Message Match In Google Adwords Landing Pages

The cardinal sin of PPC marketing is to run a Google adwords landing page campaign and NOT have a targeted and relevant landing page linking from it.

It’s like when you see some tempting advertisement on a billboard and expect something similar to what you see when you go to buy it, only to find a much different product in reality.

An Example Of Expectation Vs. Reality

For example, you see a big advertisement of a juicy, soft and loaded burger on a billboard. The tempting picture of the burger makes you go hungry and you decide to visit the restaurant and have it. But once the burger is served, you find that the advertisement was only to lure you in.

The burger looks nothing like the picture. It’s tasteless, hard and chewy. As a result, you not only walk out from the restaurant but you make a pledge of never walking in there again.

Same goes with Google adwords and PPC marketing. As opposed to billboards, Google advertisements are a high target.

This means, unlike billboards that are visible to every person walking on the street, the Google Adwords landing page will only be visible to people who are interested in the product or service and who search for the keyword or keyword phrase.

Hence, the people who see your ad are very much likely to click through. In fact, paid ads account for 64.6% of all clicks by searchers.

So, when so many people are clicking through and landing on your landing page, doesn’t it make sense to create it the right way and avoid the common pitfalls that can make the visitor walk out on you?

Google Adwords Landing Page Impacts

If you go wrong with the landing page, it will result in worthless PPC campaigns, wasted money, and unsuccessful lead generation efforts. If your visitors will quit and press the back button too soon after landing on your page, it will indicate to Google that your page is irrelevant.

The page does not provide a good experience and Google will penalize you by lowering your ad ‘quality score’.

So, how do you get it right and what common mistakes you should avoid? There are many things a good landing page is made up of. But when it comes to Google adwords landing page, you need to particularly take care of one thing: Message Match and Continuity.

What Is Message Match in Google Adwords Landing Page?

Message match is to make sure the landing page is relevant to the ad from where it is linked. If the ad is about Memorial Day sale, the landing page should have Memorial Day sales and not Black Friday sales.

If the ad is about skinny jeans, the landing page should be the product category page for skinny jeans and not the homepage of an online shop.

In simple terms, message match is to make sure expectation means reality. With good message match, you also ensure good continuity from ad to page.

An Example Of Bad Message Match

When I search for ‘Twitter analytics tool’ the ad on the front page should take me to a page that offers what I am looking for: a tool for analyzing Twitter engagements. But here is one of the ad and landing page combos that show how you can go wrong with a Google adword landing page.

The headline of the ad includes the keyword ‘Twitter analytics tool’, which leads me to believe the landing page will be relevant to it. But when I click on the link and get to the landing page, I find no reference to Twitter.

There is no mention of Twitter analytics and how the software will help me analyze Twitter engagements.

The Twitter analytics tool may be a part of their analytics suite but it’s hard to tell. I can do a little digging to find the answer I need but instead, I will most likely do what most other visitors will do: click on the back button and check other links.

This Google adwords landing pages will not only lead to unsuccessful lead generation and lower conversion rates but it will also contribute to a lower quality score by Google as the page is not relevant to the keywords ‘Twitter analytics tool’.

Instead of directing their visitors to their homepage or generic landing page, Spotfire should have a separate targeted landing page for their ad campaign for the keyword ‘Twitter Analytics Tool’ and should give the information the user is looking for.

This is how businesses go wrong with Google adwords and their linked landing pages. Avoid this mistake to enjoy good conversion rates.