What to Do if Google Ads Says Your Landing Page Experience Is Below Average

Having a poor performing Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords) landing page is bad news – not only will Google be less likely to show your ads, but you are probably missing out on valuable conversions.  It also negatively affects your Quality Scores, which means you end up paying more for each click.

In an effort to be more “transparent,” Google now makes an attempt to tell you why your Quality Score for a given keyword is low. One reason might be the quality of your landing page experience. If Google Ads thinks your landing page experience is “below average,” it could hurt your Quality Score.

According to Google, you should focus on three things if your landing page quality needs improvement:

1. Relevant and original content
2. Transparency
3. Ease of navigation

If Google has deemed your landing pages to be “below average” in quality, you’re probably looking to improve your landing page experience Here are 10 tips on improving your landing page Quality Score.

1. Check the relevancy of your landing page content to your ad. It’s of the utmost importance that your landing page content matches your ad text and the ad’s keywords. For example, if a user clicks an ad talking about high heels, don’t send them to a general shoe page, but instead to a specific page about the high heels offered. The more directly related the landing page is to the ad text, the better.
2. Don’t overwhelm the visitor with links. Provide the necessities, like a link to make an order, contact info, and a link to the homepage, but not much else. More possible exits from the landing page increase the likelihood of the user leaving.
3. Create a solid site architecture system. Use information architecture to design a site that enables you to create very detailed pages for specific Google ads further down in your site hierarchy.
4. Call to action. Have a clear and powerful call to action that entices visitors. Try answering the question “I want to…” (getting into the mind of your visitor and what she wants). Calls to action in button form are best.
5. High-quality, relevant images. Images provide a visual clue about the message of your landing page to users. Mixing in images with page text makes the page much more attractive.
6. Write a powerful heading. The header is one of the first things visitors see on your landing page. Make sure it is relevant and attention-grabbing.
7. Keep it short and to the point. Remember, your landing page isn’t a blog post. Too much information and text can easily overwhelm visitors, and these days with the quick scanning mentality of the interwebs, almost any text is too much text. Simply provide the essential key information and important points that you know will interest your audience – think benefits.
8. Experiment with form length. If your conversion rate is low, consider shortening your form. If the quality of your leads is the main issue, try lengthening the form. Every minute shaved off (or added) to a user’s experience on your site can make a big difference.
9. Add social buttons and trust signals. Adding social media buttons is smart because they make it easy for visitors to share your fantastic offer with friends around the world. Trust symbols and badges, like awards you’ve won, recognition, and your own logo, help reassure potential customers that your businesses is trustworthy and safe to make a purchase with.
10. Keep in mind the need for speed. Sometimes something as simple as site speed can have a large impact on your landing page Quality Score. Test your landing page and make sure it is loading at a reasonable speed. If it’s too slow, check the size of your images and eliminate any extras that might be weighing the page down.

(Read more: How to Create the Best Landing Pages for Your Google Ads Account)