Tackling Below Average Landing Page Experience: How to Engage and Convert More Visitors

An underperforming landing page can feel like a dead end for small business owners and marketers alike. Imagine spending time and money driving traffic to your site through Google Ads, only to watch visitors leave without taking any action. That’s the impact of a poor landing page experience, and it doesn’t just hurt conversions—it can also damage your visibility on search engines like Google.

If your “landing page experience” or “landing page experience Google Ads” score is consistently rated as below average, don’t worry. This guide will provide practical, actionable steps to improve. You’ll learn how to optimize your landing pages to engage visitors, keep them on your site, and ultimately convert them into customers.

What Is a Landing Page Experience, and Why Does It Matter?

Your landing page experience refers to how users interact with your site after clicking on an ad. Google assigns this score—from below average to above average—based on the page’s relevance, loading speed, mobile-friendliness, and overall design.

A “below average” landing page experience does more than frustrate visitors. It can:

• Lower your ad quality score, making you pay more for clicks in Google Ads.
• Reduce your visibility in search engines, as Google prioritizes user-friendly pages.
• This results in missed conversions and stalling business growth.

Understanding and improving your landing page experience isn’t a one-time fix. It’s an ongoing process that requires adjustments and testing. Now, let’s explore how to turn a below-average Google Ads landing page experience into a conversion machine.

Key Factors That Affect Your Landing Page Experience

Before jumping into how to improve, it helps to understand what might be going wrong. Here are common issues that lead to a below-average landing page experience:

1. Slow Loading Times: Visitors won’t wait long for your page to load. Studies show that even a 1-second delay can reduce conversions by 7%.
2. Irrelevant Content: If a user clicks your ad about “affordable marketing tools” but lands on a generic page offering no specifics, they’re likely to bounce.
3. Poor Navigation: Confusing layouts or buried information disrupt a visitor’s flow, causing frustration.
4. Lack of Mobile Optimization: Mobile devices account for over 50% of web traffic. A landing page that isn’t mobile-friendly will turn away half your audience.
5. Intrusive Pop-Ups: No one likes being bombarded with pop-ups, especially when first arriving at a site. They can lead to instant abandonment.

Now that you know the pitfalls, it’s time to shift gears and focus on solutions.

Actionable Steps to Improve a Below-Average Landing Page Experience

1. Optimize Page Load Time

The faster your page loads, the more likely visitors will stay. Here’s how you can speed things up:

• Compress Images: Use tools like TinyPNG to shrink image sizes without compromising quality.
• Enable Caching: Caching stores static elements of your site so they load faster for returning visitors.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN like Cloudflare delivers your site’s content from servers closer to the user’s location.
• Minimize Plugins and Scripts: Too many plugins can slow performance. Audit your site and disable unnecessary ones.

2. Align Content with Visitor Intent

The content on your landing page should directly match your ad’s promise. For example:

• If your ad says “Free Marketing Checklist,” the landing page must feature that checklist prominently.
• Use bold headlines, bullet points, and concise copy to make information easy to scan.

3. Simplify Navigation

Streamline your landing page design to eliminate distractions. Here’s how:

• Create a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Whether it’s “Sign Up,” “Download Now,” or “Learn More,” your CTA should be evident and enticing.
• Remove Navigation Bars: Landing pages perform better without links or menus that take users away from the page.
• Use Logical Flow: Place key information above the fold and use directional cues (like arrows or whitespace) to guide users toward the CTA.

4. Make Your Page Mobile-Friendly

With mobile users dominating web traffic, ensuring a seamless experience on small screens is critical. Consider these tips:

• Use Responsive Design: Your layout should automatically adapt to different screen sizes.
• Touch-Friendly Buttons: Ensure buttons and CTAs are large enough to tap easily on touch screens.
• Test Across Devices: Use tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to identify issues.

5. Include High-Quality, Relevant Content

Don’t recycle generic information. Instead:

• Address pain points directly (e.g., “Struggling with low sales? Here’s how to optimize your landing page for better conversions.”)
• Use specific examples and actionable tips.
• Personalize content with phrases like “you” and “your business.”

6. Run A/B Tests

Testing is key to finding what works. A/B testing allows you to experiment with:

• Headlines
• CTA placement
• Colors and layout
• Copy length

Tools like Leadpages and Unbounce make setting up A/B tests and analyzing results easy.

Case Studies

AvidXchange: Transforming PPC Performance Through Strategic Optimization

AvidXchange, a leading SaaS company in payment automation, faced high cost-per-lead (CPL) challenges due to misaligned landing pages. These pages lacked relevance for their B2B audience and attracted unqualified leads, increasing costs. To solve this, AvidXchange redesigned their landing pages with tailored messaging, industry-specific imagery, and relevant content. A key strategy was A/B testing calls-to-action (CTAs), revealing that conversational CTAs outperformed generic options like whitepaper downloads. Through continuous testing and optimization, AvidXchange reduced CPL by 79% while generating higher-quality leads.

Truckers Report: Driving Results with Mobile-First Optimization

Truckers Report, a platform connecting truck drivers with jobs, improved their landing pages by focusing on mobile usability and audience-specific content. The original pages used generic imagery and vague messaging, failing to engage the target audience. They replaced stock photos with relatable visuals, rewrote headlines highlighting clear benefits, and added testimonials for credibility. After six rounds of testing, Truckers Report refined their pages to meet user needs better, resulting in a 79.3% increase in conversion rates—proving the value of targeted improvements and ongoing experimentation.

Additional Resources

Want more ways to improve your landing page performance? Check out these resources:

• Google PageSpeed Insights: Analyze and improve your load times.
• Leadpages Blog: For expert landing page optimization tips.
• Crazy Egg: Understand user behavior with heatmaps and visual analytics.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What does “landing page experience below average” mean in Google Ads?

This rating means your landing page doesn’t align with Google’s quality standards. It’s likely losing relevance for your target audience or providing a poor visitor experience.

How can I improve my Google Ads landing page experience score?

To raise your score:

• Match landing page content to ad keywords.
• Speed up your page load time.
• Improve mobile responsiveness.
• Ensure your landing page provides value and is easy to use.

What tools can help improve landing page performance?

Use tools like Google Analytics to track user behavior, Leadpages to create high-converting pages, and Hotjar to identify usability issues.

Conclusion

Your landing page is often the first impression visitors have of your business. A below-average landing page experience doesn’t just impact conversions—it affects your brand reputation and ad performance. But the good news is that you can turn things around with clear, simple steps.

By optimizing load times, aligning content with user intent, improving navigation, and testing different variations, you’ll make your landing pages more engaging and effective. Real-life examples prove it’s possible to go from “below average” to “outstanding.” Start optimizing today to boost conversions and grow your business. Remember, every click to your page is an opportunity—make the most of it.