Too many online marketers are flushing away thousands of dollars on pay per click ads each month that drive traffic to their homepage, which is not designed for website conversion but rather as a central hub to satisfy every user type. With the rising cost of search engine marketing from more competitive keyword bids together with shrinking budgets, online marketers need to focus on maximizing their return on investment, with a better performing website not more traffic. Specifically designed landing pages, that satisfy both customer goals and business goals, should be the focus of online marketers. Traffic directed from individual marketing campaigns are always better at increasing marketing results than other web pages because the design approach can zero in on the motivation of the visitor. User motivation from a specific channel, like a key word search is always much higher than other traffic channels. As with any marketing campaign, proper measurement and testing, such as, a/b testing and multivariate testing, are vital for significant improvement.

On any individual landing page there can be any number of elements that can potentially suffocate your website conversion. Bobby Hewitt, president of Creative Thirst, LLC, says that, "The key to a successful conversion rate optimization strategy is to know what to improve in order to maximize your results not your budget. Let your competitors concentrate on the tools, while you concentrate on measurable results that you can bring to the next staff meeting."

Rochelle Park, N.J.   July 7, 2009