There are a few simple steps that can dramatically improve your conversions. For many advertisers, the path to getting a conversion is not always clear. A good approach is to keep it simple. Avoiding clutter makes the entire process for your visitor smoother. Make it easy and clear for your visitor to complete the action you want them to take, whether that be filling out a lead generation form, signing up for a subscription or completing a sale.

Let’s start by thinking of the conversion process as a path. Each component in the path should be easy to follow and free of any obstacles; it should be precisely clear where the visitor should proceed next.

The first step in the conversion path is keyword selection. Keywords are the foundation for any paid search advertising campaigns. Choosing highly relevant keywords not only captures highly targeted customers, but also helps weed out undesirable prospects.

The next step along the conversion path is developing effective and targeted ad copy. It is crucial that ad copy correlates with the chosen keywords. It is important to have a strong call to action. Letting your customer know what to expect when they get to your website reduces confusion. For example, if the desired goal is to have visitors sign up for a free newsletter, your ad copy should reflect that.

Once you have selected keywords and written your enticing ad copy, where will your visitors land once they click on the ad? This is one of the most important steps to increase your conversions. If your visitor reaches your site and has no idea what to do, they may immediately leave or start to explore your site. However, if you have a clear call to action on your site, which was also reflected in your ad copy, the visitor will know exactly what they need to do. Landing pages or pages where your visitors are taken after clicking on your ad, tend to produce higher conversions in paid search advertising because they are more focused on exactly what the searcher is looking for.

Putting all three of these components together in a clear manner and making sure that the path to a conversion is free of road blocks will improve your conversions.

In these times of economic uncertainty, many advertisers are asking themselves; ‘Should I decrease my online advertising budget?’  This question has been asked from Wall Street to Main Street. 

Simply chopping your ad budget is not the solution.  Remember that by reducing your budget, you also are limiting the amount of visitors to your site.  In addition, as your competition reduces their budget, you also have the opportunity to get a less expensive cost per click, due to a reduction in competition.

An article on B2BAdvertising quoted Charles Brower, former BBDO president, who says, ‘Instead of waiting for business to return to normal, you should be cashing in on the opportunity your overly cautious competitors are creating for you … the fact that your competitors are pulling back can make your advertising dollars look and act even bigger. There are few things as detrimental as a lapse in advertising. It costs much more to get advertising momentum up than it costs to keep it going. Once you let momentum die, you must start almost from scratch again.’

Having an online presence is even more crucial especially during time of a recession; shoppers are trying to locate the best deal to not only save money, but also gasoline.  Sales and reward programs will greatly impact the amount of sales you receive.  GrooveCommerce.com also suggests that advertisers offer free shipping options to increase revenue.

While trimming the fat and reducing your ad budget may seem like a good temporary solution, it will only cause more work in the future.  Remember, fewer eyes to your website, means fewer sales.

Testing your ad copy is a very important component of any online advertising campaign.  What you feel is a good message about your products and brand isn’t always as well received by your potential customers.  In order to make sure your ad copy message is enticing to your customers, it is important to develop different messages for your audience and then test them over time to find out which are best.

I’d like to give some examples regarding the ad copy messaging you may want to evaluate. One ad might offer a free brochure, another offers free samples, while yet another offers free shipping. An effective marketing campaign should incorporate some kind of testing process to determine what message is most appealing to your searchers.  This leads to higher click through rates, and higher conversion rates, which of course is the goal for any website. 

One dilemma I am consistently up against is making sure that while conducting these tests, we are giving enough time to allow users to view the ads, and click on them (or not click on them).  Depending on the number of visitors a website gets on a daily basis, the ad copy testing time period varies.  The more visitors a website gets, the shorter the testing cycle.  A website that gets 10,000 clicks daily should have a good idea of how searchers are reacting to the ads in one week.  On the other hand, a website that receives 3,000 clicks daily should consider a longer testing period of perhaps 3 weeks, in order to get enough visits and make a determination of how searchers are reacting to the advertisement’s offer. 

I encourage all advertisers to test, and test often.  But be sure that you don’t get too excited and end the ad copy test before you know conclusively which messages are performing better than others. Remember, testing ad copy takes patience and persistence.