The End of Navigation-Less Landing Pages in Google Ads
Google Ads recently announced a significant update to how relevancy is calculated in ads. It will now ensure that the landing page matches user intent and includes helpful navigation options.
An example of poor navigation relevance was a user trying to log in to a site, arriving on a navigation-less promotional landing page, and being unable to find a link to log in.
And I agree that while those types of landing pages can work well from a CVR standpoint, they can be a nuisance. They went as far as to state: “We’re now able to show you fewer ads like this, reducing these types of negative experiences for people searching on Google”.
In this blog, I’ll break down what this change means for advertisers and how you can adjust your landing pages to improve user experience.
Time For New Landing Pages
If you only have landing pages devoid of navigation, now’s the time to either create new ones or test a final URL that leads visitors to a more relevant page on your site. If you fight Google on this, you will likely lose.
They stated, “We’ve improved our ability to understand and predict if a Search ad leads to an unexpected destination and doesn’t offer other helpful navigation options. As a result, we're now able to show you fewer ads like this, reducing these types of negative experiences for people searching on Google.”
Translation: Your impressions and visibility will drop if your landing pages don’t have navigational elements.
You Don’t Need All Navigation
Just because Google says that navigation helps with the quality of your landing pages doesn't mean that you need to feature every single navigational element from your site onto your landing page. You can still leverage truncated navigation options that may feature your homepage – as well as links to products, about, shop, etc. – without cluttering the page with everything.
If you’re worried that users might leave your landing page to visit your homepage, that could indicate a problem with your overall site quality. Having a well-designed, conversion-focused site will be more important than ever.
How Does This Impact Quality Score?
Google Ads uses “Quality Score” to help advertisers diagnose how relevant ads, keywords, and landing pages are. Currently, the landing page experience factor in Quality Score focuses on “how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad.”
There have been no updates on whether the navigation will impact the Quality Score, but I think it should. In my mind, a good diagnostic tool will diagnose issues, but we haven't heard directly about this yet.
The Bottom Line
As an advertiser, I feel for those who have crafted high-converting landing pages with no navigation. As a searcher, I welcome this additional change.
Both things can be true. This is a major shift for many performance marketers and one that I think will end up for the better.
If you have questions or need any help adjusting your landing pages to meet these new requirements, feel free to reach out. We’re here to help!
Meet the Author
Greg Finn
Greg is the Head of Performance and Innovation for Cypress North's digital marketing team and one of the founders of our agency. In 2010, he and Matt Mombrea started Cypress North in Buffalo. Greg oversaw the opening of our second office in 2022, located in his hometown of Rochester.
As Head of Performance and Innovation, Greg co-manages our digital marketing department and works closely with our team to ensure all our clients achieve the best possible results. He is always looking for ways to test new digital marketing techniques and technology, and oversees all teaching and training efforts to ensure our agency stays ahead of the curve.
Greg is also a co-host of our weekly Marketing O'Clock podcast, where he and the team provide updates, insights, and hot takes on the latest SEO, PPC, and social media marketing news. In addition to weekly news shows, Greg hosts our Marketing O'Torial digital marketing tutorials and often co-hosts bonus Marketing O'Talk episodes that bring together panels of digital marketing experts.
With nearly two decades of experience, Greg is a known and trusted voice in the digital marketing community. He’s a contributor for Search Engine Land, a member of the Search Marketing Expo (SMX) programming team, and has been a featured speaker at some of the largest search engine conferences, including SMX, eSummit, and Pubcon.
When he’s not working or staying updated on the latest trends, Greg enjoys watching his kids play sports and coaching their soccer team. He’s been named the runner-up “Greg of the Year” on Marketing O’Clock’s annual Clockscars Awards four years in a row. While the coveted award has evaded him for many years, Keanu Reeves has not. Greg once saw him at Gabriel's Gate tavern in Buffalo (and noted he was very tall.)
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