Yes, Landing Pages Perform Better Than Your Website Homepage for Branded Search Traffic

At Instapage, we thrive on maximizing conversions with experimentation using continuous testing and learning to ensure business growth. We recently tested what impact a dedicated post-click landing page connected to our brand name has on conversions in producing free trial signups.

What did we test?

For the experiment, we used two different ads and destination URLs (homepage versus post-click landing page) to collect data on which experience generated the most conversions. The ads were prompted when prospects searched for “Instapage.”

We automatically distributed traffic through Google Ads with even distribution to ensure we produced more accurate results.

Here are the two ads that were tested; the only difference is the ad headline:

Let’s look at both the experiences separately.

Ad-to-website homepage

In the control, when prospects searched for “Instapage” they saw an ad that includes the phrase “Official Site” so they know that clicking the ad would take them to Instapage’s website homepage. The ad copy features Instapage’s UVP:

Post-click, here’s the Instapage homepage where they land:

Similar to other homepages, the Instapage homepage features every major product offering with outbound links, including details on product features and what they will help digital advertisers accomplish. It also introduces the Advertising Conversion Cloud™ and Post-Click Automation.

Furthermore, the homepage also contains numerous navigation links in both the header and footer that take visitors to different pages on the website (Solutions, Resources, Support, etc.) to learn more about the platform and how it helps them solve their pain points. Most notably, it offers two different CTAs: Free Trial (“Get Started”) and Enterprise Demo. The homepage is meant to be a browsing experience for people to learn about the company.

Ad-to-dedicated post-click landing page

The variation showed this ad with no mention of the official site or homepage:

The headline features a statistic promising prospects up to 400% more conversions with the platform and the supporting copy describes what Instapage helps prospects achieve. Clicking this ad takes prospects to the following dedicated post-click page:

The page headline reiterates the “up to 400%” statistic mentioned in the ad, and the subheadline further elaborates that point by explaining that Instapage customers convert 4.2x higher than the industry average by automating 1:1 personalized post-click landing pages.

Similar to the homepage, the post-click page also showcases every major Instapage product and what they help customers achieve. The offer highlighted on the page is a demo request — the same as the homepage.

What sets the dedicated post-click landing page apart from the homepage is that:

• The post-click page is dedicated to promoting the “demo request” offer without any distracting navigation links.
• The ad uses a compelling statistic and the post-click page headline immediately reinforces it.

So, which experience produced more free trials?

The test results

• The dedicated page had nearly 3x the conversion rate despite a lower CTR.
• Total conversions for the 400% ad was more than double the website ad
• The dedicated page had a lower CPC.
• The total spend on the dedicated page is $800 less.
• The dedicated page’s cost/conversion was about ⅓ less than the website ad.

Across the board, the dedicated post-click page experience wins because it generated the most conversions while spending less than its counterpart.

Don’t waste ad clicks on your homepage

It’s common practice for advertisers to connect branded campaign search ads to their homepages because they believe a prospect searching for a brand name is still browsing for more information so they aren’t ready to convert. However, as this test indicates, dedicated landing pages perform better than a website homepage for brand campaigns.

Whether it’s a brand campaign search ad or any other, you must maximize ad clicks into conversions. Your best chance at converting ad clicks is to send users to dedicated post-click landing pages that convey your UVP and promotes a specific offer without any distractions.

Always connect all your ads to personalized post-click landing pages to lower your cost per customer acquisition. Start creating your dedicated post-click pages by signing up for an Instapage Enterprise demo today.