When running paid media campaigns, it’s easy to get caught up in optimizing keywords, budgets, and bidding strategies. 

But none of that matters if your landing page doesn’t effectively convert visitors. 

According to PPC expert Chris Nightingale, who has extensive experience crafting high-converting landing pages, even minor tweaks to your landing pages can significantly impact conversion rates.

Chris is the owner of Can-Do Marketing, and has experience working on some of the biggest accounts out there—including AO, Alleyoop, and more. Safe to say he knows a thing or two when it comes to high-converting landing pages. 

We sat down with Chris on episode 8 of the Paid Media Lab podcast to take an in-depth look at the power of landing pages, and their potential to turn visitors into long-time customers.

Watch the full episode below and explore the most effective ways to optimize your landing pages for maximum conversions.

Timestamps: 

00:00 - Intro

02:25 - Landing page fundamentals 

03:38 - Key landing page mistakes to avoid

06:50 - What % of budget should be spent on landing pages?

09:01 - Step-by-step: Create landing pages from scratch

11:32 - Relating search ad copy to landing page copy

14:38 - PMax landing pages & final URL expansion

17:08 - Should you send paid traffic to blogs?

18:30 - Real-world customer journey examples

20:47 - Building social proof

22:38 - Personalization & dynamic landing page advice 

25:55 - Final thoughts

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For all of Chris’ tips, tricks, and insights on landing page optimization, increasing conversion rates, and more – watch Chris’ full episode above, and make sure to subscribe to the Lunio YouTube channel to watch full episodes of the Paid Media Lab podcast, featuring insights from top PPC professionals. 

Alternatively, follow the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Amazon Music to get new episodes delivered straight to your feed.

The most common landing page mistakes

Before diving into landing page best practices, it’s crucial to understand the most common landing page pitfalls marketers (even those experienced enough to know better!) often make.

Chris highlighted three major mistakes:

1. Slow page load speed

Speed is everything. Studies have shown that even a one-second delay in load time can reduce conversions by up to 7%. If your landing page takes more than three seconds to load, you risk losing a huge portion of valuable traffic. 

Slow speeds are often caused by excessive images, unoptimized videos, and unnecessary scripts.

• Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to analyze your load times and implement fixes like image compression, lazy loading, and efficient coding.

2. Generic, one-size-fits-all content

Many advertisers drive traffic to a single generic landing page, regardless of the audience segment. If your ad promises something specific, your landing page needs to reinforce that promise immediately. A mismatch between ad copy and landing page content creates confusion and leads to higher bounce rates.

• Create variations of landing pages tailored to different audience segments and ad campaigns.

3. Poor mobile optimization

With mobile searches surpassing desktop, ensuring your landing page is mobile-friendly is non-negotiable. 

Chris emphasized that many brands test their pages on desktops but overlook how they appear on mobile devices. Buttons may be too small, images misaligned, or crucial information buried below the fold.

• Always test your landing pages across different mobile devices to ensure a seamless experience.

How to optimize your landing pages for higher conversions

Now that we’ve covered the most common mistakes, let’s explore Chris’ proven strategies to improve landing page performance:

1. Keep critical information above the fold

Users should immediately understand your value proposition without scrolling. Chris pointed to brands like Rheal Supplements, which showcase product benefits, social proof, and a clear CTA above the fold.

• Include a compelling headline, key benefits, and a strong CTA within the first visible section of the page.

2. Match ad copy to landing page content

A seamless transition from ad to landing page reassures visitors they’re in the right place. If your ad mentions a 25% discount, that discount should be prominent on the landing page.

• Align your PPC headlines, descriptions, and landing page messaging for consistency.

3. Use social proof strategically

Trust signals such as testimonials, reviews, and trust badges can significantly influence decision-making. However, Chris advises against overloading the page with video testimonials, which can slow down load speed.

• Showcase real customer reviews and ratings, but keep them concise and easy to digest.

4. Allocate budget for landing page optimization

Many advertisers invest heavily in PPC but neglect their landing pages. Chris suggests dedicating 5-10% of your paid media budget to landing page optimization to ensure continuous improvements.

• Track conversion rate improvements after each landing page update to justify further investment.

5. Leverage personalization & dynamic content

Personalized landing pages can dramatically boost engagement. Chris shared examples of brands using location-based personalization, dynamically changing content based on visitor behavior, and countdown timers to create urgency.

• Tools like Unbounce allow you to personalize landing pages based on location, device, or previous interactions.

6. Test & iterate based on data

Chris emphasized the importance of A/B testing different page elements—headlines, CTAs, images, and layouts—to determine what resonates best with your audience.

• Use tools like Optimizely or VWO to run A/B tests and continuously refine your landing pages.

The role of landing pages in Performance Max campaigns

Performance Max (PMax) campaigns offer advertisers powerful automation and reach, but they also introduce a few challenges when it comes to controlling where your traffic lands.

Unlike traditional search campaigns, where you specify the exact landing page for each ad, PMax dynamically selects landing pages based on what it determines to be most relevant for a given user.

While this can sometimes work in your favor, it also increases the risk of traffic being directed to pages that are not optimized for conversions—such as unoptimized FAQ pages, blog posts, or outdated product pages.

To maintain control and ensure traffic is funneled to high-converting pages, Chris recommends leveraging Final URL Exclusions. This feature allows advertisers to block Google from sending users to irrelevant or low-performing pages, helping to preserve ad spend and maximize efficiency.

Additionally, using Google’s Page Feeds can further refine PMax performance by specifying exactly which landing pages should be prioritized. By providing a curated list of URLs, advertisers can guide Google’s automation to focus on pages designed to drive conversions—such as product landing pages, lead capture forms, or dedicated campaign pages—resulting in a more strategic and results-driven approach to PMax campaigns.

Final thoughts

Optimizing landing pages isn’t as flashy as testing new bid strategies or experimenting with advanced audience targeting, but it plays a fundamental role in driving higher conversion rates.

By focusing on speed, personalization, clear messaging, and continuous testing, marketers can significantly improve ad performance and get the most out of paid media investments.

For more actionable landing page insights from Chris, make sure to watch/listen to the full episode of the Paid Media Lab podcast—where Chris went in-depth on landing page strategy, personalization, and real-world customer journey examples to help you improve your PPC efforts. 

Make sure you’re following Chris on LinkedIn to gain further PPC insights and hot takes, and get full episodes of the Paid Media Lab wherever you get your podcasts.