What is a landing page?
What counts as a landing page?
The page a click lands on. That might be a product page, a category page or a page built just for one campaign. In Google Ads, the address you set for the ad is its final URL, and the page behind it is usually the landing page1.
Some marketers use the term for a single-purpose page with one action. That is a common marketing habit. It is not what Google's definition says. Whichever way you use it, say which.
Why does it matter for paid results?
The ad gets the click. The page has to do the rest. Google says landing page experience depends on things like how useful and relevant the page is, how easy it is to navigate and whether it gives people what the ad led them to expect1. A mismatch is expensive: the ad promised one thing and the page shows another.
Google also treats the page as part of how it judges ads. Landing page experience is one of the three components of Quality Score2. Quality Score is a diagnostic, not a KPI, so use it to spot problems, not to judge results.
Closer to money is conversion rate: for a shop, usually the share of visits that turn into orders. Always say how it was counted. Improving it is the job of conversion rate optimisation (CRO), which relies on analytics, qualitative research and controlled tests.
How do you know a page is better?
Test one against another. An A/B test randomly splits an audience between two versions to see which performs better on a set metric. Without a test, "the new page feels better" is an opinion.
For how pages fit into channel choices that follow margin, see paid media strategy for ecommerce.
Worked example
Easily confused with
Landing page vs Home page
The front door of the whole site. Ads can land there, but it is rarely built for one ad.
Landing page vs Final URL
The address. The landing page is the page it opens.
Landing page vs Product page
Often a landing page, but it can also be reached without any ad.
FAQ
Are a post-click page and a destination page the same as a landing page?
Yes. "Post-click page" and "destination page" are other names for the page an ad sends people to.
Does the landing page affect Google Ads?
Google lists landing page experience as one of three components of Quality Score2. It is a diagnostic, not a KPI.
How do I know which landing page works best?
Run a test. Send comparable visitors to two versions and compare the results on a metric you chose first.
Sources
- Landing page - Google Ads HelpPrimary source
- About Quality Score for Search campaigns - Google Ads HelpPrimary source
Let’s find what’s actually working.
Next step. Check what your paid traffic is returning against margin. Use the Is your ROAS real? calculator.