PPC Landing Page: Tips for Designing PPC Landing Pages

Converting someone to take a specific action is a bit like a relay race. Pay-per-click (PPC) ads entice people to click through, then hand the baton off to the accompanying PPC landing page. The goal of these pages is to get the user over the finish line.

A strong PPC landing page picks up exactly where the ad leaves off, reinforcing the same message, tone, and promise that motivated the click in the first place. That means matching headlines, visuals, and offers so users immediately feel they’re in the right place. By removing distractions, focusing on a single goal, and making the next step obvious, the landing page minimizes friction and keeps momentum moving all the way to conversion.

Learn more about how effective PPC landing pages work with PPC ads, and discover how you can optimize your own.

What is a PPC landing page?

A pay-per-click landing page is a standalone web page created for users who click on a paid ad, whether it’s served via Google, Meta, or any other digital platform. The dedicated landing page that a PPC ad takes you to always has a specific purpose. That purpose might be to convert visitors into taking a specific action, like signing up for a newsletter, buying a product, or opting into a free trial.

PPC campaigns work by matching the messaging on the landing page with the information in the ad. This means the ad and landing page headlines and copy relay the same information, or even mirror each other’s language to ensure the visitor is seeing what they expect. 

PPC ads are a form of targeted advertising in that they also generally use data to reach a specific target audience. That data could come from keyword searches, a user’s behavior (like looking at similar products), or their interests, like football or camping.

PPC landing page vs. standard landing page

Standard landing pages and PPC landing pages share a lot of the same features, with a few key differences. Here’s a brief breakdown of each:

Similarities

• Standalone page. Both are dedicated, standalone web pages that support a specific marketing campaign rather than a full website experience.

• Single goal. Both direct visitors toward one specific conversion goal, whether it’s to sell products, generate more leads, or just collect customer data.

• Website design principles. Landing page design best practices apply to both standard and PPC landing pages. This includes benefit-driven copy, a clear call to action (CTA), and on-brand imagery.

Differences

• Lifespan. Standard landing pages aren’t necessarily tied to a campaign and can therefore exist indefinitely. A PPC landing page, on the other hand, usually ties to a paid ad campaign and only lives for as long as the campaign runs.

• Information. Standard landing pages often include broader information relating to the brand. PPC landing pages, however, revolve around the ads they’re tied to and therefore have more targeted messaging.

• Searchability. Since companies tend to optimize standard pages for search engine optimization (SEO), they can be found through search engines like Google. Traffic to PPC landing pages comes from pay-per-click ads, so they usually can’t be found through organic search.

Strategies for high-converting landing pages

• Match your ad to your landing page
• Remove extra navigation
• Use a clear call to action
• Test landing page designs
• Optimize for mobile devices

Every landing page content and design choice should support a single goal: conversion. The following landing page best practices help reduce friction, maintain message consistency, and guide users toward taking action:

Match your ad to your landing page

PPC campaigns revolve around targeting. They tap into your audience’s interests by riding a tailored algorithm into their feeds or user search results. 

It’s key to make sure that your PPC landing page is directly relevant to the ad that drives there in order to align with customer expectations. When it comes to conversion optimization, a disconnect in the information could lead to lower conversions and a higher bounce rate.

For example, if your ad is talking about a store-wide sale, then the landing page should reiterate it. If you link to a landing page that focuses on one product with the sale as secondary messaging, users could get confused and bounce.

Remove extra navigation

Unlike a homepage or standard landing page, a PPC landing page should stay focused on one goal. Remove any additional or extra navigation from your PPC landing page to keep users moving in the direction you want them to go. In fact, one study found that removing the navigation bar can increase conversions up to 336%.

Keep your eye on the prize. You don’t want users exploring your entire website if the main goal is to get them to buy a specific product or sign up for a distinct promotion. These ads and their landing pages should focus on one type of conversion. 

For example, if your ad clicks through to a recommendation quiz that helps someone figure out the best product for them, then don’t include navigation to explore all of your products. Move them down the funnel of buying the specific product the quiz suggests. Opening them up to other options can lead to analysis paralysis.

Use a clear call to action

With a singular conversion goal, a PPC landing page should push one action and one action only. Whether you’re asking visitors to sign up, buy, or download something, your CTA should be unmistakable and repeated at logical points on the page. Multiple CTAs competing with each other dilute intent and slow decision-making. A clean, singular path keeps visitors focused and increases the likelihood they’ll complete the action you want, increasing your landing page conversion rate.

Test landing page designs

Once you launch your campaign, A/B testing can be a great tool to optimize conversions. You can test different elements like CTAs, headlines, or imagery to see what drives more conversions. Just make sure you are testing one element at a time to clearly identify what is and isn’t working.

Platforms like Shopify can help you build landing pages, and A/B testing tools can help you analyze performance. Or, if you’re using Google ads, the Google Analytics dashboard also gives you a landing page report with insights on how many people visit your page and how they interact with it. Based on your test results, you can change elements on your landing pages to see if they perform better.

Optimize for mobile devices

Mobile traffic accounts for more than half of all global web traffic, making it a necessity for businesses to ensure their marketing efforts translate to the phone. Rather than rebuilding each landing page to work on mobile, you could build with responsive web design that automatically adapts to the user’s device. 

Shopify, for example, has responsive design themes that are all mobile-responsive and allow you to build landing pages without having to code. Make sure to adapt your website copy for vertical scrolling by breaking text into short, skimmable chunks so users don’t get overwhelmed by a wall of text on a small screen.