Crush AdWords – Creating Landing Pages that Work. (Part 3 of 5)

Okay, so now that you’ve done your Keyword Research (you HAVE done your keyword research, right?), it’s time to skip to the end and create your landing pages. That’s right, landing pages.

WHY MULTIPLE LANDING PAGES?
The reason AdWords is so powerful is because it allows you to place your ads in front of highly targeted prospects. Those prospects are going to be looking for solutions to a specific problem. Now, if you take the five top benefits of your product or service, chances are they are each going to solve a different problem. It might only be a slightly different problem, but that difference will be enough to create separate markets.

YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS
To illustrate the point in a way you might already be familiar with, most people in business know the dichotomy between price customers and value customers. Price customers are motivated more by getting a better deal. Value users are motivated more by the perception of the quality (and maybe quantity) of the purchase. Here you have two separate markets for the same exact product or service, and each needs a different set of arguments to persuade them to buy.

Now, let’s take our weight loss example from yesterday’s post. Let’s say you offer a weight-loss info-product, for example. Yes, some people will be interested in the value: how much information; who wrote it; how much time is it going to save them doing the research themselves? Some will be interested in price: How cheap is it compared to competitive products, and is it worth the difference?

But these markets both have other motives to consider. Some want to lose 5 or 10 pounds before swimsuit season arrives. Some are concerned about possible health ramifications of being overweight. Some might be parents concerned about their kids. Some are new mothers looking to lose the weight they gained during pregnancy. Etc, etc, etc.

“BUT MY PRODUCT DOES ALL OF THESE THINGS!
Your product could likely pertaining to each of these markets. But if your ad draws someone looking to lose 5 or 10 pounds before swimsuit season, they might be completely unmoved by solutions for the “other” problems. If someone clicks and ad that promises to tell them how to lose those 5 or 10 pounds, then the page they land on ought to expound on how your product can help them do that. If someone clicks your ad talking about eliminating the adverse health affects by losing weight, then they should land on a page about that.

“Let’s Take a Walk…”
Think of your AdWords ad as an invitation to go on a journey with you. A journey that starts with a click and continues until you reach the end-result you outlined in part 1 of this series. Clicking the link in your ad should begin a logical progression down a path that’s easy to follow.

If your ads says “hey, let’s talk about looking good in a swimsuit” then your next step better be talking about looking good in a swimsuit.

DON’T START AT THE BEGINNING
The easiest way to accomplish this is to work backwards. Take a problem you’ve been able to infer from your keyword research. At the top of the page, write a statement that sympathizes with the problem and promises a solution: “Swimsuit Season is Right Around the Corner. Get This Report, and lose those last 5 pounds quick and easy.”

Next write 3 statements that support that first line.

“Imagine how good it will feel knowing all eyes are on you…for all the right reasons!”

“There are 3 simple things you can do to whip yourself in shape, with time to spare”

“20 minutes a day is all you need”

…or whatever. This isn’t my niche, so I’m just making this up on the fly. But hopefully, you get the idea. Write in a way that paints a picture of your product as a solution to the particular problem.

Okay, then write a line that is a call to action:
“Get your copy now and be ready by summer!” Or contact a sales rep. Or schedule and appointment. Or whatever your desired end-result is.

NOW…JUST WRITE
Ta-da. You now have a simple structure for your landing page. Didn’t take too long, did it? Now, all that remains is to start with your first sentence and write a paragraph. It can even be a simple synopsis of the other four lines you just wrote. Then write a paragraph to follow each of the other sentences. Finally, give the information they need to take the proper action. The easier you can make it to take the action, the more likely they are to take it.

And there you have it. A landing page that will help you convert much better than simply sending them to your blog’s main page, because you’re taking your AdWords ad and turning it into a long-format ad. Your Google ad ends up simply being the headline.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at how to build a successful AdWord Ad.

(by the way, it wouldn’t hurt to have a similar landing page for people who come to your site via Twitter, Facebook, Squidoo or other social networking/media sites—one tailored specifically to traffic from that site.)

PHOTO CREDIT: Source – SXC.hu