Whether you are running pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, other paid advertising, or relying on organic search engine rankings, these tips on optimizing your landing pages will help you to achieve higher conversion rates on your website.

Are you getting traffic to your web site, but finding that visitors are not taking any action? The following suggestions will have you on your way to optimizing your landing page(s) thus, improving your conversion rates:

1. Focus your Landing Pages

Your landing pages should have one offer that you focus on in order to achieve higher conversion rates. If your visitors land on a page where there are many options, with many calls-to-action and paths they can take through your site, you are only losing focused attention on the primary goal. Whether your conversion is completing a lead form, making a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter or membership, make this the main intent of your page. Give your visitors too many choices, and you run a high risk of losing them. This term is called “abandonment”. Abandonment is when your visitors initiate an action, but do not follow through. Look at your landing pages, and identify potential “abandonment points”, and remedy the situation by eliminating them.

2. Present a Clear Call-to-Action

Tell your visitors what you want them to do. If someone is looking at your page, and you have their attention, compel them to take action. Let’s say, as an example, you are an investment broker, and you are looking to attract more clients. You should have a clear call-to-action that makes the user want to proceed, such as “Start Getting Better Returns Now”. As an additional point, you should have only one call to action on the page. In some instances there may be two, such as “Download Now”, vs. “Start your Free Trial Now”. Your one, clear, concise call-to-action should stand out on the page visually. You can do this through different text treatments or better yet, a nice, clean button.

3. Summarize Your Offer

People scan web pages, and decide very quickly whether or not their interest is piqued. Keep your body copy brief - bullet points of the key benefits of your product/offer are the easiest to read. If you need to explain further, summarize as much as possible, trying to have only one to two paragraphs of text on the page. The most important content is that which solves a problem or lets the user know “what’s in it for them”. Try to stay away from sing a lot of “marketing fluff”, and make the best use of all of the words you choose to use on the page.

4. Test, Analyze, Repeat

By A/B testing, you can narrow down what works and what doesn’t with your landing pages. A/B testing is running two landing pages against each other which have minor differences, and then measuring which one converts better. The differences should be minor, and changes that you make can be one of the following: call-to-action text, heading on the page, position of the form (right side vs. left side), bulleted copy on the page, even little changes can make a difference in landing pages, such as the color of the call-to-action button. Make one change at a time, and before you know it, you will end up with great improvements in your conversion rates.

5. Keep Copy and Keywords Consistent

If you are utilizing pay-per-click, link-building, or other contextual methods of bringing traffic to your landing pages, make sure that the ad creative copy is consistent with what the user will get when they come to the landing page. The bait and switch is not a good technique, and if visitors reach your landing page thinking that they are getting one thing, and then see something different, chances are they will bounce very quickly. Try to use the same calls-to-action as in your ad creative to give more consistency to your campaign. This also will save you from spending money on clicks from a PPC campaign that will be wasted.

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Tags: abandonment, campaigns, conversion rates, Getting Quality Website Traffic, improving your conversion, Internet marketing, offer, optimizing your landing page, Pay Per Click, PPC, Search Engine Marketing, search engine rankings, testing, traffic, web pages

If there were official 10 commandments in Search Engine Marketing, this post by Brian Carter on the Fuel Interactive Blog would surely be close. I think this is a great foundation to officially start the SEM 10 Commandments. But really, I wholeheartedly agree with these, and find them very valuable. My personal favorites are numbers 4-6.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF SEM 2.0

1. Thou shalt test everything everywhere; test thy messages, offers, and appeals in social media, on thy site, in thy ads, and in thy search listings.
2. Thou shalt win friends and influence people via Social Media; thou shalt turn competitors into allies via networking and SM.
3. Thou shalt not beg, cajole, or threaten people to give you links for thy networking and value surely shalt bring thee more links (blessed are the poor in links who deserve more links)
4. Thou shalt create valuable content and useful tools that people will want to use, link to, and share.
5. Thou shalt use analytics to discover which keywords, placements, ads, offers, and audiences get thee the results thou needest most.
6. Thou shalt use lessons from each of these three channels: social media, SEO, and PPC to doest better in the other two.
7. Thou shalt use thy seo wisdom on landing pages to increase thy PPC quality score.
8. Thou shalt re-optimize and re-strategize based on clues provided to thee by thy analytics.
9. Thou shalt monitor what people are saying about thee, stay up to date on thy competition, and watch for new competitors.
10. Thou shalt attain wisdom from pre-internet marketing and PR books and teachers and test them in thy SEM efforts.

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Tags: 10 commandments, allies, audiences, blog, brian carter, Interactive, Internet, internet books, Internet marketing, landing pages, marketing books, marketing pr, Media, network, networking, personal favorites, placements, PPC, quality score, Search, search engine, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, search listings, SEM, SEO, site, Social, social media, useful tools, wisdom

Heather Lutze, CEO/Founder Lutze Consulting posted on her blog Pay Per Click Podcast about the importance of creating targeted landing pages in PPC campaigns. By listening to the reasoning of not using your home page as your landing page, and testing landing pages, I am sure that you will find higher conversion rates from your PPC campaigns. This post is a must-read, and must do to improve your PPC conversion rates and ROI.

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Tags: campaigns, conversion, landing pages, Pay Per Click, Pay-Per-Click (PPC), PPC, roi

Metrics to pay attention to when measuring the success of your PPC campaigns.

I talked in an earlier post about measuring and tweaking your PPC campaigns, so now I will let you know what metrics are important, and what to do with these metrics in order to improve your campaign.

ROI - ROI, or the return on investment, is the most important measurement of all, unless you are not using your PPC campaign for profit, and only for branding purposes. In order to measure your ROI, you will first need to know a couple of things.

1. What is your conversion, and how much is it worth?
For instance, if you are selling a widget, or many widgets, the amount you receive in profit for a purchase is what you will use for the equation.
2. What is your spend amount?
Spend can be determined in a lot of different ways, such as, total ad spend or the entire budget, total spend for a certain

After you have these metrics, all you need to do is take the total spend minus the profit you made, then divide that total by your spend. Here is an example:

You spend $1000 on a Google AdWords campaign, out of this, you obtain 12 sales, each giving you a profit of $110. So, from this campaign, you made $1,320. You spent $1,000 for the campaign, so your profit is $320 ($1,320-$1,000). The next step is taking your profit and dividing it by your spend ($320/$1000=.32). Your ROI is 30%.

CTR - CTR stands for Click-through-rate. CTRs are important in determining whether or not your creatives that you use for your keywords are effective. CTR is determined simply by taking the number of clicks you receive on your ad creative divided by the number of impressions. For instance, if your ad creative was shown 123 times, and clicked on 3 times, your CTR is 2.4% (3/123=.024).

CTR is important for determining a number of things:

1. If you are using Google AdWords, the higher CTR you have, the lower your cost-per-click becomes
2. How relevant your ad creative is to the keywords and key phrases you are bidding on
3. Whether you need to adjust your bid amount for positioning to achieve a higher CTR

With this said, it is possible to have low CTRs but high conversion rates. This can be the case if the keywords and key phrases you are bidding on are broad, but your ad is very specific, which makes the visitors who click on your ad more targeted.

Conversion Rate - Your conversion rate is also a very important measurement, as you want to constantly analyze and tweak your campaigns to achieve higher and higher conversion rates. The higher your conversion rate, the lower the cost per sale.

Conversion rate is figured by taking the number of sales, or leads, or sign-ups, what ever your conversion goal is, divided by the number of visits to your landing page sent by your PPC campaign.

As an example, if the conversion goal of your PPC campaign is to obtain a lead via a lead form submission, and you receive 105 leads from 2,100 visitors, your conversion rate is 5% (105/2100=.05).

There are many more measurements to be covered in a future post, but get a grasp on these for now, as they are a crucial part of understanding how successful your PPC campaign is.

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Tags: campaigns, click through rate, conversion rate, ctr, minternet marketing, Pay Per Click, Pay-Per-Click (PPC), PPC, return on investment, roi

Pay-Per-Click campaigns are an immediate source of traffic to your Web site or blog, and can potentially be a crucial part of your marketing success. Before you jump in head first, though, I would like to provide a guide on how to go about starting a PPC program.

1. Determine the Goals and Objectives of your PPC campaign
2. Determine your budget
3. Create a landing page
4. Choose a PPC network
5. Research keywords and key phrases
6. Create the ads you will use
7. Turn your ads on
8. Measure your success
9. Revisit, and make one change to your campaign
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9

Determine the Goals and Objectives of your PPC campaign

This obvious, yet crucial step is necessary to determine the success of your campaign. Typically, the major objectives are:

1. To make a sale
2. To obtain a lead
3. To get a phone call or visit to your business
4. To brand your company, blog, Web site
5. To make money from your Web site through affiliate programs, etc.

If you take the “I’ll just get traffic, and see what happens” approach, you do not have clearly defined or measurable goals. Some of the above objectives are easier to measure than others, but success in anything has some sort of relative measurement, So, determine what your goal is, and make future changes accordingly.

Determine Your Budget

This step is a bit like taking a trip to Vegas. Take as much as you can afford to lose. The first time you start a PPC campaign, you need to realize that just because you are paying for clicks does not guarantee anything. You must be able to afford to lose money for a short time, until you are able to measure, analyze, and adjust your campaign until you reach scalable metrics.

Create a Landing Page

This is yet another crucial step that you should not ignore. A landing page is the page that your visitors will reach when they click on your ad. The landing page should include a means to your end goal or objective. For instance, if your objective is to make a sale, your landing page should include the product(s) you wish to sell, a clear call-to-action, and a quick and easy way to make a purchase. If you want to acquire a lead, you must present a need or desire that will be fulfilled by the user submitting their information, and a form that is either on the page or maximum 1 click away, and is as simple as you can possibly make it. I will explain more about landing pages in a later post, as this is another topic that can be greatly expanded upon, but the poing of creating a landing page is to send your visitors directly to what they were looking for when they typed in a search term, and then clicked on your ad.

Choose a PPC network

There are many PPC networks to choose from, but to start, choosing one of major search engines is your best bet, as you will get the best measurement of success, more volume, and higher-quality clicks. If you haven’t already heard, the top 3 are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter. You can typically find deals for signing up, like free credits.

Research Search Terms

Once you sign up with your provider, you will be able to use their built-in keyword tools to find keywords to add to your campaign. You want to choose the most relevant terms for your campaign, and determine how popular your search terms are. You can also do this without opening an account by using some of the free keyword research tools, such as Yahoo’s keyword suggestion tool or Google’s free keyword tool. There are also many great programs out there like WordTracker and Web CEO. Use these tools by entering some of the key phrases in your landing page. For instance, this blog is about PPC campaigns, so I would type that in, and the tool will give you other suggestions, and an average number of searches you can expect. This helps to broaden your keyword base, but getting too broad will result in non-relevant clicks to your site, which have less potential to create conversions. Try different combinations of keywords and key phrases, and measure which ones give you the best conversions.

This is the conclusion of “How to Start a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Part 1″. Check back or better yet, subscribe to this blog for Part 2. In the meantime, start on these first steps, get your goals set, and do your research. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know your thoughts. Happy marketing!

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification

Tags: ad campaign, Adcenter, advertising internet, advertising marketing, Adwords, Affiliate, affiliate programs, banner ad, conversion, conversion rates, cost per click, ecommerce solutions, Google, google adwords, Internet, Internet marketing, internet marketing campaigns, internet marketing resources, internet marketing strategy, internet strategy, Marketing, marketing affiliate, marketing campaign, marketing online, marketing plan, MSN, online, online marketing, online marketing strategy, Pay, Pay Per Click, pay per click ad, pay per click advertising, pay per click campaign, Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Per-Click, performance basis, PPC, ppc programs, ppc search engine, Programs, Search Engine Marketing, search engines, SEM, SERPs, social marketing, sponsored search, web, web marketing, website, Yahoo, yahoo msn, yahoo search marketing

If you are looking to start a pay-per-click campaign as a part of your internet marketing plan, these resources will help you get off to a great start. The first three are the main 3 networks (first-tier, tier A).

Google AdWords

This is the most popular network for online advertising, although cost-per-click is usually much higher.

Yahoo! Search Marketing

Yahoo! Sponsored Search connects businesses and customers online. Sign up and get a $25 credit.

Microsoft AdCenter

Advertising on AdCenter network seems to have lower volume, but I have experienced higher conversion rates. The cost-per-click for keywords tends to be cheaper than Google or Yahoo.

Tier 2 Networks:

Enhance Interactive

Pay-per-click traffic for only $0.03 per click. Enhance Interactive knows your needs. Signup today and get $25 in Free Clicks!

Miva

Get $25 Bonus Pay-Per-Click Ad Credits.Click here.

Search123

Extend your reach with Search 123.

Tags: ad campaign, Adcenter, Adwords, conversion rates, cost per click, Enhance, Google, google adwords, great resources, Internet, Internet marketing, internet marketing campaigns, internet marketing resources, internet marketing strategy, internet resources, internet strategy, Marketing, marketing campaign, marketing plan, marketing web, Miva, online, online marketing, Pay, Pay Per Click, pay per click ad, pay per click advertising, pay per click campaign, Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Per-Click, PPC, ppc programs, ppc search engine, Programs, Resources, Search Engine Marketing, search engines, SEM, sponsored search, web, web marketing, Yahoo, yahoo search marketing

If you are looking to start a pay-per-click campaign as a part of your internet marketing plan, these resources will help you get off to a great start. The first three are the main 3 networks (first-tier, tier A).

Google AdWords

This is the most popular network for online advertising, although cost-per-click is usually much higher.

Yahoo! Search Marketing

Yahoo! Sponsored Search connects businesses and customers online. Sign up and get a $25 credit.

Microsoft AdCenter

Advertising on AdCenter network seems to have lower volume, but I have experienced higher conversion rates. The cost-per-click for keywords tends to be cheaper than Google or Yahoo.

Tier 2 Networks:

Enhance Interactive

Pay-per-click traffic for only $0.03 per click. Enhance Interactive knows your needs. Signup today and get $25 in Free Clicks!

Miva

Get $25 Bonus Pay-Per-Click Ad Credits.Click here.

Search123

Extend your reach with Search 123.

Tags: Adcenter, Adwords, Bonus, bonus pay, conversion, conversion rates, cost per click, credit, Credits, Enhance, Extend, Free, free clicks, Google, google adwords, Interactive, Internet, Internet marketing, marketing plan, microsoft, microsoft adcenter advertising, Miva, network, Networks, online, part, Pay, Pay Per Click, pay per click ad, pay per click campaign, Per-Click, PPC, reach, Search, Signup, sponsored search, start, tier, traffic, Uncategorized, volume, Yahoo

Compete.com

Brand new must have SEO / SEM tool. Experts raving, Drive traffic today!
Compete.com is the starting point to build and optimize search marketing campaigns that create brand awareness, drive site traffic and increase sales.

Web CEO

Tags: ad campaign, desired outcome, email marketing, Internet, Internet marketing, internet marketing campaigns, internet marketing resources, internet resources, Marketing, marketing campaign, marketing directory, marketing plan, online, online marketing, optimization seo, organic, Pay Per Click, PPC, ppc search engine, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, search engines, search optimization, SMM, Uncategorized, web, web marketing, web optimization, web site optimization, website

So, I have talked about Search Engine Marketing, and many other approaches to internet marketing, including PPC, SEO, and more. Today’s topic will be on the strategy of Social Media Marketing, which, I believe is a great turning point in the web world. I believe Social Media Marketing is in its infancy, and has so much potential that it cannot be ignored.

What is Social Media Marketing? The definition on Wikipedia is :

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a form of internet marketing which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media networks such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, YouTube, Dailymotion, Hi5, Gather.com, social web applications (webapps) such as reddit, Digg, Stumbleupon, Flickr, iLike, Wikipedia, Squidoo, Last.fm, Twitter, Eventful, ePinions and others as well as within 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life, ActiveWorlds, Moove and There.com. The goals of each SMM program or campaign will differ for every business or organization, however most will involve some form of building an idea or brand awareness, increasing visibility, encouraging brand feedback and dialogue as well as to possibly sell a product or service. SMM may also include online reputation management.

Here is why I thing Social Media Marketing is a highly valuable internet marketing strategy:

Search Engines, as sophisticated as they are getting with their algorithms, can never take the place of human opinion. They can do their best to “guess” what us humans want when we type in a search result, but they will never think like humans. The beauty of Social Media Marketing (SMM) is the pure and simple human interaction . The fact that users can recommend, rate, and suggest content they find relevant to them, is a wonderful thing.

If you are in business, or have even been involved in any business, you know, already, that word of mouth, testimonials, and referrals are the best forms of business referrals a company can have. This is precisely what Social Media Marketing does. The readers and users of sites let others know the value of the content or offerings of a web site, and people want recommendations.

By being submitted or recommended by other users on sites like Digg, Technorati, De.licio.us, Reddit, ….. word gets around very quickly. and on that note, let’s remember that you want GOOD attention, GOOD ratings, and GOOD recommendations. Therefore, if you have a very crappy site that doesn’t fulfill users’ needs, wants, desires, if it isn’t usable, and all of the other things that go into holistic internet marketing, Social Media Marketing won’t do you any good.

In conclusion, if you have really thought about your blog, web site, business model, goals, and customer needs, you should definitely explore Social Media Marketing as part of your holistic internet marketing campaign. If this is not the case, you should probably go back to the drawing board, and provide useful content, services, products, or information in a usable and easily consumable way, or you will quickly find out that regardless of your marketing strategy, foundation is key.

Tags: business referrals, dailymotion, Digg, epinions, facebook, human interaction, ilike, Internet, Internet marketing, internet marketing strategy, Marketing, marketing campaign, marketing communication, Media, media marketing, media networks, moove, online, PPC, Reddit, reputation management, Search Engine Marketing, search engines, second life, SEO, SMM, Social, Social Media Marketing, social web, Squidoo, strategy search, StumbleUpon, Technorati, virtual worlds, web

If you are a using blogging as part of your internet marketing strategy (and you are crazy if you are not), it is a good idea to sign up for the top Social Networking sites. By signing up for these, and submitting your blog, you can quickly spread the word about the topic you are posting, and will attract the search engines to you almost immediately. Enjoy!

1. Technorati
2. Digg
3. Reddit
4. StumbleUpon
5. Blog Catalog
6. Furl
7. Del.icio.us
8. Newsvine
9. Squidoo
10. LinkedIn

Was this List Helpful to You?

Do you use these social media sites? Are there more that you use or that are your favorites? Let us know.

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Tags: affiliate programs, Blog Catalog, community members, Delicious, desired outcome, Digg, email marketing, Furl, gears, glossary of terms, Google, great resources, holistic approach, Internet marketing, internet resources, internet strategy, LinkedIn, Marketing, marketing campaign, marketing directory, marketing email, marketing optimization, marketing plan, marketing viral, MSN, Newsvine, online, online marketing, optimization seo, organic, Pay Per Click, PPC, ppc programs, ppc search engine, Reddit, return visitors, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, search engines, search optimization, SEM, SEO, SMM, social marketing, Social Media Marketing, social networking sites, Squidoo, StumbleUpon, Technorati, top social networking sites, viral marketing, web, web marketing, web property, web site listings, web site optimization, website, Yahoo, yahoo search marketing