If you type “Consumer Reports” into Google, you’ll see two links at the very top of the page. One is the PPC ad and the other the #1 organic search result. Although both are targeting the same audience, currently they have completely different landing pages.When you click on the organic (ie free results) link, you land on a homepage that looks very newsy and informative, with links to various then-paywalled pages. In short, what you might expect from a great online magazine homepage.

But, if you click on the PPC AdWords ad at the top of the organic search results, then you would end up at this test landing page instead, which is more of a hard-hitting subscription offer that puts the paywall front and center.

We presume it’s a test because the URL actually says “SEMtest” in it, and the gang at CR are known for A/B testing. Should you consider a similar test? Check your web analytics first to see if visitors from search results that include your brand name (which are probably the largest slice of your search-driven visitors) behave differently on the site depending on whether they came from paid or organic links. Are paid people more likely to be “shoppers” or “tire kickers” while organic folks more likely to be current subscribers? If so, a different home page for each type of traffic is worth a test.BTW: Yes, running PPC ads for your brand name is a best practice even when you also dominate the top organic search results. That way you block competition from taking traffic you deserve, and you get even more traffic. The search marketing department head for eBay once told me they had tried cutting out PPC ads when they had organic #1 spots… but traffic sank so they ended up having to slam the ads back again.