How to Create and Optimize a Killer Landing Page for Google Ads

Launch Your Online Business in Just 7 Days

Attractive landing pages can help you see a conversion rate increase of 9.7%!

What makes a landing page attractive is all about how it aligns with the search intent of your customers.

When customers click on your ads, they are taken to your landing page. If the page is irrelevant to what the ad says, they leave.

To keep your ads relevant and engaging, we’ll be examining how to use Google Ads to create and optimize landing pages.

Let’s get started!

1. What is a Google Ads landing page?

A Google Ads landing page can be referred to as a PPC (pay-per-click) or SEO (search engine optimized) landing page.

Think of this page as your office’s reception area where visitors get the first impression of your company.

They expect a warm welcome from the friendly and professional front office staff.

Similarly, a landing page is the first point of contact where visitors warm up to your offers.

A PPC landing page is not the same as a home page. People confuse the two a lot.

The difference is in how users find the page.

To find a homepage, you must have come across information on social media.

Alternatively, someone might have told you about it.

On the other hand, a landing page is found through an organic search.

You use keywords and access the page you seek based on its search engine ranking.

To promote a landing page with the purpose of converting leads, you can use Google Ads.

Speaking of Google Ads — what are they?

Google Ads is a service that allows you to display your business ads on Google’s search results.

These ads advertise your services or products while targeting search-relevant keywords.

Initially, Google named the service Google Adwords before rebranding it to Google Ads.

During a typical search, online users type a keyword. A SERP (Search Engine Results Page) returns the results of their search query.

Within those results, you will have an ad targeting the search keyword.

Let’s assume you want to search for “google ads”, your results will be as follows:

Google Ads in the SERPS

Google Ads search results are similar to organic search results.

The only difference is the bolded “Ad” which denotes the advertisement.

However, you will not always get a top spot for your ad. Other businesses could also be competing for a similar keyword.

Google offers the PPC model to create a level playing field.

The process involves placing a bid on the keyword you intend to target.

Why place a bid? Google auctions ads for every keyword, meaning you compete with other entities that have created ads for your target audience.

Let’s assume that you place a maximum bid of $10, representing the highest amount you seek to pay for an ad.

Google will then establish your cost per click as $2 and offer you the ad placement.

When someone clicks on that ad, you pay a fee for it, hence the term “pay-per-click”.

Your goal is to have many online users clicking on your ads. That way, you can drive the traffic to your sales funnel and make back the money you spent.

1.1. PPC landing pages vs. SEO landing pages

1.1.1. PPC landing pages

Example of a call to action

There are 2 types of ways that websites can get online traffic — organic or paid traffic.

For organic traffic, Google selects your site for a search query and displays its link in the bottom half of the SERPS (or below paid ad links).

Paid traffic originates from pay-per-click ads and gives you a choice of where you would like your visitors to land.

You can still direct visitors to your homepage, but you won’t achieve many conversions if your homepage’s content does not match the clicked ads.

1.1.2. SEO landing pages

An SEO landing page attracts organic traffic (free traffic) from ordinary online searches.

The intention is for customers to learn about your business and its products or services.

Whenever users search these keywords, they’re more likely to find your site if it’s optimized for keywords — thus ranking higher in the SERPS.

Here is a summarized distinction between PPC and SEO landing pages:

2. Elements of an effective landing page

When users click your ad, they expect to land on a useful and relevant page.

An effective landing page should have the following elements:

Branding — Your landing page should have the company logo so that visitors can easily identify you
Uncluttered page — Make your page elements clear with a specific path that leads to a call-to-action button
Clear headlines — Use direct headlines that clearly explain what you are offering
Images and icons — Images increase engagement, short videos are also highly effective
Short and direct copy — Utilize short-form copy that gets to the point. Use bolded words, bullet points, and a benefits-oriented tone
Lead capture form — Design an easy-to-complete form that only captures critical information from visitors (such as their name and email)
Credibility — Include your company contacts, social media sharing buttons, statistical evidence, reviews, and customer testimonials to provide social proof customers can trust

Testing your landing page is subjecting it to quality control that helps gauge its potential effect.

An A/B test or split testing helps determine the website version that offers the best user experience.

During testing, you present users with several site versions, with your web design team temporarily out of the picture.

By analyzing certain metrics, you’ll be able to see which web version visitors find more engaging.

That will be your winning website.

3. How to create a Google Ads landing page

In order to offer the best Google Ads landing page experience for site visitors, there are a few steps you’ll need to take first.

Let’s examine them in more detail.

3.1. Choose a landing page builder

Building landing pages

With so many options for landing page builders, we’ve created a list to teach you what to look for in a landing page builder before you buy:

Professional templates — Confirm that the builder has visually appealing templates that are easy to edit
Mobile optimization — Find a landing page builder that designs pages optimized for mobile devices
A/B testing — This is vital to make sure your marketing metrics (click-through rates, sales rates, etc.) remain positive
Integrations — These will help if you’re using data from different platforms
Multiple users — Your page-building team needs to access the tool remotely. Check that the one you seek allows multi-user access

The following landing page builders can easily help you get started:

3.1.1. Systeme.io

systeme.io logo

Systeme.io is an effective landing page builder and an all-inclusive marketing platform that provides an easy way to manage your online business.

Among our landing page building features, you’ll find pre-designed templates categorized by industry, a drag-and-drop builder and A/B testing for your landing pages.

Our software also includes default mobile-responsive pages and blogging features to help attract leads.

At systeme.io, we offer a Free plan and 3 paid plans:

Free plan — $0/month for up to 2,000 contacts
Startup plan — $27/month for up to 5,000 contacts
Webinar plan — $47/month for up to 10,000 contacts
Unlimited plan — $97/month for up to unlimited contacts

All our features scale as you choose a higher plan

The Free plan provides you with endless opportunities to test and get used to our platform and doesn’t require credit card information to get started.

3.1.2. HubSpot

HubSpot’s content management system

HubSpot is a CRM and marketing platform that helps you design professional-looking landing pages even without web development skills.

The software offers mobile-responsive templates, a drag-and-drop editor, and a personalized content display.

Hubspot has 13 templates that you can customize and use for free.

On top of that, the HubSpot Marketplace offers you hundreds of paid templates.

With their builder, you’ll find an optimization checklist to analyze your pages with editing or improvement suggestions provided.

Another helpful feature allows the saving of design elements for future use.

You don’t have to start your next landing page design task from scratch.

HubSpot’s pricing plans scale depending on the number of contacts you have:

Starter plan — $50/month for up to 1,000 contacts
Professional plan — $890/month for up to 2,000 contacts
Enterprise plan — $3,200/month for up to 10,000 contacts

3.1.3. Leadpages

Leadpages’ homepage

Leadpages is a landing page platform that offers over 160+ templates to help you create campaigns to get leads and conversions.

They also have Stripe integration and marketing tools to design pleasant, high-converting landing pages.

Leadpages features a drag-and-drop editor with A/B testing and you can host your landing pages on the platform.

Built-in dashboard analytics makes tracking leads, conversions, sales, and other metrics easy.

Their 3 pricing plans come with unlimited traffic and are as follows:

Standard plan — $49/month
Pro plan — $99/month
Advanced plan — $399/month

Leadpages doesn’t have a free plan, but they offer a free trial for 14 days after which you can scale to a paid plan of your choice.

3.2. Customize your page

A landing page is the conversion driver. Visitors form opinions on your landing page based on its presentation.

While there are no hard and fast rules on making the perfect landing page, you should focus on creating a page that customers find helpful.

The task involves customization and lots of tweaking until you are satisfied with the outcome.

Start with a killer landing page headline that draws a user’s interest. The headline must grab attention and state the service’s or product’s purpose.

Make it brief, between 10 and 20 words.

Next, use subheaders that persuade visitors to stay on your page and find appropriate high-quality images that resonate with your offer.

3.3. Match your offers with your ads

If your ad promises to sell a weight loss program, let your landing page message be about the same.

The content on your page should align with your Google Ads keywords.

Matching your offers with your ads assures visitors that they’re on the right page and also adds credibility to your business.

To achieve this objective, ensure that the headline on your ad has a near similarity with that on your landing page.

See below an example from systeme.io:

Here’s the Google Ad:

systeme.io’s Google Ad example

Now here’s the landing page:

Result from clicking the Google Ad

3.4. Focus on benefits, not features

Always remember that it is the benefits, and not the features, that sell.

Customers buy a product to solve a problem. The same applies to service.

Embrace this concept by marketing the problem your product or service solves.

Customers will grasp that message and have it at the top of their minds. Benefits are the solutions that trigger people to make purchases.

3.5. Include a Thank You page

Source: OptinMonster.com

A Thank You page serves as a show of gratitude to your visitors for making purchases, opting in for a bonus, subscribing to a newsletter, or filling out an affiliate form.

You also use it to urge customers onwards.

A Thank You page is a powerful conversion tool if used in the following ways:

Asking for referrals
Recommending other offers
Collecting feedback

There are many ways of designing this page, but it would be good to have the elements listed below:

A “thank you” message
Contact details
What to expect from you
Further action statement

Customers expect you to lead them to a distraction-free Thank You page.

Don’t bombard them with content walls or commit to what you can’t deliver.

Use power words to make users feel happy. Add a call to action, and display your social media icons.

3.6. Test the page

Source: CrazyEgg.com

After completing the landing page design, you should test its effectiveness.

Creating a landing page and assuming it’s perfect for triggering conversions is the wrong move.

An A/B test on multiple versions of the page is highly recommended.

A/B testing shows you which of your landing page versions converts best, attracts the most clicks and has the lowest bounce rate.

4. How to optimize a landing page for Google Ads

A Google Ads campaign targets audiences who have made a purchase decision and only need you to point them in the right direction.

These online visitors are not so much interested in reading landing page content.

Instead, they skim through ads and landing pages until they find the one that offers what they need.

It would help if you leveraged these habits by optimizing your landing page.

Read on to discover some landing page best practices.

4.1. Make the page relevant

Relevance means sticking to the subject and getting to the point quickly.

If you read a newspaper in print or digital format, you will notice that all the important stories are on the first page.

Likewise, while optimizing your landing page, cut to the chase and provide vital information.

Use short and crisp descriptions so that visitors see your offers in one swipe — go for a simple, elegant, and relevant landing page.

Avoid complexities, focus on the offer, and hook your visitors with a compelling CTA.

4.2. Have a separate landing page for each Ad campaign

Each ad you promote should have its specific product.

Tailoring a landing page for every ad enhances a customer’s purchase decisions.

Moreover, you can single out the ads that convert most and those that don’t.

A one-ad-one-landing-page strategy ensures that you have the data needed for ad performance comparison.

What you deduce from the comparison helps you know what you need to fix.

So, if you dedicate a landing page to a specific ad campaign, you increase its Google Ads quality score.

A high score leads to a lower cost-per-click and improves an ad's position.

4.3. Check loading speeds

Source: PageSpeedInsights.web.dev

If your page loading speeds surpass 3 seconds, you could see up to 40% of your visitors leaving your site.

You should have a reason to worry about high bounce rates since it represents lost sales opportunities.

Besides, a site that loads slowly also affects your Google search engine rankings.

To test your landing page loading speed, visit PageSpeed Insights. Enter your web page’s URL and click on the “Analyze” button.

It’s that easy!

4.4. Ensure your page is mobile-friendly

Users click on Google Ads from different devices. Therefore, your landing page must adapt to mobile devices.

In 2021, there were more than 5.2 billion global mobile users.

With such a huge number of people using mobile devices, you can't hesitate to make your landing page mobile responsive and mobile-optimized.

Mobile responsive landing pages for Google can result in a positive user experience if done right.

For a mobile-friendly experience:

Ensure that the page displays CTA buttons at the top of a mobile view
Enable call extensions that make your contact details clickable
Clear the page of any clutter

4.5. Make the page trustworthy

Customer reviews

Visitors need assurances that your business is trustworthy and that your product or the service you offer is satisfactory.

Use social proof to win their trust. It shows positive experiences from other customers.

Display the following social proof aspects to show how well your previous customers rate your business:

Customer reviews
Testimonials
Social media shares
Case studies

To get this information, you could ask users to leave a review or to test your products in exchange for a gift voucher, discount, or any other freebie.

4.6. Make the page easy to navigate

Keep it simple

When designing a PPC landing page, follow the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) concept.

You want customers to have an easy time finding the information they need. Moreover, you want to lead them to your call to action.

Use white space (that space with nothing in it) to break your design elements.

Also, while you may be tempted to use fancy designs, don’t overdo it. Focus on the message.

Organize your page such that the most important information is at the top.

Set your CTA as a pop-up at the bottom of your page or end of the copy.

5. Other tools for Google Ads

5.1. Google Analytics

Google Analytics logo

Google Analytics shows you how visitors found your site and how they explore it.

It is a free-to-use tool that is critical in understanding your customers' journey.

Google Analytics allows you 10 million hits and 50,000 exported data rows per month.

Hits refer to activities on a website or mobile app. Pageviews and ecommerce transactions are examples of such activities.

Besides, you can refresh the data every 24 hours.

Using data from Google Analytics can help you predict customer behavior, such as visitors that are likely to bounce and those that will purchase.

5.2. Semrush

Semrush’s keyword research tool

Semrush is a research tool to help you create display ads.

The software provides you with a list of ads related to your keyword.

Semrush helps with keyword research with the following tools:

Keyword Magic Tool — Provides you with a list of keywords relevant to your query
Keyword Manager — Organize your findings with an option to export these into a CSV or XLSX file
Domain Overview — Spy on your competitors and see how they approach SEO
Keyword Gap report — Compares competitors and shows you the keywords they target and those they don’t
PLA Research (Product Listing Ads) — Analyzes ads and keywords to help you pick the best ones for your landing pages
Display Advertising — See the images and text that popular ads are using

You can now use these and many more insights to create ads that beat your competitors or stand up to them.

Semrush has 3 pricing plans:

Pro plan — $119.95/month
Guru plan — $229.95/month
Business plan — $449.95/month

There is a 7-day free trial but you must provide your credit card details.

6. Conclusion

Google Ads landing pages are the destination for customers that click on your ads.

The advantage here is that most people who click on Google Ads have already made a transactional decision.

You just need to make sure they’re happy when they land on your pages.

Make sure that your page loads fast on desktop and mobile devices, keep your content concise and your pages clean — and you’ll be right as rain!

To get started, let systeme.io help you.

Our all-in-one marketing platform offers all the tools needed to create landing pages that convert.

Simply sign up! It’s completely free — we don’t even ask for your credit card details!