, then you're on your way to success.