25, 35, 35, 35. For many these numbers define the PPC world. 25 characters for your title. 35 characters each for your two lines of ad copy. 35 characters for your display URL. These 130 characters, if used, are powerful. The wise PPC practitioner, however, recognizes the virtually invisible 1024 characters known as the destination URL.
The Sin of Misdirection
The sin of Misdirection is committed when you send clicks to the homepage. The beauty of PPC is that you know (basically) what the user wants. They type it right into the search box and tell you. You have ad copy written specifically for the ad group. Where do they want to go?
Put yourself in the user’s shoes and send them to the specific page that will match the search term and ad copy. It really is that easy, yet so often PPC marketers forget to take this intuitive step. Think of what the visitor’s goal is and then land them on the page closest to that goal.
Why Not The Homepage?
The better question is why would you send them to the homepage? The homepage is designed to fit everyone and therefore is custom-tailored to no one. With the occasional exception of a brand term, most keywords represent an intention. The user is looking for something/want to do something. Homepages are like maps telling people where to go, but you already know where they want to go. Remove that one step. Make it easy.
Perhaps you find that in certain situations you don’t have a good page? Make one. If it’s worth spending money to buy clicks, it’s worth money to produce an optimized sub-page. Don’t commit the Sin of Misdirection by sending your clicks to the homepage.
About Robert
