What a PPC landing page needs

A PPC landing page needs to do one job: turn the person who just clicked your ad into a call, a form or a booking. That means it must repeat the promise of the ad, show the price or at least what drives it, prove you're real, and put the next step within thumb's reach on a phone. Everything else on the page either supports that job or gets in the way.

Most ad accounts I review send paid clicks to the homepage. The homepage has to serve everyone: job seekers, existing customers, people checking your hours. A landing page serves one visitor with one intent, and that focus is why it usually converts better on the same ad budget.

Message match: the first five seconds

A visitor arrives with the search still in their head. If they searched "emergency electrician Atlanta" and clicked an ad promising "Electrician at your door in 90 minutes," the headline they see should say the same thing, in close to the same words. If it says "Welcome to Smith Electrical Services, family owned since 1998," they have to work out whether they're in the right place. Many won't bother.

Check every ad group: does the landing page headline match the ad's main headline? If you advertise five different services, you probably need five pages or one page with five tailored versions. Google also rewards that match in its landing page experience rating, which feeds into what you pay per click, as I explain in the cost per click guide.

The building blocks, top to bottom

Here is the structure I use as a starting point for most service businesses. It flexes by industry, but the order matters.

The form and the call button

On mobile, a big "Call now" button that dials directly is often your best converter for urgent services. Put it at the top and repeat it, or use a sticky bar at the bottom of the screen.

Keep the form short: name, phone, a short description and, if it matters, zip code. Each extra field costs submissions. If you need more details, collect them on the follow-up call. For quote-heavy businesses such as remodelers, a two-step form (a simple first question, then contact details) can feel lighter while still qualifying leads.

Say what happens after submitting: "I call you back within 30 minutes during business hours" is far more reassuring than a bare Submit button. Then make sure that promise is kept. A quick reply often matters more than any design detail; see speed to lead.

Speed and mobile

Most local searches happen on phones, often on a cellular connection. A page that takes several seconds to show its headline loses people before they read a word. Compress images, avoid heavy sliders and video backgrounds, and test the page on a real mid-range phone, not just your office computer.

Also check that the phone number is a tap-to-call link, the form fields bring up the right keyboard (numbers for phone, email layout for email), and nothing important hides behind a cookie banner or chat pop-up.

Trust signals that work in the US

American consumers are used to checking before buying. Useful signals include your Google rating and a few recent reviews (real ones, shown accurately: the FTC's rule on fake reviews applies), how long you've been in business, your state license number where your trade requires one, insurance, and photos of your actual team and work. A clear service area list helps too: people want to know you'll come to their town.

Avoid what you can't back up. Badges for awards you didn't win or "#1 in the city" claims hurt more than they help, and can create legal trouble.

Navigation and distractions

A landing page usually drops the full site menu. Every link to "Blog" or "Careers" is a way out. Keep your logo, phone number and maybe one link to the main site for people who want to check you out, and remove the rest.

Pop-ups, auto-playing chat windows and newsletter sign-ups compete with the action you actually want. If you use a chat widget, make sure it doesn't cover the call button on mobile.

Tracking and testing

Every landing page should record form submissions and calls as conversions in Google Ads and your analytics, otherwise you can't tell which version works. My guide to conversion tracking for calls, forms and bookings covers how.

Once tracking works, test one change at a time: headline, the order of sections, the form length. Small accounts don't get enough traffic for fancy split testing, so make bigger, clearer changes and compare a few weeks before and after, keeping seasonality in mind.

Build or adapt?

If your current site lets you create focused pages without the main menu and loads fast on phones, you can adapt it. If every new page means waiting for a developer, or the site is slow, a dedicated landing page is usually a better investment than more ad spend. My landing pages start at $1,000 and take from 10 days, hand-coded or on a small CMS you can edit, with tracking built in. For the cost side, see how much a landing page costs.