A good Google Ads landing page gives people exactly what your ad promised, as soon as they arrive. Google rates landing pages on how relevant and useful they are to the people who click your ad. Its advice is to keep the message the same from ad to page, make the page mobile friendly and make it load fast.
You pay for every click, so it’s worth making sure the page people land on is ready for them. Here’s what Google looks for, what gets a page disapproved and how to check yours.
Google Ads landing pages at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is it? | The page people arrive on after clicking your ad (the final URL) |
| How does Google rate it? | Landing page experience: Above average, Average or Below average, one of the three parts of Quality Score |
| What does Google want? | What the person searched for, the same message as the ad, mobile friendly, fast loading |
| Is the home page OK? | A general home page doesn’t make a good landing page. Send people to the page about the exact product or service in the ad |
| Does it need the exact keyword? | No, Google says the word for word search term isn’t needed |
| How do I know it’s working? | Track enquiries and watch your conversion rate |
What is a landing page in Google Ads?
It’s the page on your website people arrive on after they click your ad. In your Google Ads account it’s the ad’s final URL. It can be any page on your site: a service page, a product page or a page built just for the campaign.
How does Google judge your landing page?
Google gives every keyword a Quality Score from 1 to 10. It’s built from three parts (Google Ads Help):
- Expected click through rate: how likely your ad is to be clicked when it shows.
- Ad relevance: how closely your ad matches the intent behind the search.
- Landing page experience: how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad.
Each part is rated Above average, Average or Below average, compared with other advertisers whose ads showed for the exact same search over the last 90 days. Google says a higher Quality Score means your ad and landing page are more relevant and useful to the searcher than other advertisers’.
Google also says Quality Score is a diagnostic tool, not an input in the ad auction. Treat a Below average landing page rating as a sign the page needs work, not as a score to chase.
What should a Google Ads landing page include?
Google’s own best practices for landing pages (5 ways to use Quality Score) come down to five things:
- Give people what they’re looking for. Google’s example: if someone searches for flannel shirts and clicks your ad for flannel shirts, the page should show your flannel shirts.
- Keep the message the same from ad to page. The page should follow through on the ad’s offer or call to action. If the ad says “Get a free quote”, the quote form should be easy to find.
- Make it mobile friendly. Google notes ease of navigation matters even more on mobile.
- Make it load fast. In Google’s words, loading speed can be the difference between someone bouncing or buying.
- Measure it. Google suggests using conversion rate as a guide to a good landing page experience.
That’s why landing pages are part of how we run Google Ads. A general home page doesn’t make a good landing page. It needs to match the search the person made and be set out to keep them on your site.
Does my landing page need the exact keyword?
No. Google says the word for word phrase from a search term doesn’t need to be on your landing page. Its example is a search for “South Melbourne Chihuahua-friendly budget hotels”, which doesn’t need a page with that exact headline. The page needs to deliver what the person was looking for.
What gets a Google Ads landing page disapproved?
Google’s destination requirements say the page people land on must be functional, useful and easy to navigate. These are some of the reasons Google disapproves ads:
| Problem | What it means |
|---|---|
| Destination not working | The page doesn’t load properly or returns an error |
| Destination mismatch | The domain in the ad doesn’t match the page, or the page redirects to another domain |
| Destination not crawlable | Google’s AdsBot can’t read the page |
| Destination not accessible | The page can’t be reached in the location you’re targeting |
| Destination experience | The page is hard or frustrating to navigate, or the click starts a download or opens an email |
| Insufficient original content | The page is mainly there to show ads, is copied from elsewhere or only sends people on to another site |
Google says a breach of this policy won’t lead to an immediate account suspension. It gives a warning at least 7 days before any suspension.
How do I check my landing page experience?
- In Google Ads, go to Keywords in the Campaigns menu.
- Click the columns icon at the top right of the table.
- Open the Quality score section and add Quality Score and Landing page exp.
- Click Apply. Each keyword now shows its rating.
If you see a dash instead of a score, Google says there haven’t been enough searches that exactly match your keyword to rate it yet.
How do I know if my landing page is working?
Count the enquiries it brings in. Set up conversion tracking so form submissions and phone calls from the page are recorded, then watch the conversion rate. If you use Google Analytics, mark those actions as key events in Google Analytics so you can see which pages turn visits into leads.
Our post on how to improve your Google Ads quality score covers the other two parts of the score.
How Boost can help
Landing page design is one of the four parts of our Google Ads management, alongside keyword analysis, campaign optimisation and tracking and reporting. If your site needs more than a new landing page, our website design team builds custom, SEO optimised, mobile friendly websites with a fast turnaround.
Not sure Google Ads is right for you yet? Read how to tell if Google Ads will work for your business.
Google Ads landing page FAQs
What is a landing page in Google Ads?
It’s the page on your website people arrive on after they click your ad. In your Google Ads account it’s set as the ad’s final URL.
Can I send Google Ads traffic to my home page?
You can, but a general home page doesn’t make a good landing page. Google’s advice is to give people what they searched for, so send them to the page about the exact product or service in the ad.
Does my landing page need to use the exact search term?
No. Google says the word for word phrase from a search doesn’t need to be on your landing page. The page needs to deliver what the person was looking for.
Where do I see my landing page experience in Google Ads?
Go to Keywords, open the columns menu and add Landing page exp. from the Quality score section. Each keyword shows Above average, Average or Below average.
What gets a Google Ads landing page disapproved?
Pages that don’t work, are hard to navigate, can’t be crawled by Google, aren’t available in the targeted location or have no original content. Ads that redirect to a different domain are also disapproved.