MarketingSherpa Blog

There is an array of webpage testing solutions available, helping marketers improve their landing pages, homepages and other online real estate. With so many options, it’s easy to get wrapped up in selecting tools, setting them up and testing them.

The problem is some marketers will spend months selecting and deploying a tool only to A/B test button colors, or different images on the same layout, says Lance Loveday, CEO, Closed Loop Marketing.

“To me, that feels like running 25 miles of a marathon and walking the last one.”

Time is much better invested in researching page data and designing tests that have the strongest likelihood of success, Loveday says.

“90% of your time should be in the planning and actual analysis and coming up with insights, and 10% should be in the technology.”

We spoke with Loveday for an upcoming MarketingSherpa article on how to select better landing page tests. One key to Loveday’s strategy is gathering thorough research, including:
o Analytics data
o Click-tracking analysis
o Qualitative usability studies
o Expert reviews

“We try to marry up quantitative analytics data with qualitative user experience and user profile information to develop some hypotheses for what the problem areas [on a page] might be,” Loveday says.

By digging through this information, your team can identify areas for improvement, attempt to diagnose problems and test solutions. Furthermore, you can estimate tests’ potential impact and prioritize those expected to bring the greatest benefit. Keep an eye on our Great Minds newsletter for more information.

I recently came across a great free resource for B2B marketers looking for tips on starting or refining their PPC campaigns for lead generation. Todd Miechiels, a B2B search engine marketing expert, has compiled his list of the “7 Cardinal Sins of B2B Search Engine Marketing.” It features such missteps as:
o Not Establishing a Clear and Realistic Goal
o Not Being Diligent About Testing and Refining

The upshot of Miechiels’ report is that PPC campaigns are so easy to start that marketers often jump into a project without the proper planning, research and budget required to generate significant results and actionable lessons to improve their campaigns.

After reading the report, I was inspired to humbly offer an eighth “cardinal sin”:

– Sin #8. Neglecting your PPC landing pages

When developing a PPC campaign, marketers may be so focused on the mechanics of the search channel – such as keyword selection, ad placement, or bidding strategies – that they forget to focus on the action prospects are supposed to take once they’ve clicked on a search ad.

Landing pages are the lynchpin of PPC campaigns. A click isn’t a lead until you’ve convinced that prospect to take an action and provide some information about themselves that will allow you to continue nurturing the lead.

So when planning a PPC campaign, you may even want to work backwards from your landing page, focusing on key elements that will influence your conversion rate, such as:
o Headlines and body copy – Does the searcher know they’re in the right place and understand the value of your offer?
o Design and layout – Do the text and graphic elements offer a clear eye path to get prospects toward the call to action?
o Call to action – Is it obvious what step you’re asking prospects to take next?
o Registration form requirements – How much information do you *really* need from prospects in exchange for the offer?

If you’re confident that your landing page is optimized to generate conversions, you then can build out the PPC campaigns you’ll use to drive traffic to those pages.

Day one at the recent MarketingSherpa Selling Online Subscriptions Summit in New York City offered some impressive takeaways. Take the “Landing Page Optimization Case Studies” session by Flint McGlaughlin, Director, MarketingExperiments. Two key takeaways:

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