04/When it comes to PPC advertising, getting people to click on your ad is only half the battle. From there, you also need them to click on the call to action (CTA) on your landing page.
That’s the only way to actually convert leads. So if your landing pages are struggling to convert visitors, maybe it’s your CTA.
Fortunately, there are many ways to get more users to click on your CTAs. You just need to learn the tricks of the trade.
In this article, we’ll go over what those landing page CTA best practices are, but first, let’s define what a CTA is in the first place.
A call to action (CTA) is the most important part of a PPC landing page. It’s what converts visitors into leads and drives your conversion goals.
Basically, a CTA is a prompt that invites users to take a specific action.
Most CTAs offer something valuable (like a free ebook download or newsletter signup) in exchange for the user’s contact information (like their name and email address).
The point of the CTA is to lead potential customers into your sales funnel. From there, you can nurture them with more valuable content until they eventually make a purchase.
So how do you make the CTAs on your landing pages as effective as possible? Here are ten tips:
The call to action button is just what it sounds like. It’s a virtual button on your landing page that contains the CTA text. For example, the call to action button might be a green rectangle that includes the words “Download Your Free Ebook.”
Whatever your call to action button is, you want it to stand out from the rest of the page. To do this, you can use a different text font (e.g., bolded or italic) and contrasting colors.
Humans are visual creatures, which means (among other things) that we are naturally attracted to sharp variations in colors. You can use this to your advantage by playing off different color contrasts. For example, if your landing page background is blue, you might make your call to action button orange so it really stands out.
You can also try using a free online color scheme generator to come up with ideas. A good CTA example would be one that blends seamlessly with the rest of the page elements while still grabbing users’ attention.
Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/color-scheme-definitions-types-examples
Another way to make your call to action button stand out is to play with its size. Make it big enough to call attention but not so big that it becomes too distracting from reading the rest of the page.
By focusing on the visual design of your call to action button, you can encourage users to click on it and improve the overall conversion rate of your marketing campaigns.
When writing a call to action, it’s easy to resort to phrases like “contact us” or “learn more.” But such calls to action are so overused that many people gloss over them.
Instead, try to put yourself in your target customers' shoes. What are their pain points? Then craft your CTA according to that.
For example, if your target customers have a hard time remembering birthdays, lure them in with a CTA that says “Install this scheduling tool to never forget another birthday.” It’s much more specific and tailored to the value proposition your service provides.
That said, you also need to make sure you keep your CTA clear and to the point. Most people skim the internet, whether they’re reading a blog post or browsing an online store. So if your CTA copy is too long or clever, people will probably move on. And if you can’t convince them to click on your call to action button the first time, they probably never will.
So make your CTA crystal clear. Say exactly what you want the web visitor to do and exactly what they’ll get by clicking. Use action words to evoke a quick reaction.
By writing clearly and directly, your CTA will be much more persuasive.
The last thing you want is for visitors to be looking for a call to action button on your landing page and not find it.
To ensure people always have the opportunity to click the call to action button, place it somewhere it can always be seen. For example, you could include it in a floating header or footer that moves along the web page as the user scrolls up or down.
The point is you want the CTA placement to be visible, no matter where the web visitor goes on the page. If you only place it at the end of the page, visitors may never get to it or see it.
The call to action button should be easy to locate. So, place it where it makes the most sense, whether on desktops or mobile devices.
That said, you don’t want to include so many calls to action that you come across as too pushy or spammy. This will only turn people off.
But you also don’t want web visitors to leave your page without clicking on the call to action button. Otherwise, what’s the point?
So, find the right CTA frequency balance.
Even if you place multiple CTAs across your landing page, you want to stick to just one kind. Here’s what I mean:
If the landing page’s main purpose is to get visitors to sign up for your email marketing list, don’t also include CTAs to order a product off your website.
You can have multiple CTAs, but they shouldn’t call on visitors to perform more than one action.
Why? Asking target customers to do more than one thing can be confusing. In fact, this may overwhelm them so that they don’t click on any call to action button at all.
If you have multiple marketing campaigns running, create separate landing pages for each of them. That way, each blog post or landing page is focused on one specific value proposition and action.
Having an attractive CTA is not enough. You also need to direct visitors’ attention to it with visual cues.
You can do this in two ways: subtle or not-so-subtle cues.
A subtle visual cue could be images or converging lines whose linear pathways indirectly point toward the CTA—like a photo of someone whose eyes are looking at the CTA. Users will then subconsciously want to look there, too.
Source: https://instapage.com/blog/what-are-visual-cues
A conspicuous visual cue could be bright red arrows that point toward the CTA. This can also be effective, but you must be careful not to make it appear too distracting or promotional.
Whatever you do, you want your landing page to have a clean visual flow that ultimately directs users to the CTA button.
Another way to make your CTA stand out is to put white space around it.
White space (aka negative space) refers to the areas of your landing page that don’t have any text or images—nothing.
While you might think white space is a waste of precious real estate, it’s not. It actually helps provide some balance to your landing page and, if used artfully, can actually make your CTA stand out.
For one, if you leave a lot of white space around the CTA, it won’t look cluttered—like it’s drowning in text and graphics. Instead, it will stand out because it’s set off by itself.
Play with the white space around your CTA to call more attention to it.
Source: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-power-of-white-space
To stand out, your CTA also has to offer something unique. What are the benefits of clicking on it? How will it improve your visitors’ lives? What’s in it for them? If your CTA doesn’t answer these questions, you may want to rethink it.
Consider your typical visitor’s pain points. Then show how your offer is a solution to their problems.
For example, if your CTA is to sign up for a weekly newsletter that offers actionable tips on how to double your productivity, point that out. In this case, your CTA might read “Sign Up for My Weekly Newsletter to 2X Your Productivity.”
At the end of the day, concrete and relevant benefits help sell visitors on your CTA.
People are heavily influenced by their emotions. Though the rational brain plays a role in the decision-making process, emotions play an arguably bigger one.
That’s why it’s important for your CTA to appeal to people’s emotions. If you tap into people’s emotions, visitors are more likely to pay attention and click.
For example, you might create a sense of urgency by promoting a limited-time offer. This may activate their fear of missing out (FOMO). Or you might appeal to their sense of danger with a CTA that says “Sign the Petition to Keep Your Neighborhood Safe.”
Don’t forget to also surround the CTA with relevant images (where appropriate).
So if, for example, the CTA calls on the reader to improve their life by getting a copy of your new self-help book, include a photo of someone reading the book with a smile on their face next to the CTA.
This will draw a more immediate emotional response from the user than words alone ever could. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Last but not least, subject your landing page CTAs to A/B tests.
An A/B test (aka split test) refers to developing two slightly different versions of something (in this case a CTA) and then running a test to see which performs better according to common marketing metrics like click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate.
You could test a CTA’s button size, copy, color, font, placement, page frequency, and more. Just make sure to test only one variable at a time so you can narrow down what exactly is contributing to a CTAs performance.
By constantly conducting A/B tests, you can gradually fine-tune your landing page CTA until it becomes a reliable conversion machine.
Now that you know the best practices for crafting effective PPC landing page CTAs, you’re ready to take your marketing to the next level.
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Partner with PPC.co to take advantage of our managed PPC services. We can help you run ads across Google, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. Whatever your advertising needs, we have you covered.
We’ll also help you optimize your landing page CTAs so that they bring you more business. To get started, contact us for a free proposal. We look forward to chatting!
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If you’re running an e-commerce or retail business, you already know that visibility is everything. The best product in the world won’t sell if no one sees it. That’s where paid ads for ecommerce comes in.
Done right, they drive traffic, conversions, and repeat customers.
Done wrong, they drain your budget and leave you wondering what went wrong.
Whether you’re spending $500 a month or $50,000, your goal is the same: profitability. Not just clicks, and certainly not just impressions. You want to turn ad dollars into real, predictable revenue.
So how do top-performing e-commerce and retail brands make their paid ads work?
What are they doing that you’re not?
This guide breaks it down step-by-step, so you can start running profitable ads with confidence.
Before you launch a single campaign, you need clarity on your audience and goals. Are you trying to boost first-time sales? Increase average order value? Each objective requires a different strategy and metrics for success.
Don’t fall into the trap of launching ads just to “see what happens.” Paid media works best when it’s part of a bigger strategy. So before you log in to Google Ads or Meta Ads Manager, get specific about what success looks like.
If you want to run profitable paid ads, knowing your numbers is the foundation of your entire strategy. Without a clear understanding of your margins, break-even points, and how much you can afford to spend to acquire a customer, you’re essentially gambling with your ad budget.
And in e-commerce, that can get expensive fast.
Let’s start with the most critical numbers you need to know:
Your break-even ROAS tells you the minimum return you need on your ad spend to not lose money. It’s calculated by dividing 1 by your gross profit margin.
So if your margin is 50 percent, your break-even ROAS is 2.0. That means for every $1 you spend on ads, you need to make $2 in sales just to break even.
For example, let’s say you’re running Facebook Ads and spending $1,000 on a campaign. If your break-even ROAS is 2.0, you need to generate at least $2,000 in revenue to avoid losing money. Anything above that is profit. Anything below that eats into your cash.
Once you know your numbers, you can reverse-engineer your ad strategy instead of throwing money into the void and hoping for results. For instance, if your AOV is low (say $25), you might struggle to profit from ads unless you have a very low COGS or high conversion rates. In that case, you might want to:
On the other hand, if your AOV is $150 and your margins are strong, you have more room to compete in ad auctions, bid more aggressively, and test multiple audiences and creatives without instantly wiping out your profit.
A lot of beginner advertisers focus entirely on immediate return from ads. That’s understandable – but short-sighted. If you’re breaking even or slightly losing on the first sale, that might still be a smart move if you’re building long-term customer relationships.
That’s where Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) comes in. If you know that your average customer places three orders a year, each worth $60, then their LTV is $180. If you spend $40 to acquire that customer with your first ad, but earn $140 more over the next 12 months, that ad was extremely profitable in the long run.
Top e-commerce brands build their paid strategies around LTV-to-CAC ratio – how much they earn over time compared to what they paid to acquire the customer.
A healthy ratio is usually 3:1 or higher. So if you’re spending $50 to acquire a customer, you want to earn at least $150 from that customer over time.
Once you understand your numbers, you can plan your ad spend with precision. You’ll know exactly:
Let’s say you want to make $5,000 in profit this month, and your product has a 50 percent gross margin. That means you need $10,000 in sales. If your target ROAS is 2.5, you can spend up to $4,000 in ad spend to hit that goal. With those numbers in hand, you now have a roadmap for campaign budgeting, not just a shot in the dark.
Every ad platform has strengths. But if you try to use them all at once, you’ll burn through your budget without learning much. Instead, pick one or two that align best with your business model and customer behavior.
If you’re selling visually appealing products like apparel, skincare, or home goods, platforms like Instagram and TikTok can deliver strong returns – especially with the right creative. If you’re focused on high-intent buyers, Google Search and Shopping Ads are goldmines. And if you’re targeting professionals or B2B retail buyers, LinkedIn may offer surprising results.
Test channels strategically. Start with the one that matches where your customers spend their time and scale from there. The best platform for you is the one where your ideal customers are already shopping, scrolling, or searching.
One of the biggest mistakes retailers make is casting too wide a net. You don’t want everyone to see your ad – you want the right people to see it.
On Google, this means targeting high-intent keywords that signal buying behavior. Focus on terms like “buy,” “best,” “free shipping,” or product-specific searches. On Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, you’ll want to dial in your custom audiences using demographic data, lookalikes, interests, and behavior.
Don’t forget retargeting. Most people won’t buy the first time they visit your site, but retargeting brings them back when they’re ready. Set up ads that follow people who viewed a product, added to cart, or engaged with your brand but didn’t check out.
The more relevant your targeting, the more efficient your spend and the higher your return.
Creative is the make-or-break factor in most e-commerce ad campaigns. You can have perfect targeting and the right product, but if your ad doesn’t grab attention in the first two seconds, it won’t convert.
Your creative needs to do three things quickly:
Use high-quality product photos or videos. Show your product in action. Highlight a clear benefit or solve a specific problem. Incorporate customer reviews or user-generated content to build trust.
For paid social, test multiple creatives at once – video vs. image, UGC vs. branded, short-form vs. long-form – and let performance data guide your iterations. On search platforms like Google, focus on copy that’s compelling and packed with relevant keywords. Test different headlines and descriptions to see what gets the best click-through rate.
Sending paid traffic to your homepage is a rookie mistake. You want every click to land on a page that’s designed to convert. That means fast load times, mobile optimization, and a clear call-to-action.
If you’re promoting a specific product, send users to that product page and not your full catalog. If you’re offering a bundle or a seasonal deal, create a dedicated landing page with copy, visuals, and layout tailored to that offer.
Remove distractions. Reduce friction. Make it stupid-easy for people to buy. The less effort it takes, the more sales you’ll see. And don’t forget to A/B test. Sometimes a simple tweak to your headline or CTA can double your conversion rate overnight.
Once your ads are live, your job isn’t done. In fact, this is where it really begins. You need to monitor performance regularly, looking at more than just the surface-level metrics.
Click-through rate (CTR) tells you how well your ad is capturing attention. Conversion rate shows how well your landing page is sealing the deal. ROAS tells you how profitable your campaign is. And CPA helps you compare efficiency across different products or audiences.
Watch for early indicators of success – or failure.
Treat your campaigns like living systems. Tweak, test, and improve them continuously.
Once you find a winning combination – an ad, offer, and audience that works – it’s time to scale. Increase your budget gradually while keeping an eye on performance. Scaling too fast can tank your results, so go step by step.
Duplicate high-performing campaigns to test new audiences or creatives. Experiment with upsells, bundles, or time-limited offers to increase AOV. Layer in email or SMS marketing to retarget paid traffic and drive repeat sales.
And just as importantly, don’t be afraid to kill underperforming ads. If something isn’t working after a reasonable test period, cut it. Your budget should be flowing to what works – not what you hope will work.
One of the biggest mistakes in paid advertising is chasing one-off sales without thinking about the bigger picture. Winning e-commerce brands think in terms of customer lifetime value.
If your first sale breaks even, that’s fine. (As long as you have a plan to turn that customer into a repeat buyer. ) You can use post-purchase emails, loyalty programs, and retargeting ads to bring people back.
At the end of the day, when you view paid ads as the beginning of a customer relationship – not the end – you unlock real long-term profitability. And at PPC.co, that’s where we want to help you! We offer industry-leading PPC management services for ecommerce and retail brands who want to stop wasting ad spend and start generating real ROI.
Contact us today to learn more!
