Landing Page Experience Below Average? Check 11 Ways to Fix It!

If Google Ads shows you a message saying: “landing page experience below average,” then that’s bad news for you! Google will likely charge you more for each click on your ad and will also show your ad a lot less than your competitors!

A below-average landing page experience also indicates missing out on conversions!

At the end of the day, Google is looking for signals based on user experience. So when Google says there are issues, your visitors indeed face problems! And this may explain your redundant conversion rates.

This leads us to the question of how one can improve the landing page experience on Google Ads & get rid of the annoying “landing page experience below average” message…

Well, you will have to work towards improving your quality score. Improving the quality score means your landing page experience is automatically peaking. BUT, unfortunately, Google has yet to publicly announce the exact formula it uses to determine the quality score of your ads!

The only thing Google does reveal is that your landing page should be relevant to the keywords present in your PPC campaign. But eh, marketers, like myself, tend to do a thing here and there and see how it goes…

And I did play with Google Ads quite enough times to come up with practical tips through which you can fix “Google Ads landing page experience below average” problems.

11 ways to fix landing page experience below average problem:

The following can be used as a cheat sheet to ensure maximum closeness to what Google might be after to grant you an above-average landing page experience.

Follow these 11 tips, and you’ll see the magic!

1. Use relevant content

The content of your landing page should be highly relevant to the keywords you have chosen for your PPC campaign. In addition, the landing page content should also be relevant to the ad text you have chosen.

For example, if your ad text is about “Apple MacBook Air”, then your landing page should be specifically about this laptop model. Speaking about “Apple MacBook Pro” would undoubtedly be off-topic, thus harming your page experience score.

Put simply, landing page content that’s not directly related to your keywords and ad text is one of the leading reasons for a below-average landing page experience.

And while you focus on the relevant content, ensure that it is also unique & plagiarism free.

2. Improve page loading speed

Another common reason that leads to poor landing page experience is a slow website or page speed. If your landing page takes a lot of time to load, it ultimately affects the user experience and compromises the quality score.

But how much time is too much for a website to load properly?

According to Portent, a loading speed between 0 to 4 seconds on the desktop is suitable for a website & anywhere less than 7 seconds is practical for mobile users.

Anything higher than this means your website loading speed should be improved.

To reduce your website’s loading speed, try to reduce the image size or use Light WebP Images, and remove anything extra (Using too many Javascript can also slow down the website).

You can also test your website or landing page on PageSpeed Insights to get a more accurate report + recommendations!

3. Avoid unnecessary links

Only include the necessary links on your landing page. These can be contact info, privacy policy, link to place an order, etc. Remove anything unnecessary, especially if it sends people off your website and hinders their digital customer journey.

It is usually best not to include links to 3rd party sites, as people who click on your ads could end up leaving your landing page. I mean, who likes to pay money so that they can send traffic to someone else? And besides that, it also leads to a below-average landing page experience.

4. Clear CTA buttons

A good CTA (call-to-action) is also an essential part of a landing page; it’s so critical that it can help you to get a higher quality score & throw off the “landing page below average” notifications. It is usually best to use CTAs in the button form compared to simple text links for the best results.

The location and the text you use for the CTA buttons are also equally important. Ideally, the text of your CTA buttons should entice the end user to click and take action.

For example: “I want to Lose Weight Now!”, “Download Now,” “Limited Quantity Left,” etc.

As for the location of these CTAs, the ideal choice is above the fold, so the end user doesn’t have to scroll down. But that’s not to say that you should include your CTA above the fold once and then forget about it. Your CTA button should be present at different parts of your landing page.

5. Keep it short

Avoid adding too much information on your landing page as it can distract & even overwhelm the visitors. Google can detect when the content of a landing page is more detailed than necessary.

People, as well, tend not to spend too much time reading a lot of text, especially if it is a landing page. Sure, there are cases when you do need to include a lot of text, such as this blog, but that’s not the case most of the time!

For example, a user clicking on an ad saying “Buy Men’s Shoes” is probably looking to buy shoes and isn’t interested in reading a 10,000 words blog post!

So, keep it short by only providing the relevant information that engages the audience without overwhelming them.

6. Use good-quality images

This one should be a no-brainer but make sure to include good-quality images on your landing page. The quantity and quality of images are equally crucial for a good landing page experience.

You should avoid using pixelated, stock, or low-quality images, as it just doesn’t send a good signal. Similarly, avoid using stock images as they just don’t appear authentic since they are too generic.

Try to invest in good and original photographs & designs to ensure your landing page experience won’t be below average.

7. Use information architecture

Aim to use proper information architecture in your website design to create detailed pages for each specific Google ad. This will keep the information adequately structured and easily accessible to the users.

And since Google really cares about people clicking on its ads, doing so will also help you to improve your landing page experience.

8. Social links

Make your digital presence omnichannel & improve your customer’s journey by including social links on your landing page. This makes it easy for potential users to connect with you, even on various social media platforms.

Presenting your trademark across different media platforms increases trustworthiness. And you can 10X that trustworthiness when a user visits your social media and finds good interactions from other buyers!

9. Include trust signals

Always with trust…

A good landing page also includes trust signals that can be perceived by visitors and algorithms as well. Some of the steps you can take to improve the trust signals of your landing page include:

• Include any awards you have won
• Add your logo in a prominent location
• Include the brands that are working with you
• Include customer/consumer testimonials
• Reassure the customers that it is safe to purchase on your site

10. Adjust form length

Many people pay attention to other aspects of the landing page but forget about the form… If your landing page includes a form, ensure it’s optimized for the pre-set goals.

A short and straightforward form will do best when collecting data regardless of lead quality. But when looking for la creme de la creme, you’re better served with a more detailed one!

The same concept can be applied to adjust your current form if it’s not getting you the desired goals. Per se, if you’re getting low-quality leads and want less, change the form to reduce low-quality leads.

Put simply, the best practices for a form on a landing page would depend on your strategic goals!

11. Attention-grabbing headline

A headline is very important whether you read a newspaper or visit a landing page. In fact, it’s the first thing a recipient sees when you’re making an ad! So, it can be the decisive factor between a good CTR and a bad one.

And needless to say, a good CTR does impact the landing page score!

Well, you definitely don’t want a headline that might be reported as a clickbait! While you work on making an attention-grabbing headline, remember to keep it honest and genuine!

The first thing that usually appears on a page is the heading & you wouldn’t want to mislead people from the start. It can actually deteriorate your brand image & even hurt your conversions.

 A Good thing to do is to make use of powerful words such as “Discover,” “Special Offers,” and “Ending Soon,”… kind of words to induce clicks!

Landing page experience still below average!? Optimize for mobiles!

All the tips won’t work if you’re not doing it with phone users in mind!

Remember that two-thirds of the global searches on Google are performed via mobiles. So, make sure the responsive version of your landing page looks just as appealing and loads just as fast on phones!

Conclusion

It doesn’t matter whether Google tells you your landing page experience is below average or average… By using the 11 tips mentioned above, you can easily solve this problem. This will end up helping you to pay less for more traffic & even get more conversions!