The hook-to-page rule

I wrote about getting fired because I wanted to keep control over landing pages. (Here’s the post if you want to read about me feeling sorry for myself.)

I got some questions about my insistence on matching ads and landing pages.

Here’s my thinking...

• If you’re advertising advanced Excel training, you get the best results when your ad links to an advanced Excel training page, not your course catalog.

• If you’re advertising for child custody cases, you get better results when you send visitors to the child custody page, not the general family law page.

But it goes further than this. It also applies to the hook your ad uses.

I consulted with a contractor who rips out bathtubs and replaces them with walk-in showers. His customers have three main reasons for buying:

• Lack of mobility – Age or injury means they can’t climb in and out of a bathtub comfortably.
• Fear of injury – Even if they can climb into the bath, they’re worried they’ll slip and hurt themselves.
• Aesthetics – They don’t like the way their bathroom looks.

The service is the same — a new bathroom with a walk-in shower — but the reason for buying is different.

He ran three variations of his ads, each targeting one hook, but all the ads went to the same generic landing page.

When we paired each ad with a matching landing page, results improved immediately:

• The "can’t use the bathtub" ad went to a page about independence and living at home.
• The "scared of falling" ad went to a page focused on safety features.
• The "ugly bathroom" ad went to a page highlighting beautiful remodels.

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