by Daniel Hadaway

In September, Google announced a new factor for landing page quality score that they will be considering when serving up paid search ads. This new factor is whether or not the website for the advertiser is mobile-optimized.

If your website is mobile-optimized, Google is more likely to show your ad higher up in the paid search listings. Google will be determining the quality of your site’s mobile experience based on several factors including:

• Basic Site Navigability
• Prioritization on Content
• Minimal Flash
• Simple Layout
• Mobile-specific Features
• Touch-specific Features
• Landing Page Load Time

The thinking behind this change is that a poor mobile experience will negatively affect a user’s opinion of a brand or company. According to Google, 61% of users are unlikely to return to a website (on a computer or phone!) if they have a poor experience with the site on their mobile phone.

If your website isn’t mobile optimized, and you’re running paid search ads, you may want to consider hiring a professional team to optimize your site. It will lead to more conversions for your business, and a lower cost-per-lead over time!

While efforts can be made to lead a prospect towards doing business with you via Paid Search, Display Advertising, Social Media, and Email Marketing- none of them are as directly responsible for obtaining new customers as a landing page.

So, what makes a great (effective) landing page? While definitely not exhaustive, here is a list of the Big 3 indicators of landing page success. Get these three items in place, and you’ll be well on your way to a land filled with unicorns, double rainbows, and most importantly: full pockets.

1. Obvious Contact Info

It’s amazing how many aesthetically pleasing, and psychologically convincing landing pages are out there that miss out on this simple concept: Make it easy for customers to call or email you!

Many times a prospect is ready to jump, but has that one nagging question that is holding them up; “Can your product do XYZ?”, “How does your service compare to Company X?”. Answering these questions is often the last hurdle you have to overcome before a potential client turns into a customer.

Why not make it easy for a prospect to get that answer? You should put your contact info near the top (preferably in the header) in a large font, with conspicuous placement so it’s impossible to miss! Remember- with a landing page, you’re rolling out the red carpet for potential customers… Above and beyond is the name of the game here, (we can play Hungry Hungry Hippos later).

2. Clear Call to Action

What is it that you want from a prospect? Do you want them to sign up for an email list? Buy a product? Request a brochure? Something else?

Make sure it’s bold and plain-as-day what the next steps are for your prospects. Having a clear call to action is an easy way to achieve that. If you want people to sign up for your email list, you might say “Sign up for our email list!”.

Craft a clear and concise call to action, then place it prominently on your landing page.

3. Simple Means to Act

Once you’ve told a prospect what you’d like them to do via you newly-awesome call to action, it’s time to give them an easy way to do it.

If you have a form to fill out, make sure you aren’t turning people off by how long the form is, or the depth of information required. Only ask for information that is reasonable and necessary for your business to deliver on your end of the deal.

If your call to action is “Request a Free Brochure”, then have a form only asking for a user’s name and address, (or email address if sending it via email).

If you’d like people to visit your full website, make sure you link to it prominently with a button or some kind of contrasting element.

Bonus Tip: Studies show that users like to be led through what they perceive as a process. Try putting an arrow that points to the right alongside your buttons, links, or form-submit buttons. This small addition can have a huge impact on your landing page click-throughs.

While there’s much more to crafting a stellar landing page than just these three concepts, the items listed above are the bare-minimum to ensure some level of success with your landing pages. If your landing pages are missing these items, take a few minutes to add them. You may just find your bottom line growing – and you’ll finally be able to invest in that unicorn farm you’ve been dreaming about.

If you have any interest at all in Twitter, you owe it to yourself to give this article a thorough read:

The Twitter Platform’s Inflection Point

P.S. Be sure to read the comments on the post as well, as there are some great insights to be found.

After reading through the article, we realized that many of the principles driving these best practices are excellent principles for your business to follow in its online presence.

Here are a few of the best practices discussed and how they relate to an effective web presence:

Links should indicate where they will take the user.

People like to know where a road will take them before turning onto it. Think about how you would feel if you got on an interstate and followed the signs to Indianapolis, but at the end of your trip ended up in Dallas. Now, Dallas is a fine city, but it isn’t where you expected or wanted to go. That’s why it’s important to set proper expectations for your customers.

>Your website is the very first impression most people will get of your business. It’s important that what you present sets a realistic yet flattering expectation of your service or product offering.

Take a few minutes to look over your web site. Better yet, ask a few friends or colleagues to look at your site and tell you what they might expect. Then compare that to your real business offerings. Exercises like these can be invaluable to your business and the results you’re getting from your website.

Ensure Contrast – Links should stand out.

Are you truly standing out from your competition online? Ignoring colors and general layout, is your site all that different from your competition? Are you saying something different or more compelling than others?

Take a look through the lens of an outsider at a few competitors’ websites. If you aren’t sure your’s is standing out, take some steps to change that. It may be as simple as taking a look at what your company really does well and stating that boldly on your home page. Or perhaps it’s even as simple as stating exactly what it is that sets you apart. Don’t be afraid to tell your customers exactly why you’re the best!

Don’t Forget About Visited Links

Once your website has converted prospects into customers, make sure you don’t leave them out in the cold!

Many businesses think of their websites solely as a sales tool, or as a method for converting prospects. While this is a big part of an effective web presence, it isn’t all there is.

No matter how big or small, any company can benefit from offering some type of ongoing interaction with their customers. While there are many ways this ongoing interaction can positively impact your bottom line, one of the most compelling is maintaining top of mind positioning with your customers. If you can stay in touch with your best customers, you can turn satisfied patrons into raving fanatics!

Of course all of these ideas are based just around best practices in link styling on web pages. But it’s a great example of taking concepts from one arena and using them as inspiration for making a business or product better.

What inspires you to constantly improve?

The article covers great storytelling not only in web sites, but in industrial design, product packaging, architecture and more.

It’s a great read and definitely worth your time.

Check it out here and view Part 1 here.