How to Fix 'Landing Page Experience: Below Average' in Google Ads

To fix "Landing page experience: Below average", make the page match the keyword and ad that sent the click, get it loading fast on mobile, and make it obvious who you are and what happens after someone converts. The fastest way to do all three is usually a dedicated landing page per ad group instead of sending every keyword to your homepage. Fix the worst keywords first, then give the rating a few weeks of fresh traffic before you judge the result.

Key Takeaways

• The rating is a comparison, not an absolute score. Google rates each Quality Score component against "other advertisers whose ads showed for the exact same search over the last 90 days" (Google Ads Help, About Quality Score, retrieved 2026-10-16).
• It still costs you money. Google lists "the quality of your ads and landing page" as an Ad Rank factor and says you "can still win a higher position at a lower price by using highly relevant keywords and ads" (Google Ads Help, Ad Rank, retrieved 2026-10-16).
• Relevance is the biggest lever. Google says higher-rated pages "are usually well organized and have text that relates to a person's search terms" (Google Ads Help, landing page experience, retrieved 2026-10-16).
• Speed has public targets. A good page hits LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP of 200 ms or less and CLS of 0.1 or less at the 75th percentile of visits (web.dev, Web Vitals, retrieved 2026-10-16).
• Dedicated pages are cheap compared with wasted clicks. Instapage starts at $79 a month billed annually and Unbounce at $22, as listed on their pricing pages on 2026-10-16.

What the rating measures

Landing page experience is one of the three Quality Score components, next to expected click-through rate and ad relevance. Google defines it as "how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad" and gives each keyword a status of Above average, Average or Below average (Google Ads Help, About Quality Score, retrieved 2026-10-16).

Three things are worth knowing before you start editing pages:

1. It is relative. The status compares your page with other advertisers on the exact same searches over the last 90 days.
2. It is per keyword. Two keywords pointing to the same URL can get different ratings.
3. Quality Score itself is a diagnostic. Google says "Quality Score is not an input in the ad auction." The underlying quality signals are, though: Ad Rank uses "the quality of your ads and landing page" alongside your bid (Google Ads Help, Ad Rank, retrieved 2026-10-16).

Google's Search Ads 360 documentation lists the inputs: usefulness and relevance of information, "ease of navigation for the user, the number of links on the page" and the expectations set by the clicked ad (Search Ads 360 Help, retrieved 2026-10-16). Google's long-standing landing page quality guidelines group the same ideas into relevant and original content, transparency and navigability (Google AdSense Help, retrieved 2026-10-16).

That gives you three areas to diagnose: relevance, speed and transparency.

Find the keywords that need work

In Google Ads, open Keywords, click the columns icon and add Landing page exp., Quality Score, Exp. CTR and Ad relevance. Sort by cost, not by Quality Score. Expensive keywords come first.

Then group the problem keywords by final URL. Often a handful of URLs, such as the homepage or a generic product page, account for most of the below-average ratings.

Check relevance to the ad group

Relevance is the first thing Google mentions in its definition, and it is the cheapest area to fix. Run this check for each problem URL:

Fixes that usually move the rating:

• Split broad ad groups. If one ad group holds "kitchen remodel", "bathroom remodel" and "basement finishing", no single page can be relevant to all three. Split them and give each its own page.
• Rewrite the first screen. Put the searcher's words in the H1, repeat the ad's offer and put the call to action where it is visible without scrolling.
• Match the ad's claims exactly. If the ad says "Free quote in 24 hours", the page has to say the same thing. Google's guidance on transparency is blunt: deliver "what is promised in their ad" (Google AdSense Help, retrieved 2026-10-16).

If you need page structures to start from, the high-converting landing page formulas post has seven layouts you can adapt per ad group.

Fix page speed

Use PageSpeed Insights on the exact final URL, with your tracking parameters stripped.

Read the report in two parts (PageSpeed Insights documentation, retrieved 2026-10-16):

• Field data comes from real Chrome users "over the previous 28-day collection period". This is what your visitors actually experienced. If the page has too little traffic, PSI may fall back to data for the whole domain.
• Lab data comes from a Lighthouse run in a simulated environment. Use it to find causes, not to judge the result. A performance score of 90 or above counts as good, 50 to 89 needs improvement and below 50 is poor.

Targets for the three Core Web Vitals, measured at the 75th percentile of page loads (web.dev, retrieved 2026-10-16):

Common landing page fixes:

1. Compress and resize the hero image. PageSpeed Insights names the LCP element in its diagnostics. If it is a large hero photo, serve it in a modern format at the size it displays.
2. Cut third-party scripts. Chat widgets, heatmaps, multiple analytics tags and A/B testing snippets all compete for the main thread. Keep only what you use on that page.
3. Reserve space for images, embeds and banners. Set width and height so the layout does not shift when they load.
4. Defer anything below the fold. Lazy-load testimonials, video embeds and long galleries.
5. Check the mobile result separately. PageSpeed Insights reports mobile and desktop on separate tabs. Open the Devices report in Google Ads to see where your clicks come from, and fix that device first.

If the page sits on a heavy CMS theme, a standalone landing page can be faster to fix than the theme. The broader site-level causes, such as hosting, crawlability and thin content, are covered in why your website isn't ranking and how to fix it.

Transparency and trust signals

Transparency is about whether a visitor can tell who you are, what you are offering and what happens next. Google's guidelines ask for pages that deliver what the ad promised and let users "easily navigate your site without interference" (Google AdSense Help, retrieved 2026-10-16).

Use this checklist on every landing page:

• Business name and a way to contact you (phone, email or address) visible on the page or one click away.
• Pricing or "from" pricing shown, or a clear statement of how pricing works.
• What happens after the form: "We'll call you within one business day" beats a bare Submit button.
• Privacy policy linked near the form, and only the fields you actually need.
• No pop-up that blocks the content on mobile before the visitor has read anything.
• Reviews, certifications or guarantees that you can document. Do not invent badges or numbers.

Dedicated landing pages with Instapage

When one homepage serves dozens of ad groups, fixing relevance keyword by keyword is slow. A landing page builder lets you clone a template, swap the headline, offer and proof per ad group, and publish without a developer.

Instapage is built for this kind of paid-traffic work. Its AdMap feature lets you "visualize an ad campaign structure for a clear view of your campaigns, ad groups, and ads" and "connect them to relevant landing pages" (Instapage AdMap, retrieved 2026-10-16). Instapage also credits its back end and AMP support for fast mobile pages, which is a vendor claim worth checking with PageSpeed Insights on your own pages.

The main alternative is Unbounce, which is cheaper at the low end. Plans as listed on 2026-10-16:

Sources: Instapage plans and Unbounce pricing, retrieved 2026-10-16. Instapage offers a 14-day trial on Create and Optimize, capped at 2,500 unique monthly visitors. Unbounce offers a 14-day trial with no credit card.

Who Instapage is for: teams running many ad groups who want ad-to-page mapping and testing in one place. Who it is not for: a small account with three ad groups, where Unbounce Starter or a well-built page on your existing site is enough. If your CMS already lets you publish fast, focused pages, you may not need a builder at all.

Re-check and timelines

After you ship the fixes, change as little as possible in the affected ad groups for a while so you can read the result.

1. Record a baseline. Export the keywords with their landing page status, Quality Score, CPC and conversion rate on the day you publish.
2. Update the final URLs. Point each fixed ad group to its new page. Check that tracking templates and UTM parameters still work.
3. Watch daily, judge later. Google's Quality Score page says you can see "the change in daily scores by segmenting your table by day" (Google Ads Help, retrieved 2026-10-16). Google does not publish how fast the rating refreshes, and the comparison window covers 90 days, so low-volume keywords can take weeks to move.
4. Judge on cost and conversions too. If CPC drops and conversion rate rises, the fix is working even before the status label changes. If a keyword stays below average after a month of steady traffic on a relevant, fast page, it may be attracting searches your page cannot satisfy. Add negatives or give it its own ad group.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does landing page experience affect cost per click?

Indirectly, yes. Quality Score is a diagnostic and is not used in the auction itself, but Google lists "the quality of your ads and landing page" as an Ad Rank factor. Higher Ad Rank can win the same position at a lower price, so a better page usually means paying less for the same placement.

How long does it take for landing page experience to update?

Google does not publish a refresh schedule. The rating compares you with other advertisers over the last 90 days and depends on how often your keyword triggers ads. High-volume keywords can show movement within days, while low-volume keywords may take several weeks. Track daily Quality Score by segmenting the Keywords table by day.

Why is my landing page experience below average when the page loads fast?

Speed is only one part. A frequent cause is relevance: the page does not match the keyword or the ad's promise, or serves several intents at once. Check the headline, the offer above the fold, and whether visitors can tell who you are and what happens next.

Do I need a landing page builder to fix this?

No. If your CMS lets you publish fast, focused pages per ad group, you can fix the rating without new software. Builders such as Instapage or Unbounce help when you manage many ad groups, need A/B testing, or depend on developers to publish pages.

How this guide was researched

We read Google Ads Help pages on Quality Score, Ad Rank and landing page experience, Google's Search Ads 360 and AdSense landing page guidance, the web.dev Web Vitals article, the PageSpeed Insights documentation, and Instapage's and Unbounce's pricing and product pages, all on 2026-10-16. Tools were compared from documentation, pricing pages and public sources, not hands-on testing. LogicBalls may earn a commission from some links on this page; that does not change what we recommend or in what order.