Want to have success and see ROI with your PPC campaign? Before you worry about your PPC campaigns and ads, worry about your design! Never forget that Good Design = Higher ROI when it comes to PPC.

When clients come to us that have never done online marketing before I get excited for a minute, but the excitement quickly fades when I go to their site and see that the site design and UX aren’t where they need to be. You have all come across those sites. The ones that look like they have the same design they had when they first launched their site in 1999.  I remember telling clients back in 2007 that mediocre and poor design were less important than getting found online.  I would use the example of Craigslist.

Craigslist’s brand, ease of use, service, and user experience make up for it’s boring, bland and blah design. They are the exception to the rule. If you want to succeed in 2013, your design better look professional.  I always tell clients that their  site design needs to look as fresh as the product or service they provide.  Most clients quickly agree with me that their design doesn’t do a good job of representing the quality of their work.  When they don’t I show them sites like this:

Bad dentist design example.

Then I ask them questions like:

What do you picture this dentist looking like? What do you picture his dental tools looking like? What about the office chairs? Would you guess that this dentist is going to be able to provide the latest and greatest in dental care when you look at his site?

When I look at that site, I think horror movie. The black and white sketch of the house is just creepy. I imagine that rather than see a tv mounted to the ceiling I will only see spider webs. Talk about a bad first impression.

Good orthodontist design example

Now, when I look at this site, I start to envision my kids happily sitting down to see a vibrant doctor whose practice is up to date and current with the latest and greatest technology. I envision an orthodontist’s office that will be friendly and welcoming.

Design matters. If you are going to spend money on PPC and expect to see a decent return on investment, make sure your site design is sending the right message.

Disclaimers: Draper Orthodontics is my older brother’s practice, and yes, I am VERY biased. I used to run ads for Dr. Granger. His ads ranked well and he got lots of clicks at a decent rate. I begged him to build a new site. Before he ever spent any money with us I told him he needed a new site. He wouldn’t ever do it. He quit advertising and he thinks it is because Adwords doesn’t work. #facepalm