Solved: Google Ads Landing Page Fix (Unexpected Trick Inside)

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out!

Happy to give you some initial thoughts on your situation. Running Google Ads in a competitive place like Glasgow and not seeing the conversions you expect from your landing page is a really common, and frustrating, problem. It usually points to a disconnect somewhere between what the searcher wants, what your ad promises, and what your page actually delivers. It's rarely just one thing, but a combination of factors that cause people to lose confidence and click away.

Let's unpack a few of the most likely culprits and what you can do about them. This might be a bit more than you were expecting, but getting this right is the difference between a profitable campaign and just giving Google your money.

We'll need to look at the 'Ad-to-Landing-Page Scent'...

This is the first and most common place people go wrong. Think about the user's journey. They type a specific problem into Google, like "emergency plumber glasgow". They see an ad that promises a solution: "24/7 Emergency Plumber in Glasgow - No Call Out Fee". They click it because it perfectly matches their urgent need. But then they land on a page with the headline: "Welcome to Robertson & Son's Plumbing Services".

Instantly, there's a disconnect. A moment of friction. The user thinks, "Hang on, is this the right place? Does this company do emergency work? Where's the thing I clicked on?". In that split second of doubt, you've probably lost them. They'll hit the back button and click on your competitor's ad. You just paid for a click that had zero chance of converting.

This is called maintaining the 'scent'. The language, promise, and keywords from your ad MUST be mirrored, almost word-for-word, in the main headline of your landing page. The user needs immediate confirmation they've landed in the right place to solve their problem. It seems simple, but I'd say 80% of the accounts I audit get this wrong. It's not about being clever with your headline; it's about being brutally clear and consistent. Your ad sets an expectation, and your landing page's only job in the first three seconds is to meet it perfectly.

Anything less introduces friction, and friction kills conversions. Every single time. We have to make the journey from their brain, to the search bar, to your ad, to your landing page feel like one seamless, logical step. You need to remove any reason for them to pause and re-evaluate.

I'd say your ICP is a Nightmare, Not a Demographic...

Right, this is probably the most important shift in thinking you need to make. Forget defining your ideal customer profile (ICP) with sterile demographics like "Homeowners in Glasgow aged 35-55" or "SMEs in the G2 postcode with 10-50 employees". This tells you absolutely nothing of value and leads to bland, generic marketing that speaks to no one.

To stop burning cash, you have to define your customer by their pain. You need to become an obsessive expert in their specific, urgent, expensive, career-threatening nightmare. Your ideal customer isn't a person; it's a problem state.

Let's say you're a B2B IT support company in Glasgow. Your customer isn't just a "business owner". She's a leader terrified of her main server dying on the last day of the financial quarter, taking all her invoices and customer data with it. The nightmare isn't 'needing better IT'; it's 'the cold sweat of total business paralysis caused by a single point of failure she was warned about'.

If you're a roofer, your customer's nightmare isn't 'a leaky roof'. It's 'the sound of dripping water at 2 AM during a storm, imagining the ceiling collapsing and the thousands of pounds in damage it's causing while they try to sleep'.

Once you've isolated that specific, emotional nightmare, your entire landing page transforms. You're no longer selling "roofing services". You're selling "A Dry, Peaceful Night's Sleep, Guaranteed". You're not selling "IT Support"; you're selling "Bulletproof Business Continuity". This is the foundation of all effective copy. Do this work first, or you have no business spending another pound on ads. Every word on your page, from the headline to the call-to-action, must be aimed directly at solving that one, specific nightmare. All the other features and benefits are secondary.

You probably should focus on a message they can't ignore...

Once you know their nightmare, you need a structure to present your solution. Just listing features won't work. People buy based on emotion and justify with logic later. Your landing page needs to take them on an emotional journey from pain to relief. The best way to do this is with a proven copywriting formula.

The most powerful for a service business is Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS). It’s simple, direct, and incredibly effective.

1. Problem: You start by stating the nightmare you just identified, using the exact language they would use. You hold up a mirror to their pain. For a landscape gardener in Glasgow, it could be: "Is your garden more of a stressful jungle than a relaxing retreat?" This gets an immediate "Yes!" from the right person.

2. Agitate: This is where you pour salt on the wound. You dig into the frustration and consequences of the problem. Don't hold back. "You bought your home imagining summer barbecues, but instead you're faced with overgrown weeds, a patchy lawn you're embarassed by, and another weekend of hard labour you just don't have time for." You're reminding them why this problem is so much more than just an untidy garden; it's robbing them of their free time and the home life they dreamed of.

3. Solve: Now, after making them feel the pain, you ride in on a white horse with the perfect solution. "Introducing our 'Garden Transformation' service. We handle everything from design to maintenance, creating a stunning, low-effort outdoor space you'll be proud of. Get your weekends back and start enjoying your garden." You present your service not as a list of tasks, but as the direct, complete cure for the agitated pain.

This structure should form the backbone of your landing page. The headline is the Problem. The next section is the Agitation. The rest of the page is the Solution, backed up by proof (testimonials, photos of your work in Glasgow, guarantees).

Tbh, just re-writing your page to follow this simple flow will likely have a massive impact on your conversion rates, because you'll finally be entering the conversation already happening in your customer's head. You're not just another company, you're the one that finally understands their specific frustration.

You'll need to delete the "Request a Demo" button (or its equivalent)...

Now we get to the most common failure point on any landing page: the offer, or the Call to Action (CTA). I can almost guarantee your page currently has a button that says something like "Contact Us", "Get a Quote", or "Learn More".

These are perhaps the worst, most arrogant CTAs ever invented. They are high-friction and low-value. You're asking a busy person, who arrived from a cold ad and doesn't know you from Adam, to do work (fill out a form, book a meeting) in order to be sold to. It's a terrible proposition. No one wakes up excited to "Request a Quote". They wake up excited to solve their problem.

Your offer's ONLY job is to deliver a moment of undeniable value—an "aha!" moment that makes the prospect sell themselves on your full solution. You have to solve a small, real problem for free to earn the right to solve the whole thing for money.

So, what does that look like in practice for a Glasgow business?

• -> If you're a marketing agency, don't say "Get a Quote". Offer a "Free Local SEO Audit" that shows them their top 3 keyword opportunities in Glasgow.
• -> If you're a financial advisor, don't say "Book a Consultation". Offer a "Free 5-Minute Pension Health Check" calculator.
• -> If you're a tradesperson, don't say "Contact Us for a Price". Offer an "Instant Online Ballpark Estimate" tool or a downloadable "Guide to Renovating a Tenement Flat".
• -> For us, as an advertising consultancy, it's a 20-minute strategy session where we audit failing ad campaigns completely free of charge. We provide real value upfront, which builds trust.

The goal is to change the transaction from "give me your details so I can sell to you" to "give me your details in exchange for this genuinely useful thing". This simple switch in mindset, from asking to giving, will fundamentally change your conversion rates. You need to make your CTA feel like a gift, not a chore. It is the single biggest lever you can pull on your landing page to get more leads from the same ad spend. Definitely something to look at.

I remember one campaign we worked on for a home cleaning company. They were struggling with high lead costs from their ads. We rebuilt their landing page to focus on a simple, high-value offer: 'Get an Instant Online Quote'. By removing the friction of a vague 'Contact Us' form and giving immediate value, their cost per lead dropped to just £5. It’s a perfect example of how a better offer, clearly presented on the landing page, can transform a campaign's profitability.

And finally, we need to know your numbers...

This is where a lot of businesses get scared, but it's the most liberating thing you can do. The real question isn't "How low can I get my cost per lead?" but rather "How high a cost per lead can I afford to acquire a truly great customer?" The answer is found in your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

Without knowing this number, you're flying blind. You have no idea if the £50 you just spent on a lead from Google Ads was a catastrophic loss or an incredible bargain. Calculating your LTV gives you the truth.

Here's how it works for a service or subscription business:

• Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): What do you make from an average customer each month? Let's say it's £200.
• Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that revenue? After your costs, let's say it's 70%.
• Monthly Churn Rate: What percentage of customers do you lose each month? This can be tricky to calculate if you do one-off projects, but you can estimate it. For a subscription, let's say it's 5%.

The calculation is simple: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

So, in our example: LTV = (£200 * 0.70) / 0.05 = £140 / 0.05 = £2,800.

Each customer is worth £2,800 in gross margin to your business over their lifetime. A healthy LTV to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) ratio is at least 3:1. This means you can afford to spend up to £2,800 / 3 = £933 to acquire a single customer.

Now let's work backwards. If your sales process converts 1 in 10 qualified leads from your landing page into a customer, you can afford to pay up to £93.30 for every single one of those leads. Suddenly, that £50 lead from Google Ads doesn't look so bad, does it? It looks like a profitable investment.

This maths is what separates amateur advertisers from professionals. It frees you from the tyranny of cheap, low-quality leads and allows you to confidently invest in acquiring the right customers. Use the calculator below to get a feel for your own numbers.

I know this is a lot to take in, but fixing a landing page isn't about changing button colours or moving images around. It's about fundamentally rethinking your strategy from the ground up, starting with the customer's deepest pain. I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Implementing all of this correctly takes expertise and experience. It's not just about theory; it's about executing each part flawlessly—the research, the copywriting, the design, and the technical setup. Getting it slightly wrong can mean the difference between success and failure. If you feel like this is something you'd rather have an expert handle, freeing you up to focus on running your business, we offer a completely free, no-obligation initial consultation. We can take a direct look at your campaigns and landing page together and give you a clear, actionable plan.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh