How to create a landing page For Google Ads that generate more sales leads
Landing pages are the most important part of a Google Ads campaign and it's also the most neglected.
In my early days of rendering Google Ads services, I failed in most of the campaigns I managed for clients not because I created the campaign wrongly but because the landing pages of my clients were totally wrong.
That is when I realized the ignorance most companies have towards landing pages.
I get to hear things like this:
I have a website so I don't need a landing page
Visitors will find their way around my website and get what they need
Why should I waste money in creating a dedicated landing page for Google Ads when I have a website
But when things didn't go according to their expectation, they bombarded me with questions like this:
Why is my campaign not converting clicks to leads
After working in the industry for 6+ years, the major problems I see that causes a Google Ads campaign to fail is not the campaign itself but the campaign landing pages.
You see, most so called Google Ads agencies and freelancers are not left out of this error.
I have worked with numerous Google Ads agencies before I established BoostEnd who made the same mistake and at the end of the day queried why their client campaigns were not getting results.
It is because of this drawback that made me to pay much attention to a landing page whenever I'm creating a campaign.
And in this article, I 'll show you how to create a landing page that'll propel Google Ads visitors to become sales leads.
What is a landing page?
A landing page is not your website home page or service pages.
It is a page created specifically to convert Google Ads visitors to leads.
Landing pages is even made more expedient because you're spending money to bring customers in
The first thing to do before creating a landing page is to:
1. Define your goals
What is your goal for setting up a Google Ads campaign.
Is it to generate sales leads (qualified leads) or cold leads?.
If you are able to identify a goal, then your landing page is 25% ready.
2. Define whom you want to meet those goals.
Knowing the type of people you need to meet your goal will enable you to focus your landing page content on those type of people which means more conversion.
For example, if you want to reach people who are ready to buy your services, then the structure, lead form and content of your landing page would be built to appeal to those type of people.
3. Define your offer
An offer is what will compel potential customers to fill a form on your landing page.
Your landing page must be focused on just one offer. Anything more than one offer will dilute the effectiveness of your landing page.
4. Outline the benefits of your offer
Must landing pages give free quote or free consultation as an offer but they all failed to tell what that offer will do for their potential customers.
Why you should outline the benefit of your offer
On almost all the landing pages I have seen, they all give free quote or consultation as an offer but one thing that is common with all of them is they never tell me what I stand to gain from that offer.
Outlining the benefit of your offer will showcase the value in your offer thereby skyrocketing your conversion rate.
There are three types of people that uses Google Ads and they are:
- Information/research seekers
- Comparison seekers
- buyers
Each of these three types of people require different content, offer, lead form and call to action to convert to a lead.
But most landing pages I see miss it here. They try to carter for the three types of people at once and thereby losing out on all of them.
While those type of people at the third stage (buyers) will willing request a free quote, consultation or contact you by giving out their name, email and phone numbers, those at the first stage (information/research seekers) would bark at that idea.
This is because the third type of people (buyers) are ready to hear from you.
They are open to discussing further about their problems with you and that is why they're willing to give you their sensitive contact details like phone number.
While the first type of people (Information/research seekers) are not yet ready to discuss further about their project with you and so will rebuff any attempt to cajole them to give out sensitive contact details.
The least contact details information/research seekers are willing to give is their email address and name.
Anything more than that and you'll get a blank stare.
Now that you've done the first thing, it's time to start creating a landing page.
For this article, I'll be teaching you how to create a landing page for people looking to to buy your service.
You can use this strategy on any other service.
A landing page is divided into three portion:
- The above the fold section
- Middle section
- Bottom section
Above the fold section:
Above the fold section of a landing page is those sections that first appears on your screen when you open a landing page in a browser.
It is the most important aspect of a landing page because it's the first impression people will have about your service.
Below are the most important component of above the fold section of a landing page:
1. Title
Your landing page title is the first piece of text a potential customer will read when they hit you landing page and therefore is the most important element of the above the fold section.
Your title should be used to quickly catch the attention of a visitor and reassure them they are in the right place.
Your title should contain your service offering, target keyword, offer and it's benefits.
Your title should be short, straight to the point and under 15 - 20 words.
If adding an offer and, or a benefit will make it longer than 15 - 20 words, then leave the offer and benefit for the subtitle or description.
2. Subtitle (not too important)
Your subtitle could be used to explain the benefit of your service if you didn't specify it in the title.
The subtitle is not a must and should only be used if need be
3. Description
The description is used to explain the benefit of your offer.
If your description is too long, use bullet points and numbers to shorten it and make it skimmable.
4. Call to action
A call to action is a directive to potential customers to accept your offer.
Your call to action will direct potential customers to a form which they will fill.
5. Hero image
The hero image is the background image on the above the fold section.
The hero image should portray who you are and the type of service you render.
If the landing page is for bathroom remodeling, then your hero image should be a beautifully finished bathroom.
Middle section
The middle fold is were you will explain in more details about the benefit of your offer (That is if you didn't do so on the above the fold section)
This is were you'll add your trust signals like your BBB ratings, Google my business ratings and any other ratings that will help build your credibility.
You can add some testimonials from past clients here too.
This is also were you'll alley the fears and doubts of your potential customers.
How to know the fears and doubts of your potential customers
1. Ask past clients what their doubts and fears are when they were looking to hire you.
2. The second is to ask Google. You see before a customer finally decides to buy a service, they must have done a lot of research on how to choose the right local service provider.
If you Google with the word "how to choose a contractor" you'll see that the organic result page is filled with articles on mistakes home owners should avoid when choosing a contractor.
Note: If you are not a contractor, you can replace the word "contractor" with whatever service you provide when Googling
Go through those articles and jot down mistakes your potential customers should avoid when choosing a local service provider.
Once you discover those fears and doubt alley them on your landing page to boost credibility, trust and conversions.
The bottom section
Your bottom section is were you'll display testimonials from past client and make your final call to action.
Adding a testimonial and a final call to action here is necessary because it will make it easier for potential clients to fill your form when they have scrolled down to the bottom of your landing page.
Conclusion
Landing pages is very important for the success of a Google Ads campaign.
If you get it right with your landing page you are 80% guaranteed of success.
But designing a landing page needs skills not mention here. So, I'll advice you to hire an expert to help you create one using the guide on this article.
But if we were to manage your Google Ads campaign, we'll create your landing page and spare you the headache.
