Grow Conversions During the Credit Crunch with Deep Links

If you see a high click through rate (CTR) in your account, but low conversions, chances are your destination URLs could link deeper to a more relevant landing page.

What is Deep Linking?

Deep linking is providing a link or destination URL that leads the user directly to the source of content relevant to their search.

Clients Getting Lost

Imagine a large department store. A recession is making its customers less keen to spend. To entice people to shop, large signs have been put up in the windows announcing different attractive offers throughout the store on cookware, fashion and LCD televisions. Some people that have noticed the posters (impressions) walk through the door (click click!) only to notice that the sign-posts to the different departments has been removed (no deep links). The staff are unable to tell where the discounted espresso machines, televisions and tunic dresses can be found. Pressed for time, the keen shoppers leave without buying (conversions).

Is this just a high street problem? In the online space, this happens all the time!

Why would I Deep Link?

· You ensure that customers, who have seen your ad and clicked because they deemed the ad relevant in the first instance, find what they were looking for – fast! Therefore, they are more likely to convert.

· More keywords get approved, and faster, when the landing pages are relevant.

· Knowing what pages work well can help you to prioritise improvements on your site.

Why Not?

· Some large advertisers want all searches directed to the homepage so that offers on this page do not get overlooked. Good websites offer specific product information on each landing page and providing deep links will almost always result in more conversions.

How Do I Deeplink?

· There are some tools that can help generate deep links, but you can also do it manually. 

· If you manage your own campaign it is a matter of capturing the specific URLs from your browser. So if you are the Green Garden Nursery and you sell primulas online, the deep link you could capture could look like this:

www.greengardennursery.co.uk /plants/bedding/primulas

To deep-link in adCenter, simply log into your account and select the relevant adGroup. Click on the "Edit keywords" link, where you can add your deep-linking destination URLs (with a maximum of 1,022 characters) to each keyword.

If deep linking by product proves too labour-intensive, a good option would be to direct users to the next most relevant section of the site, for example, the plants section of the nursery site. However, general best practice is to be as specific as possible.

3. Over time, more clicks will turn into conversions, giving you a higher return on investment!