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Anthony McGrath, freelance Google Ads specialist in Leeds

ROAS1.8xLosing money on every £1 of ads
Wasted spend
38%
Sales tracked
61%
Cost per sale
£46
Profit after ads
-£1,240

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      Is your website ready for ads? A checklist before you spend a penny

      Short answer

      Before running ads, make sure your website loads quickly on a phone, says clearly what you offer and who for, has an obvious way to get in touch or buy, and tracks every enquiry or sale in GA4 and your ad platforms. Fixing these first usually lowers your cost per lead more than any change to the ads.

      Key points

      • Most ad clicks come from phones, so mobile speed comes first.
      • The headline should say what you do, who for and where.
      • Give visitors one obvious next step and keep forms short.
      • Test that every enquiry is tracked once in GA4, Google Ads and Meta.
      • Make the landing page match the ad.

      Ads do one job: they send people to your website. Everything after the click is down to the site. I have seen plenty of businesses blame their ads when the real problem was the page the ads pointed to.

      The checklist

      1. It loads fast on a phone. Most ad clicks come from mobiles. Test your landing page with Google's PageSpeed Insights, or the free site speed checker on this site. Slow pages lose visitors before they see anything.

      2. It says what you do in five seconds. The headline should name what you offer, who for and where. "Commercial roofing in Leeds" beats "Excellence in every project".

      3. There is one obvious next step. A short form, a phone number that can be tapped, or a buy button. Not five competing options.

      4. The form is short. Ask only what you need to reply: name, email, maybe a phone number and one question. Every extra field costs enquiries.

      5. Trust is visible. Reviews, recognisable clients, real photos and a real address all help.

      6. Every enquiry and sale is tracked. Check that a test enquiry shows up in GA4, Google Ads and Meta, once each. Without this, the platforms cannot learn who your customers are.

      7. The page matches the ad. If the ad says "free quote for loft conversions", the page should be about loft conversions, not your whole business.

      Fix the site, then scale the ads

      It is tempting to launch ads and fix the website later. In practice, fixing the site first usually does more for your cost per lead than any change to the ads. If you would like a second opinion, I am happy to look at your site and tell you what I would fix first.

      Questions and answers

      How fast should a landing page be?

      As fast as you can make it on a phone. Aim to pass Core Web Vitals in PageSpeed Insights.

      Should I send ads to my home page?

      Usually not. A page about the specific service in the ad normally converts better.

      How many fields should a contact form have?

      As few as you need to reply. Name, email and one question is often enough.

      Sources

      1. PageSpeed Insights, Google
      2. Understanding Core Web Vitals, Google Search Central
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