Analyst Adam Lapp reviewed this landing page, submitted by Costume Supercenter.
In their contest entry, Costume Supercenter said its top performing keyword was “pirate costumes” and that their ideal audience is costume shoppers of all ages.
Analysis of channel
The PPC ad maintains continuity with the customer’s original motivation of wanting to find “pirate costumes.” It also uses incentive well by offering a discount and free shipping.
So when the customer clicks through, the first thing they expect to see is:
- Pirate costumes
- 10% off
- Free shipping
Analysis of landing page
The page connects with the keyword pirate costumes, but the two incentives advertised in the PPC ad become lost in the banner. Not only can the typical internet user experience “banner blindness,” but the intensely bright colors of both background and text inhibit the incentives from standing out. The page has page elements relevant to the PPC ad, they just need to stand out more to maximize relevance.
This page should be tested using a clear headline above the images communicating “what” I can do here, i.e. buy pirate costumes, and “why” I should do it, e.g. 10% off all costumes and free shipping. They do have a headline below the first section of images, but it is hardly noticeable in juxtaposition to the main image and the black text does not stand out against the orange background.
If I am a customer, I will quickly look for a way to find the right costume for me. So I will be looking for a place to click for men’s pirate costumes. The first image section is a great place to do this, but there are eleven different images to click on. And only one of those is a man. This causes friction because visitors will not know “exactly” where to go. They may end up wandering through content with no direction or supervision.
A possible test would be using only four images at the top, a man, woman, girl and boy, with the top of each labeled appropriately. For example, “Men’s Pirate Costumes.” This way, I will know exactly what to do immediately upon arrival onto the page.
The blue text links attempt to point visitors in the direction they should go, but they are overpowered by the large images. Plus they are arranged horizontally when the natural way to read a web page is top to bottom.
When a person moves “below the fold” they are presented with several large images of specific costumes. But, why these costumes? The page needs to provide guidance and reasoning behind why these six costumes were chosen out of the so-claimed “greatest collection.” Are they the most popular? If so, explain this to the customer with a sub-headline. For example, “Here are our most popular pirate costumes.”
The goal of this page should be to create a clear path for visitors to find the precise product that meets their needs. The page must be designed with this goal in mind, removing anything that does not contribute to it or support the site’s value proposition.
Audience: What do you think? Use the comments field to post your suggestions for this landing page, agree/disagree with Adam’s assessment, and let the page owner know what you would do differently.
We’ll post our final landing page on Wednesday …
