Advertising That Works

Once an online business starts generating some real revenue, its not unusual to start considering paid advertisement for the site.

This advertisement can be online:

• pay per click ads
• banner ads

or offline:

• print ads in trade journals or relevant publications
• t.v. or radio spots

There is a critical element to really making this advertising as effective as possible.

That element is sending traffic from that ad to:

A Targeted Landing Page

A landing page is a specific page on your site which is set up for those people responding to the ad "to land on". Whether it is from clicking the ad (online) or going to a specific URL mentioned in the ad, the landing page needs to be designed to achieve the "Most Wanted Response".

If you are trying gather leads, then don't be trying to sell at the same time on the landing page. If it is to make a sale, don't confuse them with unrelated options.

That sounds basic enough but there is another critical element besides focusing on the most wanted response.

That landing page should be set up to flow directly from the ad to the page. That is, don't have an ad promoting one topic only to have the landing page confuse them with another message.

An Example Doing It Right

Here's a specific example of a well done offline ad directing people to a targeted landing page.

A very successful subscription site right now is eHarmony.com

It is a dating site with a twist. It offers an intense 40 question psychological profile that is designed to find "the perfect match" for its subscribers.

In the U.S. they advertise quite a bit on both T.V. and radio. The ads talk about their success stories and educate people about the personality test. They then offer the test (a $40 value!) for free by visiting eHarmony.com

When someone goes to eHarmony after listening to the ad, they basically see two things:

• a picture of a happy couple looking madly in love and
• the promised $40 value personality profile

They aren't confused with multiple offers or topics unrelated to what the ads are promoting.

When someone lands on their page after hearing the ad, they know they landed in the right spot (hence the name landing page). They aren't confused. The message from the ad is carried through to the page.

Example of Targeted Page for Online Ads

One of my own pages is an example of targeting a landing page from an online ad. When someone searches for Venetian Plaster on Google, they are likely to see my ad which is worded "How to Venetian Plaster"

By clicking on the ad, they land on the sales page with that same title.

That page is also set up with only one thing in mind: To convert someone into buying the DVD.

I intentionally removed many distractions. I made the page without left or right navigational panels or anything else to distract them from reading the message.

The next time you consider purchasing ads to push traffic to your site, you would do well to work on having a targeted landing page.