🧬 4 rules for landing pages marketers MUST know in 2025

Ignore this if you love burning marketing budget.

Date: July 18, 2025

⏰ Read time: 4 mins

In February, Google announced an update that made previous landing page best practices obsolete.

In this blog article, I’ll give you the lowdown on the new requirements so you can boost performance and not waste budget on your campaigns.

Let’s dive in.

DECODED: GOOGLE’S NEW CAMPAIGN REQUIREMENTS

TL;DR:

Google introduced new rules for ads and landing pages in February 2025. And many marketers don’t know about it.

If you want your ad campaigns to actually get shown, you need to follow these.

Here’s what changed and what to do about it…

BREAKDOWN

1. Your landing pages need navigation

For years, it’s been a golden rule for landing pages to have zero navigation.

The logic was that you paid for traffic to get to a specific page, and the goal is to convert them into a lead or customer.
So you don’t want to send them off on a journey where they might get lost along the way.

But Google’s changed the game.

Here’s why: They developed a new model that can tell when someone clicks an ad and ends up somewhere they don’t expect, with no easy way to find what they’re looking for.

So if someone searches for your product’s login page, clicks your ad, but lands on a promotional page instead…

If there’s no clear way to navigate to the login, they’ll bounce back to Google and try again.

That’s a terrible user experience. And Google now penalizes brands for it.

What to change:

Add anchored navigation (jump links) to the top of the page so people can quickly get to the section they’re looking for
Include footer navigation that links to other relevant pages (but keep it targeted — don’t add your full website navigation)
Make sure visitors can easily find what they came for (including login areas)

2. Message matching is mandatory (not just recommended)

Message matching is when you align the messaging of your ad to the page it brings people to.

The reason this matters is that your ad sets certain expectations. If your page doesn’t fulfill on that promise, it kills trust and drives people away.

For instance, you’ve likely come across the following frustrating situation…

Ad click bait: “Doctors HATE this one weird trick to lose belly fat!”

Landing page reality: A 47-page sales letter trying to sell you $97 acai berry supplements with zero mention of any actual “trick”

Now, Google has started scoring pages and campaigns based on whether users are actually finding what they expect when they click. So if the message doesn’t match, your ad won’t get shown.

What to change:

Audit all of your ads
Ensure that your landing page’s hero section echos the exact same promise as the ad

3. Targeted campaigns beat generic ones

Google is now prioritizing campaigns that match buyer intent stages.

This means specific keywords + landing page + ad creative will perform better than campaigns with generic messaging that try to capture buyers at different stages of awareness.

What to change:

Develop separate ads and landing pages for different parts of the buyer journey & awareness levels (from problem-aware to most-aware)
The goal of each landing page should be to get the visitor to the next stage of awareness
Don’t reuse the same ads in retargeting campaigns — develop unique creatives that cover different proof points and overcome specific objections

4. Stop sending paid traffic to your homepage

Over half of B2B ads still direct to the company homepage instead of a landing page, according to Findstack.

This is a bad idea because homepages aren’t designed to move users swiftly to the conversion, unlike landing pages.

Now, brands that direct paid traffic to their company homepage will be penalized.

Google is prioritizing better user experiences and wants people to find what they’re looking for (and what the ad promises) quickly.

That’s why Google is now requiring dedicated landing pages for pay-per-click campaigns.

Your landing page should be laser-focused and follow the Rule of One: One Reader, One Problem, One Promise.

What to change:

If you don’t have dedicated landing pages set up yet, now’s the time
Create targeted pages around relevant keywords and design cohesive campaign experiences around them
Follow the Rule of One with each landing page

KEY TAKEAWAY

With Google’s update, you can’t treat ads and landing pages as separate assets anymore.

They need to work together as part of a single, connected, and relevant experience.

This means marketing teams across different functions — SEO, performance marketing, copywriting, and creative — need to collaborate to create cohesive campaigns that deliver what they promise.

If you need help pivoting your campaigns to be compliant with these updates, get in touch.

Whenever you’re ready, here are a few ways I can help you:

1. Website Copy & Brand Messaging

Turn more browsers into buyers with website copy that speaks directly to your audience’s pains and desires (and makes them kick themselves for not finding you sooner).

2. Email Copy & Strategy

Tap into the gold mine of your email list with strategic sequences that delight subscribers and fire up your conversions.

3. The Copy Accelerator

In a rush to get this done yesterday? Get conversion copy for your website, landing page, or email sequence done and dusted within your tight timeline.

4. Website Review

Give your site a quick win with low effort, high-impact, and ready-to-implement recommendations to increase conversions.