Not keeping your promises: This page is not what I expected.
How many times have you gone to a webpage and it was nothing that you wanted or there was some sort of big disconnect from what you were looking for. This is a very common problem. People are not landing on your page out of thin air, they are arriving from somewhere with some sort of context in mind. Whether that’s from a blog posting, a comparison shopping engine, banner ad, etc. The number one driver of conversion is not good usability, good copyrighting or headlines; it’s whether you match the person’s intent, whether or not you match their frame of mind when they get to your page.
Left is a quick example of a search done in Google for say Best Digital Camera well you can from the add the search found that it says Best Digital Camera, exactly what I searched for. Hey, it has expert reviews on the best Cameras, perfect that’s what I’m looking for what’s the best digital camera. So a person in this position is going to click on this ad. But as you will see then the problems ensue.
Below you will find the landing page the above ad takes you to, now at first you the headline “Over 56 digital camera models tested. Which are top-rated?” and on the top right its lists out a whole bunch of manufacturers SO far, so good. But as read it what do you see next, “JOIN TODAY”. Now think about that what are they asking you to do on this page? JOIN TODAY. They want you to subscribe to their magazine. Is that what you wanted when you came to this site? Is that what your expectation was? Not at all, you came there to find the best digital camera. This works out to be the equivalent of running at top speed and running into a brick wall. The Join Today in this circumstance pretty much assures that you will alienate 99% of the people coming to that page.
THE FIXES:
Repeat the ad text or keywords on your page.
Meaning make sure you have continuity from upstream to you your landing page. Change your ad copy to match the landing page or change the landing page to match the ad copy.
Provide clear access to information from the ad.
If you are going to promise something always make it very clear how they are going to get it on your page. Even if there is another item you want to point them to, still make the one advertised prominent for them to see.
