The Searcher's Intent

What does an average user expect to find on your website when he or she clicks on the search engine result or Pay Per Click ad that leads to your site? Is there a direct mental correlation between what the search engine results page suggested and what the actual website delivers?

Designing your landing pages to create this connection is a crucial component of the conversion process - the process of turning a casual visitor into a paying customer.

The searcher's intent when he or she clicks on your listing can make all the difference in keeping them on your site. But only if you can identify, and cater to, the intentions and motivations of your visitors and deliver the kind of landing page that can quickly grab their attention and keep it.

So how does that work?

There are some things that any website can do to help this process along. First, if you are employing a PPC campaign you must be sure to include your value proposition in the ad text. Honesty and directness are extremely important, here. The customer needs to know immediately what you offer and why they should choose you. You must also be able to deliver what you promise. False advertising/false hope can be extremely detrimental to your long-term strategy, so you your customers that they can trust you.

After they click on your listing they need to make the immediate connection between what they clicked on and what they are now looking at. They need to know they've made it to their intended destination. Too often have visitors been redirected to a useless site. Too often have visitors been let down. They need to know that you are the right site for them and that you are offering exactly what they need.

This connection between the customers' intentions when they click on your listing and what you offer is very important in the conversion sequence of events. But there are some other steps you still have to take as well.

The continuity is something that merchants and marketers need to keep in mind. To do that you need to understand who your customers are and where they are coming from.

For example, if your customers click on a PPC ad then they are likely to already be in a buying mood - at least compared to those who click on the natural results who are often more likely to be searching for information and education. So if we assume that your customers have chosen the value proposition in your PPC ad, and have immediately discovered that they are in the right place, then the next step is to give them something to do.

This could be almost anything - whatever it takes to get your customer to make another click on your site. This could be an offer that asks for more information, a sale on the targeted product, or a simple way for the customer to make a quick purchase. It could be anything, as long as it helps make the connection between the searchers' intent and what you offer.

The best landing pages, then, take a customer through this process and always maintain the continuity from one step to another. Start off by restating the problem your product or service addresses. If this is the same problem the visitor is looking to resolve, he or she will stay a little longer. Next, you should state why you are the correct choice for them to resolve that issue. In other words, give them your value proposition. If the connections are made the last step is to give them something to do. If all you do is offer some nice words without the ability for them to take action, then your website will never fulfill its potential.

Problem, solution, action. If you can discover and use the relationship between these steps and the customers' intentions, you can begin to streamline your conversion process and develop a strong web presence.

Andy Eliason is a writer at Main10, Inc, a Utah SEO company. If you'd like to learn more about employing streamlined conversion processes in your Internet marketing solutions, visit our site or contact us today.