Marketing Optimization: Crucial to Web Presence and Prosperity
Today’s economy is one of apprehension and uncertainty, so it’s more important than
ever for you to have lead generation experts on your side to enhance online user experience.
With cut-backs and budgeting nightmares, you have to pull off quite the balancing act—maintaining a
competitive edge while getting the best bang for your buck.
The business world has taken kindly to those with marketing skills and know-how, while the rest have
been left in the dust. Now it’s more important than ever for you to fine-tune your marketing optimization strategy,
since it can literally make or break your bottom line.
In this first of a 5-part series on marketing optimization tactics, we will cover key marketing acceleration
aspects such as PPC optimization, lead generation, and user experience.
These tools are highly effective and cost-efficient all at once, and they will help you increase conversion rates.
The Importance of PPC Optimization
Search engine algorithms are constantly becoming more sophisticated, making top positions that much
more competitive. The need for cutting-edge PPC campaign optimization is clear for several reasons:
- Quality score algorithms demand relevance like never before
- Consumers are much more specific now with how they search for products and services
- Costs-per-click have increased significantly over recent years, and show no sign of slowing down
Since your goal is to acquire new customers, optimizing your PPC campaign landing pages is of the utmost importance. This way, your impact toward lead generation and conversion will continue to grow while those who aren’t optimizing quickly fall behind.
Optimizing Landing Pages: Some Key Tips
Below is an illustration comparing an optimized page with a non-optimized page.
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Before Landing Page Optimization
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After Landing Page Optimization
(4th iteration)
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Note: Click the images for a larger version. Or, view them on
Flickr. |
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DON'T *
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DO *
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- Have too many exit points
- Display long, scrolling pages
- Request users to fill out complicated forms
- Present unformatted and long copy with key benefits buried in technical information
- Entice users with vague call-to-action
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- Reduce the number of exit points and keep the users focused on the task at hand
- Reduce friction by keeping landing pages simple
- Reduce the number of form fields to the bare minimum
- Use headlines and list key benefits - preferrable in bullet form
- Entice users with clear, focused call to action
- Build trust with testimonials, guarantees, certification seals, and other trust indicators
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* View these as best practices. Testing around your own variables may produce different results.
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Your goal is to get consumers to take action by engaging them,
and you want to make things as simple and "guided" as possible.
In our engagement, we went through four (4) page iterations,
which resulted in a whopping
47% increase in the number
of leads over the non-optimized page.
We focused on:
- Calls to action
- Contact forms
- Copy length
- Headlines
- Product visuals
Key Points You Should Focus On
- Establish a baseline from which to measure your success
- First-page optimization will most likely have the greatest impact on the lead
generation rate (see its impact in the illustration below)
- Benefit from directing your target audience toward the pages that most interest them to greatly increase conversion potential
- Run each page iteration until you have viable data
- When calculating your cost per acquisition, consider the costs of your optimization and adjust the number of page iterations for optimum profit
Chart showing the lead generation rate increase broken down by the 4-page iteration testing cycle.
Follow this marketing optimization series on
Squidoo
At Single Entry Point, we’re continuously helping businesses increase conversion
rates with marketing acceleration programs and quality marketing strategies.
Take the next step toward your company’s growth by contacting us today.
UPDATE: The second segment of our five-part series exploring marketing optimization tactics is now online: eCommerce SEO
UPDATE: The third segment of our five-part series exploring marketing optimization tactics is now online: Advanced Email Marketing
Ask Us Anything!
Your digital marketing success is literally a few keystrokes and a click away.
Ask us anything about Marketing Optimization and we’ll gather the smartest
brains in a room and come up with an answer.
We reserve the right to publish the question and answer but we promise to keep you completely anonymous.
Mike Lascut is Principal of Single Entry Point
® Marketing,
focusing on the search, email and analytics practice and leading the development
of the
Single Entry Point Email Marketing next generation product. Mike's professional career spans over twenty years, including twelve years of intelligent search and email marketing and over a
decade and half of software architecture and development. When he's not pointing businesses in a smarter direction,
Mike spends his time pointing his lens at wildlife. Connect with
Mike on Linkedin, read his
Nature Research Photography blog,
or reach him via
email or phone.