In many respects, your landing page is probably the single most important factor in optimizing your AdWords ad campaigns. Your landing page is the first page your customers see after clicking on your ads and it's their response to the page that really determines the success or failure of your ad campaign. What's more, Google now evaluates your landing page in determining the quality score for your ads. Having a good quality score will improve your ad ranking and your CPC, making your ad campaign more cost-effective.

Incorporate the tips below to transform more of your click-thrus into conversions.

Be Single-Minded

single-minded : having one driving purpose or resolve : DETERMINED, DEDICATED

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

This tip is a truism but, nevertheless, is worth stating. In order to be an effective landing page, it needs to be just that, a landing page. In other words, create purpose-built landing pages whose sole purpose is to convert click-through customers into conversions. Don't just send your customers to your home page and hope they will click on the correct links and don't just send them to a basic product-listing page from your online store. Your landing page is one of your most important pieces of marketing material, so treat it as such.

Be Ad-Specific

At minimum, every ad group should have its own landing page and creating a landing page for each ad may be even better. By creating ad-specific landing pages you can tailor the content more specifically to the text of the ad that was clicked on.

For example, supposing you sell accessories for Jeep Wranglers and Jeep Cherokees and you have created ads for each make. If you send your potential customers to a landing page that contains information for BOTH product ranges, the information that the customer is specifically interested in may be harder to find and may well be confusing. The customer needs to know immediately on seeing the landing page that it is relevant (for example, a picture of a Jeep Wrangler with related text for Wrangler customers) and is sufficiently attractive to maintain their attention.

Remember, you have just a fraction of a second to attract their attention, so anything on your landing page that is not relevant is going to increase the chances that your visitors will move on elsewhere.

Reflect Ad Copy in Your Landing Page Headline(s)

This really is just another way to ensure your landing pages are ad-specific. One of the first things your visitors will look at on your landing page is the headline. The more closely related this headline is to the text of the ad they clicked on (particularly the ad's headline), the more chance it has to keep their attention on the rest of the content.

For example, if your ad is for "Radio-Controlled Widgets for Left-Handers," make sure your landing page headline refers not just to "radio-controlled widgets" (and certainly not just to "Widgets") but specifically refer to radio-controlled widgets for left-handers. The more specific your ad is, the more likely a highly specific landing page is to keep your customers' attention.

Think "Usability"

Your landing page needs to reflect closely the principles of web usability, such as "heat maps" and "skimmable text."

Studies evaluating where users actually focus on web pages indicate that there are certain areas that attract most attention and others that are virtually ignored. For example, Jakob Nielsen has reported an "F-shaped" reading pattern that is fairly consistent with Google's own "heat map." Therefore, in order to optimize your landing pages, you need to make sure that your most important content is placed where it is most likely to be read!

In particular, notice that the left-hand side of your page is more likely to be looked at than the right; and the top of the page is "hotter" than the bottom. Therefore, if you have a particularly attractive product picture or key piece of information, place it in the hottest spots to attract attention. Remember, once you have their attention they're then more likely to view the rest of your page.

As for your actual copy, write it in such a way that it is designed for "scanning" rather than word-for-word reading. Web users tend not to read all the text on a page; rather they simply scan for the key content. Your pages should be optimized with this fact in mind; again, following Jakob Nielsen's guidelines is a great place to start. When it comes to web pages, keep the copy short and clear-remember, less is more!

Use Casino Principles

If you've ever been in a casino in Las Vegas, Reno, or elsewhere, you will probably have noticed that, once inside, it's really hard to find an exit. [Which seems rather contrary to customer safety, but that's another issue!] There is obviously a reason for this-if customers cannot find a way out they are less likely to leave and, therefore, more likely to stay and gamble.

Similarly, if your landing page only contains links towards your goal, visitors cannot be distracted by links leading them elsewhere. Seems obvious, doesn't it?! Yet many landing pages contain the same navigation structure as the rest of the site, so it's hardly surprising customers go elsewhere other than scoring a goal for you.

Now, I'm aware that many web designers, or those they are designing for, have this mindset:

"We must provide links to the rest of our site because, even if they end up not wanting to [buy/sign up for/inquire about] the thing advertised in the ad they clicked on, there's always a chance they may want to [buy/sign up for/inquire about] another of our products/services, etc."

That mindset may be valid when it comes to real-life, concrete stores-we've all bought something else from a grocery store when we only went in to buy some milk-but web users aren't like that. Web users are very purpose-driven and impatient. If they have clicked on an ad for "green wikbots" it's because they want to buy "green wikbots." You may sell the most wonderful "yellow flisbos" on earth, but if John Doe has clicked on your "green wikbots" ad he is highly unlikely to end up buying one of your "yellow flisbos," no matter how wonderful they may be.

So, build a casino and remove all of your superfluous links . . . "Yes," even that link back to your home page!

Think Like a Customer

When determining what information to include on your landing page, make sure you are thinking like a potential customer. If you're unsure how a potential customer would think, click on an ad for something you might buy and ask yourself: "What information would I need to see in order to make an informed decision whether or not to buy this product?" Also, ask other people what information they would need in order to make such a decision.

Once you have this information to hand, present it in a clear and concise manner, bearing in mind the usability issues described above. Be sure that you have supplied all of the information that your prospects need to turn them into conversions-don't make them hunt for it but provide a clear path to the goal, otherwise the chances are they will just give up and move on to one of your competitors.

Remove those Weak Links

When it comes to landing pages, you need to make sure you have strong, powerful links that contain your calls to action. By their very nature, your landing page's hyperlinks will be some of the first elements that your visitors look at. Therefore, they need to be links that will firmly direct your visitors to your goals. A particularly effective way to do this is to hyperlink an entire sentence containing a call to action.

For example: Order our 28 page guide to making money with Google Adwords.

Also, dont' be afraid to supply more than one call to action in a hyperlink on your landing page-what doesn't work for one customer may work for another. Whatever you do, when you're deciding what to put in your hyperlinks, make sure they're not your weak link.

Don't Be Ask too much from your Visitors

As mentioned above, the copy in your landing page needs to give generously to your visitors all they need to make an informed decision. Similarly, you must not be greedy in what you ask from them. For example, as a general rule, people hate filling in forms. If your landing page requires your users to fill in a form, don't be greedy asking for more information than you really need. However, if you absolutely can't resist asking that one extra question that would make all the difference to your statistical analysis, or whatever, do not make it mandatory but make it optional.

Be warned! Your greed will probably be a barrier, stopping prospects from reaching your goals. So, don't be greedy and take only what you need, no more, no less.

Don't Sit on your Laurels

You've created your landing page, you've followed all of these tips, it looks great, it's a casino, it is your finest accomplishment as a web developer. Now it's time to sit back and watch the cash roll in! . . . WRONG!!

tiklik.com cannot sit on your laurels-no-one wants squashed laurels and you shouldn't too. Instead of sitting on them, you should be testing, testing, testing! Using whatever methods you have to hand, compare the results of this landing page with another one! It may be just a small change, a slight tweak, whatever. However, you must never assume you've created the optimal landing page because there is always room for improvement. So run comparison tests for 2 pages over a reasonable period of time, scrap the lesser-performing one, repeat the process and keep those laurels fresh and verdant!