Digital MarketingWeb Design

Landing page checklist for 2026: what to fix before you pay for clicks

Updated 9 min readBy Sandeep Mahajan

An orange arrow rising above an open book

A landing page that converts does five things before anything else: it repeats the promise of the ad that sent the visitor, asks for one action, makes that action easy on a phone, shows proof that the business is real, and loads fast. Behind it, two things must work that the visitor never sees: consent and conversion tracking. Check all of them before you spend on clicks, because every visit to a broken landing page is paid for in full.

Key takeaways

  • Match the page to the ad and the keyword. Google's own advice to advertisers is to "choose a landing page that closely matches your ad and keywords".
  • One page, one action. Put it in the first screen; Nielsen Norman Group measured that people spent about 57% of their page-viewing time above the fold.
  • Keep forms short, labelled and accessible: labels above fields, no placeholder-only labels, errors that do not rely on colour, tap targets at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels.
  • Speed is measured, not felt: aim for Google's "good" Core Web Vitals (LCP 2.5 s, INP 200 ms, CLS 0.1 at the 75th percentile).
  • Test the form, the thank-you event and the consent banner on the live page before the campaign starts.

What changed since the 2019 version of this checklist?

The 2019 version of this article gave five design points. They still apply; what changed is around them. Google Optimize, the free testing tool many small businesses used, ended on 30 September 2023. Interaction to Next Paint replaced First Input Delay as a Core Web Vital on 12 March 2024. WCAG 2.2 added success criteria that apply directly to landing-page forms, such as target size and not asking people to re-enter information. And consent, at least for visitors from the EEA, UK and Switzerland, now decides whether your ad platform sees the conversion at all.

This version also absorbs three older posts on the same subject: landing page mistakes, how to optimise a landing page, and call-to-action buttons.

Does the page match the ad that sent the visitor?

This is the first check because it is the cheapest to fix and the most often missed. Put the ad text, the keyword or audience, and the page's first screen side by side:

  • Headline. Does it repeat the specific promise of the ad? An ad for "emergency boiler repair in Mississauga" should land on a page that says that, not on a generic home page.
  • Call to action. Google recommends that the landing page reflect the ad's call to action. If the ad says "get a quote", the button says "get a quote".
  • Offer. If the ad mentions a price, a discount or a deadline, the page states the same one, with the same conditions.
  • Location and language. If you target Canada and India separately, each audience sees its own phone number, currency and service area.

Google Ads rates landing page experience as one of three parts of Quality Score, describing it as "how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad". You see it in your account as above average, average or below average.

Is there one clear action, and can visitors see it?

A landing page is not a home page. Remove anything that offers a different next step:

  1. One primary action above the fold: a form, a booking button or a call button. Repeat it lower down for people who scroll.
  2. Main navigation trimmed or removed. Google's ads guidance warns against clutter and asks you to keep key information near the top.
  3. A button label that says what happens next: "Get my quote", "Book a 20-minute call". Not "Submit".
  4. A phone number that is a link on mobile if phone calls are a goal, so a tap starts the call.
  5. No full-screen pop-ups. Google Search's guidance says "don't obscure the entire page with interstitials" and prefers small banners; the same applies to visitors who came from an ad.

Is the form short, clear and accessible?

The form is where most landing pages lose people they have already paid for. Nielsen Norman Group's form recommendations, which still hold, translate into these checks:

Check What good looks like Source
Field count Only what you need to reply: usually name, email or phone, and one question NN/g: keep it short
Labels Above the field on mobile; never placeholder text alone NN/g: avoid placeholder text
Optional fields One or two at most, and marked "optional" NN/g
Errors Shown next to the field, in words, not by colour alone NN/g; WCAG 2.2
Tap targets At least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or spaced so they do not overlap WCAG 2.2, 2.5.8
Contrast Text at least 4.5:1 against its background (3:1 for large text) WCAG 2.2, 1.4.3
No retyping Information already given is filled in or selectable, not asked again WCAG 2.2, 3.3.7
Spam protection A challenge that most people never see, rather than a puzzle every visitor must solve General practice

If you collect email addresses for marketing in Canada, Canada's anti-spam law (CASL) applies. The CRTC's guidance is that express consent cannot be obtained with a pre-checked box; the visitor has to tick an empty box themselves, and the onus is on the sender to prove consent. Use a separate, unticked box for newsletter sign-up, apart from the enquiry itself. This is general information, not legal advice.

Does the page give visitors a reason to trust you?

Visitors from an ad have never heard of you. Give them evidence close to the action:

  • Reviews or testimonials from real customers, with a name or a source. Google's ads guidance suggests adding "reviews that show real opinions from other customers". Never write or edit reviews yourself.
  • A physical address, a phone number and the name of the business, so it is clear who is behind the page.
  • What happens after the form: who replies, how (email or call) and roughly when, stated as a policy you actually keep.
  • A link to your privacy policy beside the form.

Only use proof you can stand behind. An invented statistic or a logo you are not allowed to use costs more trust than it earns.

Is it fast and stable on a phone?

Google's ads guidance notes that "many of your customers will be visiting your website on a mobile device" and recommends a mobile site that loads quickly. Measure it rather than judging on office Wi-Fi:

  • Run the page through PageSpeed Insights and read the field data where available. Google's "good" thresholds are an LCP of 2.5 seconds or less, an INP of 200 milliseconds or less and a CLS of 0.1 or less, at the 75th percentile.
  • Size the hero image for phones, and do not lazy-load it.
  • Reserve space for anything that loads late (images, embedded reviews, the consent banner), so the button does not move as the visitor reaches for it. That is what CLS measures.
  • Load chat widgets, video and heatmap scripts after the main content, or not at all on the landing page.

Will you know whether it worked?

Before the campaign starts, run through this on the live page:

  1. Submit the form yourself. Did the enquiry arrive, and did the visitor see a confirmation?
  2. In GA4 DebugView, with analytics consent accepted, did exactly one conversion event fire, and is it marked as a key event?
  3. Is the same conversion imported into, or recorded by, your ad platform?
  4. Does the consent banner appear where it must, and do tags respect the visitor's choice?
  5. Do the UTM parameters or click IDs on the ad survive to the page, including after any redirect?

Our GA4 event plan for lead-generation sites lists the events to set up. Once the basics are right and traffic allows it, test one change at a time; our guide to A/B testing on small and mid-size sites explains how much traffic that takes. For a broader look across your site, see what a conversion review should check.

Impinge Solutions designs landing pages and reviews existing ones as part of its conversion rate optimisation service. Run our free website audit on your landing page to see what to change first.

FAQ

Should a landing page have the main site menu?

Usually not. A landing page exists for one action, and every extra link is another way to leave. Keep the logo, a phone number and a link to the privacy policy; remove the full menu. Google's advice to advertisers is to avoid clutter and keep key information near the top of the page.

How many fields should a landing page form have?

As few as you need to reply properly: typically a name, one contact method and one question about the request. Nielsen Norman Group recommends removing fields you can collect later and limiting optional fields to one or two, clearly marked. If you need more detail for a quote, ask for it in the follow-up.

Does landing page speed affect my ad costs?

It can. Landing page experience is one of the three components of Google Ads Quality Score, alongside expected click-through rate and ad relevance, and Google's ads guidance recommends a mobile site that loads quickly. Measure with PageSpeed Insights and aim for Google's "good" Core Web Vitals thresholds.

Can I pre-tick the newsletter box on my enquiry form?

Not for Canadian subscribers. The CRTC's guidance under Canada's anti-spam law is that a pre-checked box does not give express consent; the person must tick the box themselves, and you must be able to prove consent. Keep newsletter consent separate from the enquiry. This is general information, not legal advice.

Do I need a separate landing page for each ad?

You need one for each distinct promise. If two ads promise different services, offers or locations, each should land on a page that repeats its own promise. Ads that make the same promise to the same audience can share a page.

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