Getting people to click on your ads is one thing. Getting them to stick around and take action is another. That’s where your landing page does the heavy lifting.
You can have the best ad strategy in the world, but if the page it leads to isn’t clear, fast, and focused then your money is going down the drain.
We’ve been helping companies improve the performance of their paid campaigns for years. One common thread? The biggest gains often come not from changing the ad, but from fixing the landing page.
What a landing page is (and why they’re different)
A landing page is where a person first “lands” on your website after clicking your ad. It’s not your homepage. It’s not a product catalogue or service list. It’s a single-purpose page designed to get the visitor to do something specific. That may be filling out a form, booking a demo, or making a purchase.
By the way, if you keep the company of marketing types, you may hear these outcomes refered to as micro or macro goals.
When you create landing pages that are clear, quick, and built for the task at hand, conversions invariably go up. When they’re not, visitors leave. So we build these pages with a very specific goal in mind knowing our audience is real people, not search engine robots.
Keeping landing pages simple pays off
One of the most common mistakes we see is trying to do too much on a single page. Landing pages with more than one goal, like pushing a newsletter signup and a product download and a quote request, can confuse people and drive them away.
You have got to avoid the temptation to stuff your landing pages with information about everything you do or offer. The ad that brought people to the page in the first place didn’t do that, so don’t lose focus now.
We know that landing pages with multiple calls-to-action can reduce conversions quite significantly. This is contrary to what was landing page lore for so many years where alternative close and trial close strategies were common. The advent of mouse and eye tracking tools revealed this just doesn’t work.
Our current suggestion, therefore, is to use one clear call-to-action on the page. Also, we’d suggest sticking to the “one page, one purpose” rule. It just works.
Why message match builds trust (and lowers bounce rate)
Say what you promised
Let’s say your ad says, “Free 30-day trial.” If the landing page doesn’t mention that offer right away, people might think they’re in the wrong place. That’s called poor message match and it leads to quick exits or bounces.
Good landing pages make sure that what was promised in the ad is clearly visible on the page. Headline, images, offer—everything should line up.
Keep in mind that any attempt to ‘bait and switch’ is easily detected. Ad platforms such as Google Ads and Microsoft Ads check the landing page as part of the ad ranking process, so don’t use landing pages that aren’t a good match for the ads they work with.
Here is excerpt from Google Ad’s landing page definition:
The experience of a landing page is represented by such things as the usefulness and relevance of information provided on the page, ease of navigation for the user, the number of links on the page and the expectations that users have based on the clicked ad creative.
Consistency isn’t just for looks
It’s not just the words. Design matters too. If your ad has clean, modern visuals and the landing page looks outdated or totally different, trust takes a hit. People notice. And they leave.
We suggest that you make sure landing pages feel like a natural continuation of the ad experience. When everything lines up, people are more likely to stay and take action. You can see why this is really important when we look at conversion rate optimisation.
What goes above the fold matters most
In the newspaper world they used to talk about “above the fold”, meaning the top half of the front page that people could still read when a newspaper was folded in half. The digital version is sometimes called the first screen. Think about just how little room you have to make in impact on the first screen when targeting mobile devices, nevermind a computer monitor or laptop screen.
First impressions happen fast
People decide whether to stick around or not in somewhere between 8 and 15 seconds, depending on which source you want to believe. That means the top part of your landing page—what users see before they scroll—is critical.
At a glance, they should know:
- What you are offering
- Why it’s worth their time
- What problem you solve
- What to do next
Really focus on getting this right. Users are extraordinarily quick to decide if they should hit the back button and look somewhere else.
Keep it clean
Too many distractions—like menus, popups, or loading animations can pull people away from your goal. Removing clutter helps people focus and often leads to more conversions. This is why high-quality landing pages don’t waste space with large logos and irrelevant navigation links. Its just too valuable a space to waste.
One thing we still see far too often is pop-ups asking for people to subscribe to a newsletter or download a random report. These have no place on a landing page that has been crafted to serve a specific purpose. Even if newsletter subscriptions or report downloads is the goal, don’t try to achieve them with pop-ups on landing pages.
Why mobile design can’t be an afterthought
Most people are on their phones
More than 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices acording to Statista. If your landing page isn’t easy to use on a phone, you’re losing people.
That means:
- Buttons need to be big enough to tap easily
- Text should be large and readable
- Forms need to be short and quick to fill in
- Landing pages need to be fast
Load time is everything
If your page takes more than 3 seconds to load, the odds of someone sticking around drop fast. Testing your landing paged using Google’s PageSpeed Insights is an easy way to check how yours are doing.
We’d also suggest you do some research into Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). Its a measure of how much elements on the page move as they load in the browser, which can affect user experience.
Monitor results by device and browser type
Take time to check how your pages are performing across different device configurations to see if a particular group of users are bouncing faster or more often.
Here are some examples:
- Browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox, etc.)
- Device category (desktop, mobile, tablet, smart TV)
- Operating system (Windows, iOS, Macintosh, Android, Linux, etc.)
Google Analytics will give you this information.
Shorter forms = more leads
Keep it snappy
Every extra field in a form is a reason for someone to give up. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, we leave it out. Name, email, and one more field is usually enough to start the conversation. Don’t be too nosy during that first interaction. Yes, managers love filling up their CRM database with every detail possible, but landing pages aren’t the place to focus on harvesting data.
Later on, you can collect more details—but don’t ask for everything upfront. Remember, you haven’t done anything for them yet, so don’t expect them to surrender more information than is absolutely necessary.
Make it easy
Small changes to form design make a big difference. For example:
- Use clear button labels like “Get Your Quote” instead of just “Submit”
- Make form field data expectations clear, including compulsory fields
- Drop CAPTCHA tools unless they use invisible challenges
- If you use a CDN, minimise the impact it may have on form caching
We’ve seen forms perform twice as well after making these kinds of changes.
Do everything you can to improve clarity and simplify the way your forms function. Too many failed form submissions and, you guessed it, people give up and exit. You’ve lost them for good.
The role of video on landing pages
Short videos can say a lot
People love video. It can help explain something quicker than text, and it adds a human element. A quick product demo or a message from the founder can build trust fast.
Landing pages with short videos (ideally under 60 seconds) tend to convert better, especially when placed near the top of the page. They need to be succinct, provide value, answer a question or spark interest. Nobody wants to watch a video stuffed with marketese.
You need to be careful with page load times whenever a video embed is used because they can slow things down. This may affect the landing page experience as determined by ad platforms such as Google Ads.
That reminds me. If you use a tool such as Google Tag Manager to track video play events, the additional settings can add to page load times. We have noticed the increase when implementing video tracking for clients when using Google Tag Manager to send data to Google Analytics. Its not too painful, but something to consider.
Testimonials in motion
If you’ve got happy clients, let them speak. Video testimonials feel real and relatable, especially when paired with written quotes and names. Together, they tell a stronger story.
It isn’t easy to get a client to agree to a video testimonial but if you can, they are pure gold!
Build trust through social proof
What others say matters
You can talk about your products and services all day, but people will trust someone who’s used them more. Even if it is a stranger. This is why review websites have become so popular.
If you are going to use reviews then you must be sure they are authentic. Don’t take them from suspicious sources, no matter how glowing they are, and NEVER create them yourself. People tend to sniff them out, even if the system or website hosting them doesn’t.
Show you’re legit
Badges, awards, or well-known clients all help lower hesitation. Just seeing a familiar logo or security icon can make someone feel more confident about taking the next step.
If your company operates within an industry where specialised certifications, memberships, licences or accreditations are well recognised, add these to your landing pages too. Don’t over emphasise them otherwise you may come across as a bit desperate. Put them somewhere close to your forms or calls-to-action for best effect.
Using personalisation and AI tools
Modern tools let us adjust landing pages based on where visitors came from or what they’ve clicked before. If someone’s on their second visit, they might see a slightly different message than a first-time visitor.
A simple example is a landing page that supports an email marketing campaign. If someone clicks a link in the newsletter that lands them on a page that speaks to them directly by using their name, it feels more personable.
Done right, this kind of tailoring makes the page feel more relevant, without getting creepy.
Test everything. Then test again.
Don’t guess—measure
We always test versions of a page against each other to see what performs best. Sometimes it’s the headline. Other times it’s button colour or form placement. You won’t know until you try.
Consider trying one of the split testing tools, Microsoft Clarity and Google Analytics to track how users behave and what they click on.
Just be careful about what user data is being collected when recording sessions. You may need to update your privacy policy too.
Look at the heat maps
Heatmaps show where people move their mouse, where they click, and how far they scroll. If no one’s seeing your call-to-action, it might just be in the wrong spot.
There are a bunch of these tools out there so find one with a pricing model you are comfortable with. Even if you only use them intermittently, you will learn a lot about how people react to your pages and where to make changes.
Heatmap reports are very useful when planning a split test.
Wrapping up
Landing page optimisation is one of the fastest ways to boost results for digital advertising campaigns. It’s not about adding bells and whistles—it’s about removing what gets in the way.
As consultants, we help companies simplify, clarify, and fine-tune their landing pages. The results? More leads, lower costs, and better ROI.
If your landing pages aren’t pulling their weight, it might be time to take a closer look.