One PPC Landing Page, Infinite Faces
SEW EXPERTS: PROFITABLE PPC By David Szetela, Search Engine Watch, Feb 12, 2009
Columns | Contact David | Biography
Before starting on the two most recent columns describing the powerful new Google Conversion Optimizer in AdWords, I had promised to wrap up my series on landing page design by giving you some software that can help boost your conversion rates by percentage points.
Before getting into that: the subject of landing page design and testing is an important one, and I encourage all PPC advertisers to make sure it's not neglected (as it too-frequently is). I'm choosing not to cover it in more depth in this column because it's somewhat "outside" the core topic of creating great PPC advertising campaigns. Besides, the best words ever written on the subject are readily available: just buy Tim Ash's opus, "Landing Page Optimization."
But I leave you with this nugget: a small chunk of software that will enable you to create just one landing page whose content can vary in an infinite variety of ways, depending on tokenized information you pass to the page via the PPC ad's destination url.
Let's back up a bit: recall that in an earlier column, I said: "The first and most important objective of the landing page is to convince the visitor that they've come to the right place." And, "You'll improve conversion rates significantly by doing just one thing: mirroring the language of the PPC ad in the area just below the landing page logo."
Many PPC advertisers who grok this conclude that they should create several – or even many – landing pages, each customized for a particular product or PPC ad group.
They're often stymied by the fact that frequently creating many page variations is time-consuming and expensive. This is particularly the case where the IT people erect giant, potent barriers to site change.
But there's a better/easier/faster way: create one page whose content changes depending on information that is passed to the page.
I won't describe the technical detail – just click on this link first.
The page consists of just one line – you'll see:
The search term passed was: We Love Profitable PPC Readers!
Now try this link. This time, you'll see:
The search term passed was: This is like magic - and I see dollar signs!
Amazing, no? Same page, different content.
And the programming is pretty simple:
<script type="text/javascript">
var objURL = new Object();
window.location.search.replace(new RegExp( "([^?=&]+)(=([^&]*))?", "g" ),
function( $0, $1, $2, $3 ){objURL[ $1 ] = $3;});
var passed_string = ""
for (var strKey in objURL){
passed_string = passed_string + " " + objURL[ strKey ]
}
var strReplaceAll = passed_string;
var intIndexOfMatch = strReplaceAll.indexOf( "_" );
while (intIndexOfMatch != -1){
strReplaceAll = strReplaceAll.replace( "_", " " )
intIndexOfMatch = strReplaceAll.indexOf( "_" );
}
document.write('<h1> The search term passed was: ' + strReplaceAll + '</h1>');
</script>
This version is JavaScript, but the same algorithm can be expressed in other languages. If you're not a programmer, find one and show them this code. Any programmer worth their salt should be able to build a custom dynamic landing page for your site.
He/she should also understand how to take the same content and create a page whose content changes even more dramatically than the simple example above. It's possible, for example, to display different graphics, different buttons, etc.
And here's the fun part: with dynamic landing pages, the marketing folks have the power to change page content without needing to burden the IT folks. Imagine that: Marketing controlling web site content!
Next week I'll revisit the topic of my previous Search Engine Watch column that covered Content Advertising. Come see the many new developments that have made the Content Networks a treasure trove for PPC advertisers! In the mean time; questions? Comments? Tweet me and/or join the discussion at the Profitable PPC forum!
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Biography
PPC Advertising expert David Szetela founded Clix Marketing in 2003, following a 25-year career in technology sales and marketing. He is active in the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and was the author of two lessons in SEMPO's Advanced Search Advertising course. He is a regular speaker at PPC Summit, MarketingSherpa and SES events, and his weekly radio show, PPC Rockstars, is broadcast every Monday at 4 PM EDT on Webmasterradio.fm.
Article Archives by David Szetela:
» One PPC Landing Page, Infinite Faces - February 12, 2009
» Best-Kept Secret in PPC? Part II - January 30, 2009
» Google Conversion Optimizer: The Best-Kept Secret in PPC? - January 23, 2009
» PPC Landing Pages: Surprising Examples - January 9, 2009
» PPC Landing Pages: PPC Visitors Have ADD - December 18, 2008
» PPC Landing Pages: The End of the Line -- Or the Beginning? - December 4, 2008
» More Articles by David Szetela
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