1.  Include A Privacy Line

In general, a privacy line below the form helps with overall conversions. Try something like “we respect your privacy” or “we do not provide information to third parties”. Other variables we’ve tested around the lead form do not increase conversions as much as this one does. Here, it’s the trust factor that tends to increase form conversion rates.

2.  Go For Fewer Form Elements

Think of gathering information from a client not as an event but as process. The idea is to ease into a relationship with your prospects — you do not want to startle or put buyers on edge by asking too many questions.

For example, with a client who sells windows that block out loud city noises, we obtain basic information like name, email and phone number and follow up with an automated email that requests more information like the size and shape of windows (we provide easy diagrams in a follow up email).

Note: it’s best to send follow up emails sooner rather than later as a hot prospect is better than a cold one. In my testing, the sweet spot is between 3 to 5 fields.

3.  Take Up Less Space With Form Fields

Don’t leave a lot of space in between form fields. The game is to have fewer elements on the page (as I mentioned in #2) and to try to incorporate more elements into a smaller space. Here are a couple ideas:

• Try 2 elements per line to take up less space. For example, ask for first/last name in one field rather than asking for the information in two separate fields.
• Reduce the amount of space between each form field.

Take a look at the Criteo.com screenshot below as an example:

4.  Use Optional Form Fields

Use optional fields on your form to decrease the amount of information requested from the get-go from prospects. Prospects are able to provide more information if they’d like but they are not forced to.

One of my favorite “formulas” is the five-field form with 3 required fields and 2 optional ones. Take a look at suggestions below for some ideas:

• Name – required
• Email – required
• Phone number – required
• City – optional
• State – optional

5. Try A Two-Page Lead Form

Another great option is to use a two-page strategy. Again, encompasses the idea of not moving too fast.

A good analogy to think of here is dating. If you ask your date 100 questions right off the bat, you’re likely to freak out them out and not get a second date. It’s a far more effective to ask questions over a longer period of time (like over a second or third date) than to pounce all over your poor date the second you meet.

Criteo.com uses this strategy effectively. Take a look at the screenshots below:

Page 1 of form:

Page 2 of form:

Note: Two and even three page forms can convert better than one page ones.

6.  Include A Lead Form Above The Fold

In our testing, the best place lead forms convert is in the upper right hand corner of page. I like to include a form at the bottom of the page even if it’s below the fold as it emphasizes the call to action and doesn’t hurt overall conversion figures.

7.  Use Compelling Words On Submit Buttons

Specific and benefit-oriented wording like “get a free obligation quote now” and “get a quote now” tends to convert better than “click here” or a “submit” buttons.

Weaving benefits into the buttons is also an excellent way to reiterate benefits. You’ll likely have many wording ideas so the key idea is to test different ones.

8. Design Buttons That Convert

My absolute favorite button colors are orange and blue, as they tend to provide the best conversions. To determine appropriate button size/wording on buttons, step away from your computer and glance at your screen.

If size is appropriate, you should be able to see both buttons and wording on buttons if you’re walking by the computer. Optimizing for a smaller screen is best to ensure both laptop and desktop users can see buttons.

As I was writing this article, I attended a session on Form Optimization session at PubCon Las Vegas 2011. The final two quick form optimization tips are  from Brad Geddes’s presentation:

9.  Sentence casing is better than phrase casing

10.  Don’t ever use CAPTCHA on forms

In this article, I’ll discuss alternative options for landing pages such as Google maps/Google Places listings, using phone numbers in paid search advertising, and strategies involving the Apple App store and Amazon.com.

Google Maps/Google Places

Using a Google Places listings is a good strategy to encourage walk-in traffic or to encourage people to connect offline with a company. It tends to work very well for local businesses like restaurants, family doctors, chiropractors, brick and mortar stores with numerous locations, etc. — basically any business that wants to drive traffic to a specific store location.

In PPC advertising, Google Places and PPC ads are synced using location extensions.

In the campaign level settings tab, advertisers have the option to choose “display Google Places information”. Advertisers also have the option to manually input business address information.

Here’s an example of a location extension in a PPC ad:

Using Google Places is a good strategy as visitors are able to get an overview of businesses at a quick glance. It’s a good idea to spend time optimizing Google Places listings not only for PPC but because ads appear in organic searches too.

A well-optimized Google places listings should display the following information: hours of operation, price range (if applicable), photos, videos, product offerings, coupons, reviews, ratings, etc.

Here’s an example of a Google Places page from Glowbal Grill & Satay Bar in Vancouver, BC:

Phone Numbers In Paid Search Ads

By adding a phone number to PPC ads, you can save a visitor skip the step of going to your site especially if they already know they want to connect with your business, get additional information, make an appointment, etc. In PPC advertising, this is done via the call extension.

With call extensions, advertisers can either use a company business number or a Google forwarding phone number – Google will dynamically generate unique phone numbers per ad group and calls are routed to your business number.

Note: Click charges apply to visitors that click phone numbers using a mobile device. The calls will cost $1 USD per call for other types of calls to the Google numbers.

Here’s an example of what a call extension looks like in a PPC ad:

Call Analytics

It’s worth noting there are several places in the Google interface advertisers can get information on incoming phone calls:

1. To see number of calls received, segment by “click type” at the ad group or keyword level.
2. For more detailed reports, go to the “dimensions” tab and select “view” then “call details”.

Here, you can see the following call details:

• Call start time
• Call end time
• Call status (missed or received)
• Caller area code
• Call type

Note: addresses and phone number work well together in PPC ads, so consider using both together in your paid search advertising.

App Store

Another strategy is to try sending advertisers directly to the iPhone app store. With this, advertisers can encourage people to buy an app or download a free app (which is hopefully tied to a monetization plan or upsell strategy).

An example is the Talking Tom app. For an extra 0.99 cents, you can get no advertising and 4 extra Talking Tom animations.

PPC advertising tip: Obviously, when targeting iPhone users, you’ll want to segment the iPhone and ensure other smart phone devices are not selected in the settings tab.

Amazon.com

Another strategy is to drive traffic to Amazon.com. This tends to work well in several specific instances.

In one case, an electronics retailer drove paid search advertising to the Amazon site instead of their site. They wanted to create an image of a “hot” product so that distributors would be convinced to stock the electronics in different places (different channels). Using Amazon also works well for authors who want to make their books look “hot” and encourage sales.

And where better to get PPC landing page conversion pointers than at the Conversion Conference? I was there in New York City a few weeks ago and partook in a number of great sessions, including one on A/B testing tips by Anne Holland and Lisa Seaman from WhichTestWon.com.

Let’s dissect some of their conversion optimization tips and apply them specifically to PPC landing pages:

Tip #1: Include Privacy Lines

Privacy lines help with opt-ins. This may seem like stating the obvious, but surprisingly folks miss the basics. So, be sure to include something like “we respect your email privacy” on or very close to your form to improve overall conversions.

My take from a PPC perspective: Privacy policies matter, but not just for email opt-ins. They also matter for the user experience and trust overall, and may even factor into Google’s landing page and website quality scores in some cases.

Tip #2: Use Short Forms

The best strategy is to ask for as little information as possible. Forms with fewer required fields tend to perform best. Think twice before going live with a 14-field form.

My PPC take: In my experience, a form with five fields or fewer works best. Choose wisely when making fields required on a paid search campaign. The fewer, the better.

Personally, I like a four- to five-field form with two to three required fields and two to three optional fields. You can always obtain additional information later such as through email blasts or trigger emails. Think of this as a first date — you don’t want to come on too strong or overwhelm them.

Tip #3: Use Relevant Product Images

Images convert better when they relate directly to the product or service that your company is selling. In a WhichTestWon.com example, they tested the image of a machine versus an image of what the machine did, and the image of the machine significantly outperformed.

My PPC take: Don’t use images to try to convey product/service features, benefits, USPs and so forth; they are best outlined in page copy. Page copy needn’t be any sexier than a bullet list of product features and benefits (bonus tip: separating the features from the benefits works best in my experience).

It’s also worth noting that bigger product images and products images from various angles tend to lead to better online conversions (sales).

Tip #4: Incorporate Benefits Into The Various Page Elements

Use headlines and button copy to outline your product/service benefits. For example, try a button with something like this:

“Get a no-obligation free quote now”

It tends to convert better than generic copy like this:

“Click for a solar consultation”

My PPC take: Although I like benefit-focused copy as a general principle, their example speaks to the “benefit” of a quote, not of the product, i.e. that the quote will be no obligation and free. So this test isn’t about benefits, but rather about testing language on calls to action that may or may not resonate with customers.

Direct, clear calls to action are what this seems to be about, and that is a good point to test. A “solar consultation” sounds open-ended and vague, so you can see why that might deter people from clicking.

Tip #5: Test Your Copy Above Forms

Entice your visitors to fill out your lead form with compelling verbiage directly above or near the form. Ah but what verbiage to use? Don’t just go with your gut; test various calls to action and value propositions to see what resonates best with your audience.

In the WhichTestWon.com example, the “Create Your Profile for FREE and UNLIMITED Access” form lead-in performed better than “Try Safety.BLR.com Risk Free.”

My PPC take: First, bear in mind that subscription-based case studies that involve fairly limited commitment and no buying may not be relevant to your business. Secondly, for weekly committed opt-ins who don’t really want to spend anything, you can get higher conversion rates just by making it clear that there is very little commitment.

The danger here is that “success” shouldn’t be about getting more opt-ins from visitors with weak commitment and then worrying about the revenues later — because the revenue may never come. The fact is, many of your opt-ins are probably using spambox (throwaway) emails to “try” such offers.

Tip #6: Try Dual-colored Call To Action Buttons

The suggestion here is to try dual-colored and dual-action buttons. In one WhichTestWon.com test, a dual button with Quick View on one side in gray and Order Now on the other in green (see image below) converted 88% lift in order numbers versus a single “Order Now” orange button.

My PPC take: It was refreshing to hear something beyond the tired old suggestion of orange buttons (touted as the best converting button color). Button innovation often works to move the needle. Weak designs often fail to engage a click.

Tip #7: Test Bigger Buttons

The takeaway here is a simple one: The bigger the button, the more it will get clicked. Anne Holland is famous for saying “make your buttons bigger.”

My PPC take: I wholeheartedly agree. We’ve all run a zillion tests and seen this come true time and time again. I’d further suggest increasing button size 50% to 100% and see what it does for your bottom line. If there are increases, rinse and repeat until your find your best conversion rate.

Now go to it! Incorporate the above-mentioned elements/tips to your PPC landing pages for some quick wins in your ROAS. And of course, if you can’t find effective pages on your site to use for your paid search campaigns, don’t be afraid to design completely new landing pages. I’ve seen companies get lift 30-400% lift simply by creating completely new landing pages. Don’t worry so much that they don’t exactly fit your existing site design; worry a lot more that they are using the tried-and-true conversion best practices such as the ones above.

In this article, I’ll cover ways to effectively and systematically incorporate new images into your Facebook advertising. I credit many of the tips in this article from a recent conversation with Jennifer Sheahan from FBadsLAB.

Note: CTRs in Facebook tend to be very low so don’t get discouraged if figures are lower than in other PPC advertising. In fact, a 0.4% to 0.5% CTR is considered a very good CTR in Facebook.

Step 1: Creating Facebook Ads

To start, try testing 7 to 10 very different ads and incorporate images that are known to convert in Facebook. Some of these are: 1) happy women, 2) company logos, 3) head shots, and 4) fruits and vegetables. Within a few days, you’ll likely see one or two ads pull ahead of all the others.

From here, use the best performing ads and come up with variations of the ad or ads that performed best.

For example, if images of women are working for you, use pictures of different types of happy women in your ads to maintain freshness and improve ad CTRs.

Step 2: Testing Facebook Ads

When you’ve found image(s) that work, try making very small adjustments every few days to keep Facebook ads fresh.

Try the following modifications to keep ads fresh:

• A different color background.
• A colored border around the image. Here’s an example of an ad image with a border:

Note the extra image details in the corners of the image as well (I’ll touch more on this below). Not only do borders create differences, but they are very effective in adding visual impact.

Compare the ad with a border above to the ad below with no border:

• Colored bars down the side of images.
• Add small flags or other elements to image corners.

The image below has rounded corners and has incorporated a special effect in all four corners for a notable variation and added visual impact.

• Incorporate calls to action into the image of an ad.

Step 3: Refine Facebook Ad Testing

From here, try the following modifications for further iterations of ads:

1. Different color backgrounds or different color flags in the corners of ads.
2. Different widths of image borders, bars down the side or an image, etc.
3. Different placement of flags. For example, place a red flag in the upper right hand corner of an image. Or place flags on the opposite sides of a square image.

Feel free to chime in with some of your Facebook image testing ideas and successes.

Of course, your mileage may vary. I’ve surveyed current expert opinion on leading-edge trends with Facebook ad performance, and found the work of Jennifer Sheahan from FBadsLAB to be particularly insightful. In fact, I credit many of the following tips to Jen and a recent conversation I had with her.

Before getting started, here are some general Facebook advertising tips:

1.  A sense of “urgency” works well with Facebook ads. Audiences will be more compelled to click if they don’t see your ad often and if they think the ad may not see them again. Translation: do not bid to the hilt in Facebook. Lower your impression share so ads appear less often.

2.  As with advertising on the Google display network, the goal of a Facebook ad is to distract users from other tasks and entice potential visitors to click on ads. Ads with a purpose or a clever hook work better than ads with no purpose. It’s better to tie your ad to a promotion, discount or a report with compelling information than to simply try to drive traffic to a site.

3.  Test many images at once. Experts suggest 7 to 10 images per campaign.

4.  Don’t be discouraged by low conversion rates, especially if you’re used to Google AdWords. Average conversion rates in FB are approximately 0.02%. You’re doing well if you see conversions in the 0.4% to 0.5% range.

In general, the following types of images convert best on Facebook.

Happy Women

The best types of images to use in Facebook advertising are of happy women. Women who look overjoyed, free and are looking directly at the camera convert best. Also, try images of women who joyfully have their arms in the air.

Images of woman can tie into almost any product like health nutrition, wellness, etc. Financial institutions like banks could use an image of a happy woman and tie it to the idea of getting freedom from services charges or getting freedom from a mortgage sooner.

Colorful Logos

Why do logos convert at all? Here, the key would seem to be extreme relevance and repetition over time to the most targeted audience possible. Involved in a niche sport like lacrosse? A leading lacrosse equipment maker could actually profit by simply showing you their logo every so often over a period of months or even years.

Recently, experts say logos have been converting better, and that’s likely because advertisers are getting better at implementing such strategies. Those who understand the long term benefit of building brand recall in consumers may be particularly impressed with Facebook’s ability to do this within communities of any size.

Try logos that are colorful and engaging. If your company’s logo is boring or bland, make look colorful by adding a colorful border, background or text. Definitely avoid blue and white as the colors blend too much with Facebook’s colors.

Images with text on them (calls to action) convert better than images alone. In general, ads with a “reason” convert better than ads with no reason. So don’t just tell people about your accounting services but include a reason like: 1) end of tax year special or 2) an online promotion with savings available for 3 days only.

Note: product images do not convert as well as straight up colorful logos.

Headshots

These work well for presenters or a well-known person like the head of a company. In general, happy pictures where people are looking directly at the camera work best.

For example, if advertising an expert speaker, action shots of them talking with expressive hands tend to convert best. Subconsciously, people who view these pictures want to hear what the speaker is saying. Here’s an example:

Close up pictures work best so try not to cram too much into your images. A good idea is to step away from your computer and see if you can still see your image clearly in the 110 x 80 format. If not, re-size, rinse and repeat.

In subsequent articles, I’ll cover best practices related to successful Facebook headlines, ad copy and testing strategies.

In this article, I’ll cover several recent trends highlighted in the report and discuss the implications of these trends on mobile advertising. Wider adoption of smartphones is a key driver in these most recent trends.

These trends include the following:

Smartphones Are More Ingrained In Daily Life

People are using their phones in a number of different places. Take a look at the following examples:

• Home – 93%
• On the go like when commuting, walking, etc. – 87%
• In stores – 77%
• In restaurants – 73%
• Work – 72%

Smartphones Are Used In Similar Ways As Computers

Some of the ways smartphone users are using their mobile devices are to:

• Access search engines – 77%
• Access apps – 68%
• Access videos – 48%

People Are Multitasking While Using Their Smartphones

Take a look at some of the examples of what people are doing while also checking their mobile devices:

• Watching TV – 33%
• Using the Internet – 29%
• Reading a book – 16%
• Reading a newspaper – 22%
• Waiting in a line – 59%
• Socializing – 40%

There are several specific actions people are taking while they’re on their smartphones. Here’s what people are doing while searching on their smartphones:

Action Oriented Searches

Searchers are:

• Social networking
• Visiting sites like search engines, retail stores, etc.

They Look For A Wide Variety Of Information

• Here’s a list of the type of information searchers are seeking:
  • News
  • Food & recipes
  • Dining info
  • Entertainment
  • Shopping

They Are Searching For Local Information

In general, people seeking local information are highly qualified and ready to buy. Of those conducting local searches, they are:

• Contacting an establishment – 77%
• Making a purchase – 44%

As these trends in consumer adoption of mobile increase, it makes greater sense to advertise via the mobile channel.

Here are a few suggestions on how to implement mobile advertising in Google AdWords.

Try Local Extensions

Local extensions show the address, map & phone info. There are two options to set this up:

1. The ad can pull address from Google Places account, or:
2. advertisers can set the geographical area up manually.

The results will dynamically change the location information based on:

• where you are located, or
• the area you are searching for (like Vancouver).

When expanded, the listing will show up to 4 red tags on the map with 4 listings.

You’re not charged for clicks that expand the map info window, but you are charged for clicks from the info window to your website.

Try Phone Extensions

With this feature, ads will display a clickable phone number on a full browser phone.

Advertisers pay the cost of the click when the phone number is clicked (and hopefully a call is made).

Here’s what it looks like:

And Don’t Forget…

Mobile advertising requires a different mindset. Don’t make assumptions. Desktop browser based advertising doesn’t necessarily translate to mobile. Take a unique approach and employ the following tactics:

• Create separate mobile campaigns so you can gear mobile advertising to mobile users.
• Bid high to ensure ads are in top positions. In general, mobile web pages only display 1 to 3 ads at the top of the page.
• Use shorter terms. In general, people will not type very long queries into their phones.
• Write ad copy geared to mobile users.

If you would like to delve even deeper into mobile advertising, read Cindy Krum’s book, Mobile Marketing: Finding Your Customers No Matter Where They Are.

1.  There Is Only One Quality Score

This is not true. There are actually three different quality scores. They are:

a) Search Quality Score (Google and the search network)

Some of the core components of search quality score include historical CTR of the keyword & the ad on Google, account history (measured by CTR of all ads & keywords in account), how keywords related to ads in ad groups, etc.

For more information on specific components of Google search quality score, take a look at the Google’s help files. Note: the Google.com and search network quality scores are separate. The Google network quality score will only ever impact the Google network and not Google.com.

b) Display Quality Score

Display network quality score is calculated separately for both automatic placements and managed placements and takes into consideration factors like the past performance of ads on the site ads appears on, the performance of ads on similar display network sites, etc.

For more specific information, this is clearly laid out in Google’s help files. Note: how each of the above Quality Scores is calculated depends on the bidding option selected (CPC or CPM).

c) Landing page Quality Score

According to Google, landing page quality score is based on factors like load times, anchor text, ease of navigation and page content. Content and navigation are very detailed. Google is certainly playing consumer advocate with a lot of don’t be evil stuff in there.

2.  Search & Display Quality Score Are The Same

This is not true. Search quality score and display quality score are calculated separately and one doesn’t affect the score of the other.

3.  Quality Score Is Calculated Only At The Keyword Level

Quality score is actually calculated at three different levels. These are: the account level, the ad level and the keyword level. It’s useful to note Google’s new way of describing this now, which is “the CTR on the keyword and the matched ad”.

So, it’s actually now a combination of the keyword level and the specific ad we are considering showing. All this says to me is that the keyword CTR is still paramount. A secondary concern is that changing ads will “reset” Quality Score to the default. And a minor factor is account wide Quality Score.

As an advertiser, the only visibility you have is at the keyword level. You can access keyword Quality Score in the following ways:

a) Next to keywords, click on the keyword status dialogue box in the status column.

b) Customize columns (select columns) at the keyword level to display quality score as a column in the Google interface. In the screenshot below, the Quality Score option is located in the performance column.

4.  Landing Page Quality Score Is Considered At The Keyword Level

A total myth is that landing page quality score is typically a consideration at the keyword level. The main description of quality score for search in the help files has said the following for about a year:

“ For calculating a keyword-targeted ad’s position, landing page quality is not a factor. Also, when calculating ad position on a Search Network site, Quality Score considers the CTR on that particular site in addition to CTR across the Search Network as a whole.”

In other words, landing page quality affects “eligibility” and will be tacked onto keyword Quality Score primarily if it is poor. It does not have an ongoing effect on positions – only “eligibility”.

Therefore, ads are much less likely to show as often if they have poor landing page Quality Score. Small differences in landing page Quality Score do not affect position in any way.

5.  Deleting Elements In AdWords Eliminates Poor Quality Score

Quality score and historical performance are not erased for paused or deleted keyword terms. The only thing pausing or deleting keyword terms does is clean up the look of your advertising interface.

It is still a good idea to de-emphasize very poor Quality Score keywords (pausing them if necessary), assuming this does not hurt your ROI. Depending on how many impressions they generate, pausing them will help your account-level Quality Score. There is no difference between pausing and deleting keywords for this purpose.

6.  Bid High & Seek Top Ad Positions To Increase Quality Score

Google normalizes quality score relative to ad position, so the positive influence of higher ad positions on CTR should not give your Quality Score an “unfair boost”.

This means that you are competing on CTR and quality score for competitors in the same position, not positions above or below you. You are safe to bid for lower positions without worry of being penalized for quality score.

7.  Exact Matches Will Improve Quality Score Due To Higher CTR’s

Essentially, Google measures Quality Score independent of match type. While you should pay close attention to match types as an important principle of campaign management, you won’t be hurting yourself by experimenting with the full range of match types.

One match type that will help your overall success  if used diligently is negative matching or keyword exclusions. Used intelligently, negative keywords should boost CTR’s on broader match types, as well as improving ROI; however, using negative match types will have no direct impact on your quality score.

Postscript: Shortly after publication, Google clarified in point #7, that negative match types cannot impact quality score.

1.  Negative Keywords Are Only Important If You Use Broad Match

Not quite. Other match types (in particular phrase match) can trigger variations of the keywords you’ve chosen. Not only that, but sometimes Google match types calibrate more broadly than you may think. Take a look at the following example from Google’s help files.

Let’s say you’re advertising for phrase matched term “tennis shoes”.

Your ads will appear for:

• Red tennis shoes
• Buy tennis shoes
• Tennis shoes photo

Your ads will not appear for:

• Shoes for tennis
• Tennis shoe
• Tennis sneakers

But what if you don’t sell red tennis shoes? (A real life example would be more along the lines of what if you did not sell Nike tennis shoes?). It would make sense to negative match the term “red” (or the real life example “Nike”). Here’s a look at how AdWords and adCenter deal with negatives:

To get a better handle on the terms that are triggering ads, pull a search query report and add irrelevant queries to negative keyword lists.

2.  Google Prevents Advertising On Trademark Terms

Not quite. Google recently changed its policy to allow advertisers to include trademarked terms in ad copy (before advertisers could only bid on these terms). On March 3, 2011, Yahoo and Bing announced that advertisers would be able to advertise on trademarked terms.

Ultimately, it’s up to companies to monitor their trademarks and to rectify issues with the search engines and/or directly with the advertiser who you believe are inappropriately using your trademark.

In his recent article Is It Time to Rethink Bidding on Trademarks?, Matt Van Wagner does a good job in explaining differences in Google and Bing trademark policy and how each ofthe engines goes about addressing complaints. As Matt noted, there is some variation in the direction of recent legal decisions, so that it may be a bit riskier to advertise on these terms than it once seemed. Stay tuned.

3.  Pause Keywords With Bad CPAs

Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water! In optimizing PPC accounts, we try to get underperforming or poorly performing terms to convert at an acceptable ROI. Advertisers could be losing out on keyword opportunities they automatically turned off all underperforming terms. A better strategy is to modify bids to bring cost per acquisition figures in line.

Overall conversion volume will decrease, but fewer conversions are better than no conversions at all. More importantly, casting a wide net and keeping marginal keywords “alive” provides growth potential and rewards you with more data on more user response. Going too narrow chokes off opportunities and provides marketingless insight.

4.  Don’t Bid On Your Branded Terms

In most circumstances, your companies branded keywords will generate very high CTRs. The CTR associated with your branded keywords can help to build a positive account level quality score in your account. Note: quality score is calculated at an account level, ad level and a keyword level. More on this and Quality Score myths in my paid search column next month.

In addition, it’s never a given that a searcher will convert to a buyer, even if you show up in organic listings. By taking up more screen real estate on your brand terms – appearing in both paid and organic listings, and deploying Sitelinks for both – you crowd out competing offers and other noise. Your branded clicks are typically cheap so it’s a no-brainer to pay for them to lock in more available mindshare.

5. The Display Network Has Terrible ROI

This may have been true years ago, but is no longer true today. Over the past few years, Google and the engines have made tremendous improvements in content (display) advertising. Here’s an example from a client who sells training products:

Search data

• Conversions – 8053
• Cost per conversion – $25.95

Content data

• Conversions – 2989
• Cost per conversion – $13.50

From the content network, the advertiser increased conversions by 37%. Cost per conversions decreased by a whopping 48%.

Note: search advertising and content advertising work very differently. It’s important to understand the differences before you embark on content advertising. Once you do, you need to optimize relentlessly for the display (network) to improve performance. It is possible to effectively target on the content network, however.

For more specific information how to advertise on the content network, take a look at my article called Five Quick Tips for Success on Google’s Content Network.

Stayed tuned for my next article, where I will return with more PPC myths, primarily focused around AdWords Quality Score.

Before getting started with landing page testing, it’s important to ensure the following:

• Identify testing goals. Are you trying to increase sales? Leads? Identify them.

• Test variables that have a direct impact on your goals. For example, if you are selling a product, test call to actions, headlines, etc. Testing the look and feel of your landing page may increase conversions but not as much as variables more directly related to your goals.

• Ensure when it’s time to make a decision on what element to keep (or chuck for that matter) that the data you are using is statistically significant. In PPC, this means the metric is responsible for at least 100 conversion events (not clicks).

Here are the suggested landing page tests to try:

1.  Test Different Calls To Action

Try incorporating an imperative verb into your call to action:

• Buy now
• Order today
• Add to cart
• Get a quote

If you already have this, try mixing in some benefits with the imperative verb:

• Get a free download today
• Start a free trial today

Also, try varying headline length. A call to action can be as simple as “order today” or as elaborate as “get your free whitepaper download today”.

Test & experiment all different types of headlines. “Get started with a free trial today” is a longer variation of “Start a free trial today”.

A big mistake that people make is to save the call to action for last. Aim to have call to actions above the fold where they can be seen and don’t be afraid to repeat it several times on your landing page.

Did you know that lead forms in the upper right hand side of the page convert better than on other places on the page?

2.  Test Different Headlines

Different headlines can increase your bottom line. This is especially the case if landing page headlines are tied to search query (and ads). Here are some different ways to test headlines:

Try rephrasing a headline into a question.

Headline: Get the coolest shoes

Question headline: Need cool shoes?

Headline: Get educated today

Question headline: Looking for an education? Want an education?

Also, try testing numbers vs. words in headlines:

Get the top five tips today

Get the top 5 tips today

3.  Features & Benefits

I like to list features and benefits on landing pages. Try testing the number of features and benefits you include on a page.

Will the magic number be 3, 4 or 5? The number of features and benefits do not need to be the same. Heavier on the benefit side is usually better.

If you don’t talk about all your features and benefits, try testing the ones you don’t use. There may be some gems in there.

I like to take a look at reviews of products and to get an idea of the features and benefits people are really looking for.

Try playing with Future Now’s WeWe Monitor to test your landing page to see if you are customer focused. It will provide a score and let you know how you’re doing.

Below is an example for crazyegg.com.

4.  Try Testing Long Landing Pages vs. Short Pages

Try testing a longer page vs. a shorter one. Here are some page modification suggestions:

• Adjust the length of the marketing copy on the landing page.
• Try testing a one-column page vs. a 2 or 3 column page.
• Eliminate distracting elements on landing page (for example elements that don’t feed into your conversion goals). Keep your visitors focused.
• Try testing product options. Can they be reduced to one or two important ones?
• Try testing larger & clearer product images (if applicable).

5.  Test Price

We’ve done a bunch of testing in this area. Depending on the product, higher priced products can convert better. This is definitely the case with in-depth workshops and seminars (half day with breakfast, to full day with lunch).

People tend to treat free seminars with less seriousness, and will often bail. (All they have to lose by not showing up is the pretty nametag.) If they pay for it, they are more likely to show up and convert to a customer (if the seminar is part of a conversion funnel).

Also, test price on a page vs. no price. In several verticals, we’ve seen conversion events increase significantly the when prices are visibly displayed on landing pages.

Stay tuned for a part two on easy landing page testing. If you have any easy testing ideas of your own, feel free to share in the comments section.

Be wary of anyone trying to make things sound more mysterious than that. In this article, I’ll share some bad ads examples and provide some ad copy fixes.

Bad Ad #1 – Irrelevant Search Ad

Search query = used cars

Ad Copy:

Medical Equipment

Second Hand Medical Equipment

Spareparts & Tubes Extensive Databat

www.example.com

This site is likely advertising on the very broad keyword term “used”. Instead, they should be targeting terms like “used medical equipment” and similar terms.  Also, they should consider using a phrase or exact match for tighter matching and to reduce the frequency of the ad displaying.

To be charitable about it, there is some chance that between high bids, and Google’s expanded broad match, they’re showing up even with a reasonably intelligent keyword choice such as the broad match for “used medical equipment,” as Google’s semantic technology runs through a variety of experiments.

So “blame Google” for the “bad ad”? Not exactly. If you take a novice’s approach to matching options, then you’re to blame.

Bad Ad #2 – Misspelling In Search Ad

Search query = computers

Ad Copy:

Computer

Hunders of computers, printers,

games powered by Buy Sell Exchange

www.example.com

Spelling mistakes are an instant way to lose credibility with potential customers.

Bad Ad #3 – Nonsensical Search Ad

Search query = computers

Ad Copy:

No Match Computers

For all your computer needs check<

our no match weekly specials.

www.no-match-domain.com

This advertiser just sounds plain nuts! What the heck is a “no match” weekly special? After closely examining the ad, I see that “no match” is the company name. At first glance, I got a very bad feeling about the company and it only takes a second for me to move on and consider another advertiser’s ad.

Bad Ad #4 – Nonsensical Search Ad

Search query = web hosts

Ad Copy:

So you are going to pay

top $ for exactly what we offer –

your money Ralph! Test us for free.

www.example.com

A headline that runs into the description text does not sound as “clean” as ads than have a distinct headline and description. In this game, 99% of the time, your bantering-style copy will under-perform. Also, in no place in the ad does the advertiser use the word “web hosts”. I’d also test confrontational language against respectful or plain language.

Bad Ad #5 – Passive Ad

Search query = accountants

Ad Copy:

SEEK Accountants SEEK has over 6,000 new jobs

Career advice and daily job emails

www.example.com

The ad above is company focused, but has a fairly passive tone. I’d change it to something like the following:

Need Accounting Work?

Discover over 6000 new jobs. Get

career advice & more. Call us today.

www.example.com/Accounting-Jobs

Tips For Successful Ad Text

Keep in mind the following pointers when writing ad copy:

1. Entice users with a compelling call to action and value propositions.
2. Avoid the passive tense. Try the active tense.
3. Avoid “marketing speak” like “innovative”, “next-generation”, etc. Keep ad copy real.
4. Don’t focus on “we” and “us”. Focus on your potential customers, their needs and  finding solutions to their issues and  problems.

Why waste time and money with PPC advertising if you’re going to write bad ads? Stick to the premise of writing good ad copy or stay home.

Note: Thanks to my colleague Stephan Spencer who suggested some of the ‘bad ad’ examples used in this article.