Online Advertising Traffic and the First Law of Web Surfing

How do you convert online advertising traffic into customers? The key is a phenomenon of human behavior that only comes into play online.

You won't read about this happening in articles or books on general principles of advertising or direct marketing. In actuality, traditional marketing professionals and direct marketers often create just so-so online marketing campaigns only because they have never heard of the phenomenon, though it's basically the first law of human web surfing behavior.

How to convert your online advertising traffic into customers

Ready to learn what that all-important first law of web surfing is? Prepare to be not very astonished. You see, everyone who surfs the net already knows about this phenomenon of human behaviour because all of us do it--you.

So here it is, the first law of human web surfing behavior, which you must consider when marketing your site: While surfing the internet, almost everyone will hit the"back" button whenever they think there is an opportunity --even a small chance-- they have come to the wrong webpage.

The corollary to this law of web surfing behaviour: anybody who clicks through to a website via an internet advertising link should know they have arrived at the perfect place after they get there.

Immediately. Within a second. From a click glimpse. Without needing to read anything. The average human attention span on the internet was measured at eight minutes, and you will have already lost a couple of seconds while the page downloaded.

The Essential (word) to Converting Advertisement-Clickers into Clients

How can you make absolutely sure people feel like they've arrived in the right location?

Create the title and first heading of your landing page (the page where a visitor"lands" after clicking on an ad ) exactly the same as the headline of the ad that brought your visitor there. If the landing page links to a banner (image) advertisement, use the very same pictures and colour scheme as the ad.

The landing page absolutely must immediately remind the visitor of the advertising.

The ads, consequently, should flow logically from the keywords they're targeting. Even if your ads are appearing on websites as opposed to search engine results, you want to be thinking in terms of the keywords people are using to look for your product so as to talk the language of your potential clients.

That is why it's quite important both your advertising and landing page comprise the target key word prominently, in key words in addition to the page body. That's also why it is so important you do not send your traffic from online advertising to your own homepage --it is unlikely that you can optimize your site for all your potential advertisements. Visitors who arrive via advertisements have to land on a special"landing page," or they may crash and leave your website.

Conversions: your advertising campaign's purpose

However, what happens when visitors land on your site and opt to stay over ten minutes? It is no use if they simply hang around. They will need to convert.

Important definition: In internet marketing parlance, saying a site visitor"converts," means he or she has taken a desired action toward becoming a client, either

1) buying something or

2) contacting you for additional details, thereby becoming a lead.

The proportion of visitors who convert from the entire number of people who arrive in your webpage is your conversion rate. Your objective is to get this speed as high possible. You do this by finding the ideal message to display in your landing page, and by targeting the advertising so you're getting visitors who are most likely to convert.

So as to receive your visitors to convert as soon as they arrive, you will need to be certain they have a clear route to conversion in the landing page. The simpler the route, the better--a winding street might lose some potential customers. This conversion path might be as straightforward as a"buy now" button or a contact form, or as complicated as a multi-step shopping cart with required registration with required email verification to frighten away people who aren't truly devoted buyers.

Targeting your visitors

Everything you show visitors who arrive at your website is just half the equation. The people themselves are the other. Just like everything in life, you can not convert a sow's ear into a silk purse. In cases like this, the sow's ear is paid traffic that's not targeted, or is coming out of popunders or alternative forced viewing, or is just plain faked (there is software specifically designed to emulate human visitors so fraudsters can market the"visitors").

Even in the best of cases, some traffic converts better than others. Broadly , visitors that are searching for you're the likeliest to convert, so conversion rates are generally greatest from advertising on search engines. Conversion rates are normally lower from advertising on sites (so-called"articles" or"contextual" advertising).

Conversion rates are lower still on advertising on site popups, and cheapest of all on so-called spyware (programs that display popups on an individual's computer; the men and women who market this advertising often label it"targeted traffic"). Sending emails that consist of nothing but your advertisement, even if you've skirted the legal definition of spam, isn't worth the bad will and harm to your brand.

Preaching to non-converting online advertising traffic

A substantial percentage of visitors, perhaps a majority, will not click"buy now." How can you reach them?

Lots of individuals simply won't ever make a purchase without talking to a salesperson . For them, provide a convenient contact form, in addition to a live chat option--if you can afford the time and cost --your email, and a phone number. A telephone number is particularly important since there are a few people who will never convert without hearing the voice of someone on your end.

For visitors that aren't prepared to convert immediately, you must have informational articles,"about us" pages or FAQs prepared to help them make up their minds.

For people who simply won't be prepared to convert now, provide a reason to bookmark your page. Good articles. A special offer. A newsletter to register for. Free advice.

Just be certain you don't put these alternative non-converting choices in too prominent a position, or you will risk deflecting prospective clients. A couple of paragraphs up from the very bottom of the page is a fantastic place to catch people that are interested in you enough to read the whole page, but still have not converted. The bottom of the page ought to be reserved for a conversion option for all of the prospective customers used to scrolling to the bottom of the page to find a fast overview.