Retailer Web Services Digital Advisor Summer 2018 | Page 6

COVER
ON
DESIGN
FEATURE
7
THE LANDING PAGE:
BEST PRACTICES
FOR DESIGNING
THE DESTINATION
“I
t’s not the destination, it’s the
journey.”
Emerson’s original words still
ring true, but the opposite also
applies in today’s dizzying digital age
of impressions, visits, conversions and
clicks—especially when digital ads and
online shoppers are involved.
When measuring the effectiveness
of consumer interactions with online
ads, it’s not about the journey. On the
contrary, metrics of success are tied
to the “destination,” or landing page,
associated with an ad. When an online
ad displays in front of a consumer, one
click is all it should take to get to the
landing page, the destination that, by
design, makes or breaks the success of
any digital ad campaign.
According to Sam Santos, digital
promotions coordinator at Retailer Web
Services (RWS), the main purpose of
online ads executed by AdRocket™—
RWS’ automated digital advertising
software—is to lead consumers to
landing pages. But not just any landing
page. “These destinations need to
be designed to be highly engaging
and user friendly, easy to understand
and optimized to adapt and look
good across tablets, smartphones or
whatever device someone’s using,”
said Santos.
The RWS team designs specific
optimized landing pages associated
with AdRocket campaigns. As part of
its automation features, the WebFronts
software then customizes these
landing pages in real time with rebates,
contact information, participating
products and links that lead to pages
within their websites.
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All too often, consumers click on
online ads that lead to poorly designed
landing pages. Santos points to three
main things that cause frustration
among consumers: 1) outdated
information or expired content; 2) no
clear path to purchase the product, e.g.,
a link to a rebate PDF with no link to
shop for the applicable products; and
3) an unorganized “sea” of scrolling
products displayed all at once.
You could say Santos knows a thing or
two about designing effective landing
pages, having led the RWS promotions
team through multiple large-scale
AdRocket campaigns this summer.
Here, she shares seven best practices
for optimal landing page design:
1) DESIGN WITH MOBILE IN
MIND
Large desktop images need a mobile-
friendly version that eliminates
unnecessary space and provides the
main message along with a few other
key pieces of content. The product
layout requirements for a small screen
are much different than for a large
screen. While large screens can display
products in multiple rows and columns,
mobile screens should display product
rows using a horizontal scroll. This
allows the products to be easily
scanned, while the vertical scroll stays
static, which keeps the user’s place on
the page.
of the page, depicting the offer. Images
that show human engagement—where
the offer meets lifestyle—work well.
3) GET TO THE POINT
Use clear and concise language
that conveys the savings. From the
user’s perspective, the savings is the
message they expect to see after
clicking on the ad. Keep it simple.
There should be no second guessing
on the part of the potential customer.
4) SHOW THE PRODUCTS,
BUT REDUCE THE SCROLL
Great landing pages don’t show row
upon row—and scroll upon scroll—of
products. A rule of thumb is no more
than four or five rows. This can be
tricky when you’ve got dozens of
models of appliances or mattresses.
One way to get around this is to
show one dishwasher or mattress, for
example, with a link to all models.
5) CATEGORIZE PRODUCTS
Showing products in a categorized
fashion is what separates a good
landing page from a great one. It’s
important to establish a categorical
hierarchy that begins on the landing
page and “drills down” to appropriate
product pages on the website. The goal
of categorizing products on the landing
page is to not overwhelm consumers,
providing a user-friendly experience for
them to browse.
2) USE A COMPELLING
‘HERO IMAGE’ 6) HAVE A CLEAR CALL TO
ACTION
Also known as the banner image at the
top of the page, this is the first thing
the user sees when the landing page
loads. It should capture the main idea What do you want the consumer to
do? Shop now? Call or visit the store?
Find out more about the savings?
This should be straightforward with