Creating Targeted Categories, Ads, and Landing Pages

For successful PPC activity it is imperative that you create targeted campaigns from the start. Below is a summary of creating targeted categories, ads and landing pages.
Well themed categories contain keywords that users with the same interests query the search engines with. This makes it easier to target the users with your ads. Good categories also fit the theme of the landing page. Landing pages should be designed along with the ads – if the ad is targeted to the user, and the landing page reflects what is written in the ad, the landing page will be targeted to the user. A good ad describes a product or service, a benefit of the product or service, and an action the user should take once he/she clicks on the ad. A good landing page should backup the same statements made in the ad:

1. This is what you searched for.
2. This is what we are offering.
3. What you searched for and what we’re offering are the same thing.
4. What we’re offering is superior and you should get it now for these reasons.
5. Here’s the action you take.

These five statements should be backed up, shown, and/or explained on a landing page, and it all relies on what is written in the ad. The landing page should describe the same product, benefit, and action that was written in the ad. There should be no surprises and no distractions (like irrelevant links, images, or offers), although it is a good idea to offer other actions for a user to take if they aren’t quite ready to make a full commitment. And all of this information should be conveyed without too much text. Visitors typically decide what’s on a page and whether they should abandon it by looking at images and scanning short snippets of text.
Landing pages should be kept simple. You already know what a visitor is looking for so it’s not necessary to show them a bunch of other things. How 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 become a full web page with text, images, and links is beyond the scope of this article. Here’s where you can start:

1. Repeat search engine user’s query in the landing page’s text and headings. Don’t be unoriginal – dare to make it more descriptive.
2. Offer pictures of what you’re selling. Show visual samples without leading the user to far off the transaction page.
3. Tell the visitor why what they searched for is what you’re displaying if it’s not already obvious. Make it clear that you are talking to them. Use bullet points with concise sentences using simple language.
4. Offer discounts, price comparisons, bonuses you provide that your competitors don’t.
5. Use buy buttons and objects that users expect to see that let them know that’s where they go to do the deed. Don’t make a visitor have to think too much or have to make too many decisions.

Well themed categories not only have terms that mean the same thing, but also are composed of similar words. Words from a user’s query are bolded in your ad, making your ad stand out more. Repeating terms from a user’s query in an ad helps increase CTRs. If categories have terms that contain the same words, it’s more likely that the ads will contain words from the user’s query.

The above represents just some of the best practices you should take.

O Yousaf – PPC Manager