Keep It Simple Stupid!

It's no coincidence that the first post on this blog is about landing pages. In the end the success or otherwise of a campaign depends on how well you convert clicks into sales or opt-ins. It is really important that you nail the design of the landing page.

In many ways designing a page is like being an architect and as Seth Godin decribes it, architecture is "the intentional arrangement of design elements to get a certain result." In our case this is arranging ad copy and images, among other things, in a way that is most likely to generate conversions.

It's easy to fall into the trap of having fancy websites with flash intros and images galore, but the fact is, in most cases, this does not lead to good outcomes. Take one of my current clients. His website is filled with lots and lots of flash and images. Take a look for yourself! That intro takes a while to load? Then when you get to the site, what's that you see, more flash!*

The problem is this affects load time and ultimately quality score. It's also imperative that you keep your landing page as simple as possible with a clear call to action and as few distractions as possible. There's a principle I like to stick to that helps create killer landing pages and that is KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid.

As Wiki describes it:

"The KISS principle (acronym for "Keep It Simple, Stupid") states that design simplicity should be a key goal and unnecessary complexity avoided. It serves as a useful principle in a wide array of disciplines, such as software development, animation, journalism, photography, engineering, and strategic planning."

The Lesson
Remember to keep your landing page design simple. As a rule, every element should contribute to conversion. That is every image you use and every word that you use must make the user more likely to answer your call to action.

I recommend to all clients that it's preferable to have two websites. A main site that has lots of information and images and yes, even a bit of flash and also a mini-site built primarily for Adwords with simplicity and clear goals (to make a sale/lead) the key.

Ask Yourself:
Are my landing pages as simple as they can be?
Are there any elements that are just aesthetic?
Do I need to develop a "Made-For-Adwords" site?

Of course if you need help with creating landing pages that work feel free to contact me and discuss how I may be of assistance.



*As a sidenote the client is thrilled by all that flash! Once loaded it looks great but when attention spans are shortening and people are becoming more web savvy, a slow loading site can lead to only one outcome, a bounce!