PPC isn’t just about researching the right keywords to bid on and writing effective, conversion-oriented text ads. It’s also about creating the right landing page experience for visitors and being able to accurately track the success of campaigns in order to meet the goals. The more control you have over PPC campaigns the better chance you have to succeed.

Here are 3 skills that PPC managers and agencies should have:

An Understanding of User Experience

Creating effective PPC landing pages will help to increase conversion rates, but you have to know how to develop these pages. A good landing page takes times to create and you must be able to answer yes to these questions:

1) Does the page continue the messaging in the ad?
2) Does the page clearly tell the visitor what to do?
3) Is the page set up so the visitor isn’t distracted from the conversion goal?

A landing page template should be designed to make sure messaging, direction and conversion are effective. You can simply sketch out a mockup on paper or ask an information architect to design it for you. Either way, the final product is a landing page template that will have to be developed (coded into the site). Depending on how many keywords and conversion goals are in your campaign you may end up creating several different pages utilizing this template.

Especially for ecommerce sites, it’s extremely important to make the navigation of the site and checkout process as simple as possible. In my experience, it’s a lot easier to do PPC for sites that information architects and developers are constantly working to refine because:

• Inventory is always up to date
• Product images are stunning
• The checkout process is always under a microscope
• If new product categories need to be created they will be

Of course there are many more items that receive attention, but when people are always working to make sites better PPC only benefits.

Coding Knowledge

PPC doesn’t require a degree in computer science, but basic to intermediate knowledge of website coding is necessary. At the very least, conversion codes and analytics codes will need to be placed on the site. Even if you aren’t putting these codes on yourself, you need to know where they should go and be able to explain why. Once you get into landing page testing, especially if you are using Google’s Website Optimizer, you’ll need to know which sections of the page to test; which requires updates to the source code. Additionally, coding landing pages requires more of an intermediate knowledge, especially if forms and payment systems are being used. The bottom line is that PPC is far less effective if code edits can’t be made.

Extensive Knowledge of Analytics

Simply put, if a PPC manager is not using an analytics program to help track the success of the campaign there is a problem. Analytics needs to be used in order to track what occurs post ad click. Visitor retention rates need to be analyzed and goals should be setup that align with the conversions rules in PPC campaigns. My general rule of thumb is that both your PPC and analytics programs should be able to tell you the conversion that was hit, the converting keyword, and the converting ad. PPC managers need to understand analytics in order to optimize campaigns.

Conclusion

A great PPC manager needs to have the influence to craft and alter more than just the PPC campaign. Knowledge of the entire process from landing page design to coding and then to tracking the campaign is imperative.

Let’s say you are a B2B company selling computer software and your desired conversion is for visitors to download a whitepaper.  Your landing page contains a short description of the whitepaper, an image, and a form.  The headline above the form reads Download this Whitepaper, while the button to submit your information says Submit.  Upon filling out the form, visitors are taken to a thank you page with a link to the whitepaper.   Overall, this conversion process is straightforward, but how will you write your PPC text ads to entice visitors to download this whitepaper?  Take a look at these 3 ads, all pointing to the same landing page, but each using a different call to action.

Read the Free Whitepaper

I anticipate being taken to a page that contains the whitepaper.  I realize I will have to click another link to bring the whitepaper up, but my expectation is that I will immediately read the document that the ad has stated.  When I get to the page and see that I have to fill out a form to read the whitepaper I get frustrated and leave.  Though the call to action did not lie to me, it left out a part of the conversion process. That’s a weak link in your conversion path.

Download Free Whitepaper

This call to action is very similar to the previous one, however, it is slightly more accurate as the headline repeats the call to action in the ad.  The same issue exists, though, as my impression is I will be able to download the whitepaper without having to fill out a form.  Unfortunately, I do have to fill out the form so again, there’s a disconnect between expectation and reality, and another potential lost connection.

Sign Up for a Whitepaper

I click this ad knowing I will need to submit personal information in order to read this whitepaper.  The call to action and the subsequent landing page are in line with each other and there is no form of trickery.  I fill out the form and proceed to read the whitepaper.

Other Considerations

Several other factors could sway me for or against signing up for the whitepaper.  Perhaps I don’t mind filling out a form to download the whitepaper because the description on the landing page whets my appetite.  Or the form has too many fields, prompting me to leave the site, even though I knew I would have had to provide personal information.

As a PPC specialist, ad click-thru-rate (CTR) comes into play as well.  I would have to see if a certain call to action is showing me a higher or lower CTR than another; generally the higher the CTR the less you are going to have to pay per click.

Conclusion

The call to action should not only tell visitors what to do, but it should also be accurate.  If you want visitors to sign up to read a whitepaper, tell them so in your ad.  Remember that visitors want to know exactly what they are supposed to do.  As an advertiser, you are weeding out irrelevant clicks by making the call to action that much more specific.  Not only will you gain more conversions, you’ll save money on irrelevant clicks.

The call to action is your chance to tell potential visitors what you want them to do.  Make sure you are making an accurate statement.

The Conundrum

After using Sitelinks for about a month, I realized that this extension would offer greater utility at the ad group rather than campaign level.  For example, say I have a campaign around men’s outerwear with 3 ad groups:

Ideally, I want Sitelinks for each ad group.  So if users type in “men’s sweatshirts,” they would see links specific to that term:

Men’s Hooded Sweatshirts
Men’s Fleece Sweatshirts
Men’s V Neck Sweatshirts
Men’s Embroidered Sweatshirts

Unfortunately, with Sitelinks only available at the campaign level I can’t guarantee the particular sitelink will match the query.  A user typing in “men’s winter gloves” has the potential to see one of the sweatshirt Sitelinks, which could do more harm than good because the link has nothing to do with the query.  If I want to use Sitelinks for this campaign I would have to make the links applicable to each ad group.

The Solution

I have emailed my Google rep about this matter and have received the stock answer “We’re looking into it,” thus; I have taken matters into my own hands.  Over the last couple of weeks I have been creating several new campaigns in order to utilize Sitelinks appropriately.  Taking the example from above, instead of 1 campaign solely around men’s outwear, I would create 4 campaigns:

Men’s Outerwear
Men’s Jackets
Men’s Sweatshirts
Men’s Gloves

Each of these campaigns would only have 1 – 2 ad groups, while providing users with highly relevant Sitelinks to complement their search queries.  In the early going I have seen some good results with click-thru-rates (CTRs) increasing and some cost-per-acquisitions (CPAs) decreasing.  However, I do not have enough data to make an accurate claim that this technique is working.

Yes, it takes more work to create individual campaigns for each keyword theme.  Not only do you have to set up Sitelinks for each campaign, but you must make sure your settings are configured correctly (geo targeting, day parting, etc).  With 20 campaigns vs. only 4 there is a greater chance of missing something due to the added volume of work — with Google’s authorization, you can have up to 100 campaigns in your account.  For the time being, however, I find this tactic worthwhile in order to provide users with the most relevant ads.

How are you utilizing Sitelinks?

Several factors go into creating a good landing page, none of which should be ignored.  These techniques will determine how many of your clicks turn into conversions.  Conversion rate, as I have previously written about, is a tier one success indicator of how well your campaign is doing.  Give your users an effective landing page, and you should see your conversion rates increase.

I am going to discuss the technique that has had the greatest impact on conversion rates in my campaigns.

Clear Messaging

Your landing pages need to clearly state what you want the user to do.  Never assume that the user knows what to do.  Make the conversion process as easy and forthright as possible.

Let’s take an example.  If I do a search for “Rawlings baseball gloves,” I see these ads:

Both ads advertise Rawlings baseball gloves, but which company has the better landing page?  The first ad leads to a page that immediately shows Rawlings baseball gloves:

The second ad leads to the company’s homepage, where customers are forced to search for the product they’re ready to buy.  The second ad will most likely lead to a bounce, because it doesn’t take the user to a relevant page.  By contrast the first ad takes the user right to the product, capturing the user right away and increasing the chance of a purchase.

Another example of a landing page honed for lead generation is one that contains a specific download and a form:

This page combines the registration form and the download function.  Instead of working through two different screens, the user can fill out the form and read the content on the same page.

Here are some other techniques that I have found to improve conversion rates.

Length of Form

If you ask a user to complete a form, be careful not to ask for too much information.  Too often companies ask for everything within this first interaction.  Users see the length of the form and are scared away.  Even if many of the fields are optional, a user’s first instinct is to leave because the form is too long. By asking for less, you improve your chances of converting that user.  Further user information can be gathered by a follow up email or phone call.

Appropriate Tabbing Structure

When filling out the form the user should be able to hit the tab key to go to the next field.  It can be frustrating (and a bit annoying) to use the mouse to get to the next field.

Privacy Policy

Let’s face it, the internet is not the safest place in the world.  Users are weary of giving out their contact information.  For this reason you should include some sort of privacy statement on your landing page.  Whether it be a link to the site privacy policy or a message that assures your users their information will be kept confidential, this item is a must have.

Browser Compatibility and Screen Resolution

Ideally your landing pages should be compatible with all browsers, even the obscure ones.  At a minimum, though, make sure the pages are compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.  These pages should also be compatible with the different versions of these browsers.

Screen resolution is another important factor.  Your key messages and calls to action should appear “above the fold” even in lower resolutions.  Above the fold means the items in your landing page that users do not need to scroll down to see.  Users have several other options and are not going to wait around for you to make your point.

Conclusion

The most important advice is to make sure what you say in an ad is what the user sees on the landing page.  Ultimately you are throwing money away if you are not giving your customers the right user experience.