If you are running AdWords campaign, one metric you’ll be all over is the Click to Registration (ie the percentage of people who click on your ads who go on to register). Here are some of the more common errors people make which keep these percentages lower than they should be…food for thought:
Error 1 – Not understanding what a landing page is
The landing page is the destination page people come to after clicking on your ad. They are a fundamental element in the mix, but many companies neglect them.

• When thinking about your landing pages, keep the following in the back of your mind:
• The entire purpose of the landing page must be to encourage users to take a particular course of action..,.in this case, registering
• Some landing pages are better than others at achieving that goal
• Designing your landing page with that key goal in mind will improve its performance
• Testing different variations in real time is the only true way you’ll get to understand which landing page works best.

Error 2 – Overloading the landing page with information
Companies can succumb to the urge to get all the information they possibly can in front of the new visitor while they have the chance. But when you’re paying for traffic, you need to be very clearly focused on what you want the visitor to do….and you want to help them avoid wavering from that goal.
With information come choices, and landing pages that provide visitors with too many choices rarely work well. Providing relevant deals and offers may seem like a good idea, for example, but it’s diluting the main goal of your landing page…which is to sign up new registrants, right?
Think about the main thing you want your landing page to achieve, and focus all your content towards achieving that goal.
Error 3 – Assuming that the best landing page is the homepage
Probably the most common error I’ve come across, (and one I was guilty of myself for too long!) is to drive all your paid search to your homepage, thinking that will do and the visitor can find their way around from there.
Your homepage, though, is usually trying to achieve a larger range of goals than just trying to encourage people to register. And then you’re back to diluting your message, and a lower conversion rate.
Create landing pages specific to your advertising objectives and messages, and keep the persuasive momentum up.
Error 4 – Assuming that the best landing page is a bare contact form
At the other extreme, don’t expect visitors to be so excited by your offer that they immediately give you their contact details without knowing what they’re signing up to. With so much competition in this industry, it’s important to think through why your visitor should take the time to sign up to your site. What makes you different, and why are they going to have any more success on your site than any other?
Give people the incentive to sign up. Keep the content relevant and brief, and keep the desired goal in mind.
In a highly competitive industry, your visitor has plenty of alternatives if your landing page doesn’t do the job. Your goal is to grab each prospect when you have the chance – you may not get another.
If you want help with targeting your sites or improving your online marketing, contact timtaylor@t3active.co.uk.