The SEO /PPC team have just undertaken their Google Adwords exams, myself included. Now that we’ve all passed and there are smug smiles all-around, I thought I’d share some insight following my re-cap of studies for the Google Adwords Fundamental Exam.
Whilst studying, I came across this page.
https://support.google.com/partners/answer/2404197?hl=en-GB&ref_topic=6322135
Whilst I skimmed over the details, ensuring I hadn’t missed anything in my notes, it struck me how landing page design can be overlooked in favour of a focus on the budget, keyword lists and ad copy.
Often, when I first talk to dental practices about the possibilities of growing their online presence and business using online advertising, the conversation does head towards cost and return on investment very quickly; as well it should.
However, going through these aspects of the PPC strategy is a lot easier than explaining the need to have specific landing pages designed to increase Quality Score and Ad Rank. But reading through the exam guidelines, it’s explicit that Google will reward excellent landing page experience with a more effective ad campaign.
“Your landing page is the URL that people arrive at after they’ve clicked your ad, and the experience that you offer affects your Ad Rank and therefore your CPC and position in the ad auction.
Your ads may show less often (or not at all) if they point to websites that offer a poor user experience.”
Google, Search Advertising Exam Guide.
The message to get across is;
Within the study guide, Google goes even further, explaining what it is looking for when allocating “landing page experience”.
These include:
For a dental practice website, that features many different treatments and services, a specific landing page design for PPC sees the greatest return on investment, due to all of the above.
Through our PPC accounts, we’ve seen cost-per-click reduce by 50% when a specific landing page is designed for one particular treatment or service that is being advertised. Google prefers pages that are specific, don;t have too many external links and give the user a great experience. We’re also able to include promotions or offers that might not be appropriate for the main website; giving this
Google prefers pages that are specific, with few and relevant external links, and give the user a great experience.
Another added benefit of a specific landing page design is the ability to include promotions and offers within the design that might not be appropriate for the main website; giving the landing page the necessary edge to stand out amongst the crowd.