If you’re pouring time and budget into SEO, Google Ads, or social campaigns, but your landing page isn’t pulling their weight, you’re leaving conversions on the table. Landing pages are the frontline closers for your business, whether your visitors come from organic search or paid ads. Are you closing the deal or missing the mark?

What is the Difference Between a Landing Page & Other Page Types?

A landing page is a dedicated page with a single goal: to get your visitor to take action. That action could be filling out a form, making a purchase, or booking a call. 

Unlike your homepage (which is meant to drive users to other sections of your website), a landing page is laser-focused. It’s where your marketing efforts pay off—or fizzle out.

What Should be Included in a Landing Page?

Landing pages for conversions should be strategically built with one thing in mind: getting the user to fill out the form. 

Keeping this in mind, here are things you should include:

• Keep the information you ask for to a minimum, with the sweet spot around 3 to 5 fields. That said, research tells us over and over again that by eliminating fields, even going from 4 fields to 3, you can improve conversions by 50%. 
• Offer drop-downs, radio buttons, or checkboxes instead of open fields for multi-selection options. There’s no data showing a preference for one over another, so it really comes down to what will make the selection process for the buyer easiest. You may want to consider drop-downs for things like quantity selection, whereas you might opt for radio buttons or checkboxes for service or product selections if there is more than one selection. 
• Don’t forget a “thank you” page or customized message after form submission (conversion) — this is your chance to upsell, redirect the buyer, and/or encourage the buyer relationship. Offer link options to direct them back to the home page, blog feed page, invite them to follow you on social media, or direct them to other service/product pages. 
• Make sure the page you are directing traffic to has an active form available. If you don’t want to have purchases, reservations, or other options available 24/7, use a contact form instead of a booking, point of sale, or other option. It makes not only for a poor experience, but depending on the form you’re using, it can appear that the form is broken or unavailable instead of just ‘outside of hours.’

Here are a few things you should not include:

• Multiple Offers or Calls to Action – One landing page, one purpose. Don’t fill the page with several products, services, or offers. It’s okay to have different landing pages with different intentions. Multiple CTAs distract and confuse visitors — stick to one clear, primary goal.
• Cluttered Design and Excessive Content – Avoid overloading the page with images, text, or graphics. Keep it clean and stay away from ‘busy’ content. Too much information or visual clutter overwhelms visitors and reduces readability. Use white space strategically to highlight your form and CTA.
• Distractions (Pop-ups, Sidebars, Unrelated Links) – Turn off or stay clear of pop-ups, sidebars, and other elements that don’t reinforce the intent of the page and the goal. Focus on a concise, distraction-free layout.
• Generic or Broad Copy – Avoid vague, one-size-fits-all language that doesn’t speak directly to your audience. Make your messaging specific and relevant to who you are talking to. This is where knowing your demographic comes in handy and can directly impact whether you connect with your buyers or swing and miss. 
• Too Much Focus on Popularity or Social Proof Over Value – While testimonials and reviews are helpful, don’t make that your entire page. Focus on the value and benefits, and at the bottom of the page, include a few reviews or a couple of testimonials. 
• Confusing Conversion Paths – It’s okay to offer a secondary conversion path (like a phone number or chat), but don’t let these compete with your main CTA (i.e., form fill). Make sure the primary action is always the star of the page.
• Slow Load Times and Poor Mobile Optimization – Avoid heavy images, videos, or scripts that slow down your page. If your page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, over 40% of users will leave your website. 

What Makes a High-Converting Landing Page?

• If someone clicks an ad promising “Affordable SEO for Local Businesses,” but lands on a generic homepage, you’ve lost them. The copy, headline, and visuals on your landing page must match the promise of your ad or organic listing. This “message match” reassures visitors they’re in the right place and keeps bounce rates low.
• Your headline, unique value proposition, and CTA should be visible without scrolling. People decide in seconds if they’ll stick around, so make those first moments count.
• Your landing page must look and work flawlessly on any device. This includes desktop, tablet, and mobile views. 
• Add a privacy policy link if you’re collecting personal information. In a time where we all get the “We’re calling about your car’s extended warranty” calls, this helps reduce hesitation and gives visitors the confidence to convert. Showing you care about their privacy is a big trust win!
• Please don’t guess. If something isn’t working or you have any doubts about how you’re setting up your page, use A/B testing. You can try different headlines, images, or even CTAs and see what works and what doesn’t. 

Landing Page Special Considerations – Organic vs. Paid Traffic

Not all landing pages are created equally. For paid campaigns, you’ll want to create dedicated landing pages for each ad group or keyword. This boosts relevance, improves your Quality Score, and can raise conversion rates by up to 25%. 

Aspect	Organic Traffic	Paid Traffic (Ads)
Intent	Often research-driven, less urgency	High intent—visitors clicked a targeted promise
Landing Page Match	Align with the searcher’s query & SEO best practices	Mirror ad copy, headline, and offer exactly
Personalization	Broader messaging, but still focused	Highly targeted, sometimes dynamic content
Tracking	SEO tools, Google Analytics	Conversion tracking, ad platform analytics

The overall goal is to create a clean, simple, straightforward landing page that highlights the goal of the page, whether that’s to submit a contact form, call the office, or maybe download a PDF. Do that, and you’ll be ready for success!