A client of mine was spending a few hundred pounds a month on Google Ads and sending every click to the homepage. The ads were fine. The homepage had a slider, eight menu items, a paragraph about the company’s history and a contact form on a separate page. Plenty of clicks, hardly any enquiries.

We built one page for the one service the ad promised, with one clear action on it. Enquiries picked up quickly, with no change to the ad budget. That is the difference a good landing page makes.

This post covers what a good landing page actually looks like, section by section, and what to cut so it does its job.

What a good landing page is for

A landing page has one job. It takes a visitor who has clicked on something specific, an ad, an email or a search result, and gets them to do one thing: ring you, book a call, request a quote.

A homepage does a different job. It introduces the whole business to people who want to look around. A landing page does the opposite and keeps people on a single path. If you send ad traffic to your homepage, you are paying for clicks and then handing visitors a map when they wanted directions.

Decide the one action before you write a word. Everything on the page either pushes towards that action or gets removed.

The headline and the first screen

The first screen is where most landing pages win or lose. A visitor decides within seconds whether they are in the right place, so it has to answer three questions straight away: what is this, who is it for, and what do I do next.

Your headline should mirror what the visitor just clicked. If the ad said “boiler repairs in Cheltenham”, the headline says that, not “Quality heating solutions you can trust”. The match between promise and page is what tells the visitor they have not wasted a click.

Under the headline, add one or two sentences that spell out the benefit, then a clear button with wording that says what happens next, such as “Get a free quote” or “Book a call”. Put it on the first screen, so nobody has to scroll to find it. If you want the full breakdown of what to say and how, [INTERNAL LINK: how to write website copy] covers it.

What a good landing page includes below the first screen

Once someone scrolls, they are asking for reasons to say yes. A good landing page answers those questions in a sensible order:

  • What you do for them, written as benefits rather than a list of features
  • Proof that you deliver, such as real reviews, named clients and specific results
  • How it works, in two to four plain steps, so the next move feels easy
  • The objections people have, answered before they ask, such as price, timing and what happens after they get in touch
  • The same call to action again, so it is within reach wherever they stop reading

Proof does more work than anything else on this list. Anyone can write “we are reliable and experienced”. A Google review from a customer in the next town, or a short before and after, is believable in a way your own adjectives never are. If you have none yet, ask your last five happy customers this week.

Remove everything that gets in the way

The biggest improvement I make to most landing pages is deletion.

Take out the main navigation menu. Every link in the header is an exit, and a visitor who leaves to read your About page is a visitor who is no longer thinking about booking. A logo that links back to the homepage is fine. Eight other links are not.

Cut the form down too. Name, phone number or email, and a short message is enough for most small businesses. Every extra field costs you some enquiries, and you can always ask for the rest on the first call.

Then look at pop-ups, sliders, auto-playing video and social media icons. They compete with the one thing you want the visitor to do. If the page would work without them, it works better without them.

Make it fast and make it work on a phone

Most of your landing page traffic arrives on a phone, usually from an ad or a text link, and usually on mobile data. Google’s own figures show 53% of mobile visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. You are paying for that click, so a slow page wastes the money before anyone has read a word.

Check the basics yourself. Buttons should be large enough to tap, text readable without zooming, and the phone number should dial when tapped. Compress your images, because a huge hero photo is the most common reason a landing page crawls. For the wider picture, see [INTERNAL LINK: mobile-first design].

The mistakes I see most often

Sending traffic to the homepage is the most common, and it is usually done because a landing page feels like extra work. It is not, and it pays for itself fast.

The second is trying to do too much. A page with a quote form, a newsletter signup, a download, a phone number and a link to your blog gives the visitor five choices, and they often pick none.

The third is vague copy. “Tailored solutions for your business” could sit on any website in any sector and tells the visitor nothing. Be specific about what you do, where you do it and who it is for.

The fourth is changing everything at once and never knowing what worked. If you adjust the headline, the form and the layout in one go, you will not learn which change made the difference. Change one thing at a time and give it enough visits to mean something.

How to tell whether your landing page is working

Count it. Divide the number of people who took the action by the number of people who visited, and track it monthly.

Resist the urge to compare yourself to a single published average. The figures vary widely depending on who is measuring and what counts as a conversion. Studies put averages anywhere from around 2% to 6.6%, and your number will depend on your industry, your traffic source and how high-intent your visitors are. Someone searching “emergency plumber” converts far better than someone who clicked a general awareness ad.

The useful comparison is you against you. Record your current rate, make one change, and see whether it moves. If you want help setting up the tracking, [INTERNAL LINK: Google Analytics setup for small businesses] walks through it.

Need help with your landing page?

If you have read this and thought “I get it but I do not have the time to build and test it properly”, that is what we are here for. Digital Edge Pro works with small businesses across the UK on landing pages that turn ad clicks into enquiries. Drop us a message at [CONTACT DETAILS] and we will tell you what your current page is getting wrong.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a landing page and a homepage?
 A homepage introduces your whole business and lets visitors explore. A landing page is built for one audience and one action, usually reached from an ad, email or search result. It has fewer links, tighter copy and a single call to action, which is why it converts better for targeted traffic.

How long should a landing page be?
 As long as it takes to answer the visitor’s questions and no longer. A simple, low-cost offer needs a short page. A higher-priced service needs more proof and more explanation. If a section does not help the visitor decide, cut it. Length is never the goal, clarity is.

How many fields should a landing page form have?
 As few as you can get away with. For most small businesses that means name, phone number or email, and an optional message. Every extra field costs you some enquiries. Ask for the detail you need on the first call, not before the visitor has decided to trust you.

What is a good landing page conversion rate?
 It depends on your industry, traffic source and what counts as a conversion. Published averages range from roughly 2% to 6.6% depending on the study. High-intent traffic, such as someone searching for an emergency service, converts far higher. Track your own rate and aim to beat it each quarter.

Do I need a separate landing page for every ad?
 Ideally, one per distinct offer or service, so the headline matches what the visitor clicked. You do not need a new page for every minor ad variation. Start with your best-performing service, build one strong page for it, and add more as you see which ones bring in enquiries.