What is a landing page, and do I need one for ads?
Short answer
A landing page is the page a person arrives on after clicking your ad. For search ads you do need one that matches what the person searched for, though it doesn't have to be specially built: a strong service page can do the job. Sending every ad click to your home page usually wastes money.
A landing page is the page a person arrives on after clicking your ad, and for search ads you do need one that matches what the person searched for. It doesn’t have to be a special page built only for advertising. A good service page on your existing site can serve. Sending every click to the home page, and leaving the visitor to find the right service on their own, usually wastes money.
What a landing page has to do
Someone who searched “tankless water heater installation Carlsbad” and clicked your ad has already told you what they want. The page has to confirm they are in the right place and make it easy to call or book. If the page they land on is about tankless water heaters, names Carlsbad among the cities you serve, and shows a phone number, they can act. If it’s a home page with eight services and a slideshow, many will go back and click the next ad. You have paid for the click either way.
Service page or purpose-built page
Either can work, and the choice depends on how good your service pages already are.
| Comparison | Existing service page | Purpose-built ad page |
|---|---|---|
| Navigation | Full site menu | Few links, so there are fewer ways to wander off |
| Unpaid search | Meant to rank | Often kept out of search results so it doesn’t duplicate the service page |
| Upkeep | One page to maintain | A second page to keep accurate |
| Suits | Most services, when the page is clear and current | A single offer, a seasonal push, or a test of different wording |
I’d start with the service page if it’s good, and build a separate page only when there’s a reason. A clear service page helps unpaid visitors too, which is one of the few places where ad work and SEO (search engine optimization) share the same piece of work.
What belongs on it
The page should carry what a homeowner needs in order to decide, and little else.
- A heading that names the service the ad promised.
- A phone number near the top that can be tapped on a phone.
- The cities you serve, and your hours.
- Your contractor license number, real reviews and photos of your own work.
- A short form for people who would rather not call.
Site speed on a phone belongs on the list too, because urgent searches are often made on a phone and a slow page loses people before they read a word. The page needs to carry your tracking number as well, so a call can be traced back to the ad.
How the page affects what you pay
Google rates the experience of the page an ad leads to, and that rating is one of the things that feeds into the ad auction alongside your bid. A page that matches the search and loads well can help. A page that doesn’t can mean paying more for the same position, which is one reason Google Ads clicks get expensive. Google doesn’t publish the exact weighting, so I treat it as a direction and not a formula.
When you don’t need one
Local Services Ads (LSA), the pay-per-lead listings at the top of the results, work without one. The lead normally reaches you as a call or message from the listing itself, without a visit to your site. A landing page matters for search ads and any other ad that sends a click to your website. A page also can’t rescue a campaign aimed at the wrong searches. If the clicks are from people who never wanted your service, fix the targeting first.