Does it really matter what page you send your website visitors to?

MoreVisibility - April 2, 2008

The answer is unequivocally YES for a number of reasons. When you are running an online marketing initiative of any sort, you ought to utilize the most relevant page within your website to send your searchers to. This strategy holds true whether your site offers ecommerce functionality or is solely for lead generation purposes.

Think about when you click an online paid advertisement for something you need or want. Let’s use sneakers as an example. If you are automatically sent to a specific page within the site that offers the sneakers in a variety of styles, sizes, colors, etc. you are more likely to make a purchase than if you were sent to a more generic page. Searchers want immediate results and essentially to be spoon fed as much as possible. If you are investing money in a PPC effort, why not make it as easy as possible for a transaction to occur, rather than making a visitor work to find what they want? You also run the risk of losing the visitor all together. If the purpose of your site is to generate leads, it would behoove you to send visitors to the page which gives them a very specific action item. As an example, a form or whitepaper download page would make perfect sense to send visitors to.

Some additional suggestions to keep in mind with regard to Landing Pages:

• Always ensure that your call to action is above the fold on your page. The call to action is truly the purpose of a landing page, which makes it essential for your searchers to easily see it.
• Make your form page as short and sweet as possible. Searchers do not like to fill out an abundance of information. While there is certainly information you must have, try to keep it as focused as possible.
• Try to avoid using flash or video. While a large percentage of online searchers are savvy, there are many who are not! If a page takes longer to load or has too many bells and whistles, you run the risk of paying for a visitor that never actually sees your products or services.