8 Killer Landing Page Optimization Tips for PPC in 2015

Back in 2013, I asked some of the best minds in search to give me their #1 landing page optimization tip. Their answers led to what has become one of the most popular posts on this blog.

The advice is so good, I decided to revisit it and update it for 2015. With that, here are 8 killer landing page optimization tips for PPC in 2015.

#1: Maintain relevance. The headline & supporting statements have to be aligned with the ad/source/intent of each visitor segment. From Andrew Miller.
2015 update: What more can I say? Relevance is key for driving great results, and it doesn’t hurt for your quality score either.

#2: Focus on your offer. Build & optimize the messaging & imagery for it. If done well, then the landing page foundation is set. From James Svoboda.
2015 update: I’ve seen a lot more relevant landing pages in 2015 than in 2013. Advertisers seem to have finally caught on to the fact that they need to clearly state what they want users to do.

#3: Speed is key. If landing page elements take too long to load, the prospect will move on. Work with developers to lighten load times. From Chris Kostecki.
2015 update: Never was this more true than now, when even half-seconds count:

page speed tweet

#4: Make sure your tone & language match your target audience. Best offers & calls to action won’t work if people don’t understand them. From Julie Bacchini.
2015 update: Just a couple weeks ago, I was working on a competitive audit for a client. We were researching the PPC market in Mexico, and one of the competitors spending the most in PPC was running ads in English – and driving traffic to an English landing page. Yet we know most people in Mexico trust Spanish-language marketing more. Match your audience in as many was as possible.

#5: The page should make sense and capture attention in a few seconds. If it doesn’t, that’s a problem. People skim. From Jeremy Brown.
2015 update: Just as fast load times are important, making your point is also important. I like this landing page from IBM:

ibm LP
#6: People are lazy! Increase conversion by prepopulating lead generation forms using search query & IP address info. From PPC Associates, now 3Q Digital.
2015 update: The advent of using social plugins to populate forms is just one indication of how important it is to make forms easy to fill out.

#7: Don’t make changes to your landing page too early. Base your change decisions on statistically significant data. From Stu Draper.
2015 update: Using a testing tool like Unbounce or Optimizely will help you know when you’ve reached significance on a test. Don’t rush this process.

#8: Get Rid of Distractions! If you want someone to purchase, don’t distract them with floating newsletter signups. From Bryant Garvin.
2015 update: I swear this has gotten worse in 2015, to the point of being an epidemic. At least once a day I’m bombarded with newsletter signup lightboxes within seconds of arriving on the landing page. How about letting me read your content first? Looks like I’m not the only one who feels that way:

annoying popups
It’s especially annoying when I’m trying to read an article on a mobile device, only to be hit up with a popover that I can’t even find the X to close. Stop the madness, people!

And now, some bonus tips from the great comments I got on the 2013 post!

2015 Bonus Tip #1: Do some in-person one-on-one interviews once in a while with people who have never seen the page, you’ll be surprised what you hear and you will always learn something. From Lisa Sanner.

2015 Bonus Tip #2: People do not like filling in too much information in the enquiry forms. The shorter and to the point form is the better. From Avatar South Africa.

Got a killer landing page optimization tip not mentioned here? Share in the comments!

Related Posts:

8 Killer Landing Page Optimization Tips for PPC

Earlier this week, I asked some of the best minds in search to give me their #1 landing page optimization tip. You’ll want to bookmark this post, because these experts came through with flying colors! Use these landing page optimization tips as a reference when building new PPC landing pages to make sure you have the best chance of converting!

#1: Maintain relevance. The headline & supporting statements have to be aligned with the ad/source/intent of each visitor segment. From Andrew Miller.

#2: Focus on your offer. Build & optimize the messaging & imagery for it. If done well, then the landing page foundation is set. From James Svoboda.

#3: Speed is key. If landing page elements take too long to load, the prospect will move on. Work with developers to lighten load times. From Chris Kostecki.

#4: Make sure your tone & language match your target audience. Best offers & calls to action won’t work if people don’t understand them. From Julie Bacchini.

#5: The page should make sense and capture attention in a few seconds. If it doesn’t, that’s a problem. People skim. From Jeremy Brown.

#6: People are lazy! Increase conversion by prepopulating lead generation forms using search query & IP address info. From PPC Associates.

#7: Don’t make changes to your landing page too early. Base your change decisions on statistically significant data. From Stu Draper.

#8: Get Rid of Distractions! If you want someone to purchase, don’t distract them with floating newsletter signups. From Bryant Garvin.

Bonus Resource #1: KISSMetrics has a nice list of considerations for landing page optimization for PPC that they’ve creatively put into an acronym for CONVERTS.

Bonus Resource #2: Unbounce put out a cool infographic on landing page optimization for PPC just yesterday. If you’re a fan of visuals, give this one a look.

What’s your favorite landing page optimization tip for PPC? Share in the comments!

Related Posts:

12 Links Every PPC Pro Should Bookmark

Every day, there is a plethora of great PPC info shared across the web:  on blogs, in social media, and in forums.  Most of it falls into the “that’s interesting” category, but nothing more.

Periodically, though, a post or tool is so good that I bookmark it and refer back to it often.  Here is my list of the 12 links every PPC pro should bookmark.

Modified Broad Match Tool from Acquisio: This tool enables you to paste a list of keywords, tell it which ones you want to add the broad match modifier, and spits them out with a keystroke. It’s a huge time saver and I use it at least weekly.

SplitTester: A tool to quickly get statistical significance & confidence levels. Great for PPC ad testing.

WebShare’s split testing tool: This tool combines CTR and conversion rate to tell you the overall winner of an ad test.

145 PPC Must Do’s for 2012 from PPC Hero: This was a New Year’s post that was actually very useful.  I’ve been working my way through the list for the past 6 months.  Not every tip will apply to every PPC account, but if you’re looking for new optimization ideas, this is the place.

Excel Hints for PPC from SEOptimise: PPC’ers live in Excel, so we’re always hungry for more Excel tips. This is a good bunch of hints.

Excel Formatting Tips from Search Engine Journal: If your reports look like they were done by a 5th grader, this post will help you fix that.

Excel Tips & Tricks from PPC Associates: Yet more awesome Excel tips for PPC’ers.


Ion Interactive’s Landing Page Checklist: I refer to this often when advising clients on landing page best practices.

PPC Task Checklist from PPC Hero: A great list of PPC tasks that will help all PPC pros, from novice to expert.

Google Analytics Advanced Segments Shares from Jill Whalen: A neat list of advanced segments that you can copy and use in your own Google Analytics accounts.

Google Analytics URL Builder: A good way to make sure your custom URLs for Google Analytics are formatted properly.

Auditing PPC Accounts Without Account Access from Fathom: A recent blog post to help PPC’ers over a common stumbling block: auditing a PPC account when you don’t have access to the account itself.

And there you have it – 12 must-have PPC bookmarks! I know there are more out there, so share your favorites in the comments!  I’ll compile them into a future blog post.

Editor’s Note:  The link to the Ion Interactive Landing Page checklist was incorrect and has now been corrected. Thanks to commenter Max Miller for pointing out the error!

Related Posts: