A landing page is not a homepage with fewer links. Landing page best practices start from one idea: it exists to convert traffic from one specific source for one specific offer. Every element either moves someone toward that action or competes with it — and on paid traffic, the ones that compete are costing you money on every click.
Message match comes first
If your ad says “Emergency Boiler Repair in Bristol”, the headline should say close to that. When the page does not visibly match the promise that earned the click, people bounce within seconds — and you have paid for that click regardless.
This single principle explains more underperforming landing pages than layout, colour or copy length combined. Before optimising anything else, read your ad and your headline together and ask whether they are obviously the same offer.
Structure that works
- Headline stating the offer in the visitor’s own words
- Subheadline adding the specific detail that qualifies it
- Primary call to action, visible without scrolling
- Three to five benefits — outcomes, not feature lists
- Social proof: reviews, logos, numbers
- Objection handling — price, timeframe, guarantee, what happens next
- The call to action again
- A short FAQ for anything still unresolved
The call to action
- One action per page — adding a second reliably reduces both
- Say what happens next: “Get my free quote” beats “Submit”
- Repeat it as the page gets longer, but keep it identical
- Make it visually distinct from everything else on the page
- Remove the main navigation — every other link is an exit
Forms
Every field costs completions. Ask only for what you genuinely need to take the next step — you can gather the rest in the conversation that follows.
| Fields | Relative completion | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (email or phone) | Highest | Low-commitment offers, lead magnets |
| 3 (name, contact, message) | Strong | Most service enquiries |
| 5+ | Noticeably lower | High-value, qualified leads only |
If a long form is unavoidable, break it into steps. Completion rates improve when someone has already invested effort in step one.
Social proof
- Reviews with full names and locations beat anonymous quotes
- Specific numbers beat adjectives — “cut load time by 60%” over “great results”
- Client logos work if the names are recognisable to your audience
- Place proof near the call to action, where hesitation happens
Speed
Landing pages carry paid traffic, so slowness has a direct cost. Keep them lean: one hero image, minimal scripts, no page-builder bloat, and tracking loaded after render.
Landing page best practices: common mistakes to avoid
- Sending all ads to the homepage
- Headlines about your company rather than the visitor’s problem
- Several competing calls to action
- Stock photography that could belong to any business
- No mention of price or range, forcing an enquiry just to find out
- Forms asking for information you do not need yet
- No conversion tracking, so nobody knows what worked
If you cannot say what the single action on the page is, neither can your visitor.
Testing
Test one thing at a time — headline, then call to action, then form length. Run each test until you have enough conversions to trust the result, not enough visitors. A hundred visits and three conversions tells you nothing.
Further reading: eCommerce Conversion Rate Optimisation That Actually Works, Mobile-First Design: What It Means and Why It Still Matters, and our landing page service. For the official guidance, see Google Ads guidance on landing page experience.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good landing page conversion rate?
Two to five percent is typical; above ten percent is excellent. It varies enormously by industry and traffic source, so your own trend matters more than the benchmark.
Should a landing page have navigation?
Usually not. Removing the main navigation keeps attention on the single action the page exists for, and it reliably improves conversion on paid traffic.
How long should a landing page be?
As long as it takes to answer the questions standing between the visitor and the action. Simple, low-risk offers can be short; expensive or unfamiliar ones usually need more.