Bizsuccess

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

By: Susan Gunelius

Online advertising is a great way to drive traffic to your small business website and boost sales. However, all the ads in the world won’t help you reach your goals if the landing page that consumers arrive on after clicking your ad isn’t just right.

There are several things you need to know and should keep in mind as you develop a landing page for your online ad. Each is described below, so you can increase your chances of success and guarantee a positive return on your advertising investment.

1. Know Your Audience.

Who are you targeting with your ad? Make sure that the page the audience lands on after clicking your ad delivers the information and experience they expect. For example, if you own a restaurant, and you’re advertising free kids meals, don’t send visitors to your website home page when they click on your ad. Instead, send them directly to the kids’ menu.

2. Know Your Goal.

Do you want people to make a purchase after they click on your ad? Do you want them to submit an inquiry form? Do you want them to like your Facebook Page? You should always have a primary goal for every ad that you pay for, so take the time to clearly define that goal before you do anything else.

Based on that goal, create a landing page that makes it incredibly easy for people to do exactly what you want them to do. For example, if you own a sporting goods store, and you want to reduce your inventory of a specific brand of tennis rackets, don’t send consumers to a landing page that’s filled with dozens of rackets and equipment to choose from. Instead, send them directly to a landing page that hypes the specific racket and related offer with an easy to see and use “Buy” button.

3. Know Your Focus.

Based on your goal for your ad, your landing page needs to be focused on that goal and little else. Simple is always better, so leave extraneous messages out. Consumers are easily distracted, so a focused landing page is critical to driving the highest possible return on your advertising investment. Therefore, keep all aspects of your landing page, from the messages to the images and everything in between, focused on that single goal.

4. Know Your Message.

Your message must match your audience as well as the online medium and be focused on your goal. This is where everything comes together to ensure your landing page is as good as it can be. Craft messages that are concise, highly targeted, and tap into consumers’ emotions. If you can do all of those things, you’ve hit the landing page jackpot!

5. Know Your Opportunities.

What else might the audience that clicks on your ad be interested in learning about your business or buying from you? For example, if you own a toy store and you’re advertising before the holiday season, it makes sense to offer tie-in products such as batteries or wrapping paper in your landing page sidebar, navigational structure, or within the shopping cart. Stay focused but don’t omit other messages that the audience is likely to find useful and meaningful to them.