Five things your website needs before you spend money on ads

Website requirements before running ads

Paid ads are the quickest way to put your business in front of new customers. They're also the quickest way to waste money if the page they land on isn't ready. Before you spend a dollar on Google or Meta, check these five things.

1. It loads quickly on a phone

Most people who click an ad for a local business are on their phone, often on mobile data. If the page takes more than a few seconds to appear, many of them leave before they see anything. Large images and heavy plugins are the usual causes. Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool will tell you where you stand.

A slow page costs you money twice over. You pay for the click, then the visitor leaves without converting. Even a one-second delay can cut your conversion rate by 7 percent or more. If you're spending on ads, page speed becomes a direct line item in your cost per conversion.

Check your speed on real mobile devices, not just your computer. A page that loads fast on a broadband connection might crawl on 4G. Test from different locations and networks if you can. Fix the biggest problems first—usually oversized images or scripts that block page load.

2. Every page has one clear next step

Decide what you want a visitor to do: call, book, order or send an enquiry. Put that action near the top of the page and repeat it further down. A page that offers six different options usually gets none of them.

This is called a call to action, or CTA. It needs to be visible without scrolling on a phone. Use a button or a large, contrasting link. Make the text specific—"Book a table" works better than "Get started." If you want people to call, show your phone number prominently and make it clickable on mobile devices.

Test different positions and wording if you can. A call to action at the top of the page converts more visitors than one buried in the footer. But every page needs at least two—one near the top and one near the bottom, in case someone scrolls through your whole page before deciding to act.

3. You can see which enquiries came from where

If you can't tell whether a call came from an ad, a search result or a regular customer, you can't tell whether the ads are working. At a minimum, set up conversion tracking for form submissions and calls in Google Analytics and in the ad platforms themselves. This is the first thing we set up for every client, because without it every other decision is a guess.

Most ad platforms let you track calls by assigning a unique phone number to each campaign. When someone calls that number, you know exactly which ad brought them in. For online conversions like form submissions, Google Analytics tracks which traffic source sent the visitor.

Without tracking, you're flying blind. You might think an ad is working when it's not, or pause an ad that's actually your best performer. Even a basic tracking setup takes a few hours and pays back almost immediately in better spending decisions.

4. Your pages match what people search for

Someone searching for "emergency plumber in Providence" wants a page about emergency plumbing in Providence, not your home page. A dedicated page for each main service and area improves your ad quality scores, lowers your cost per click and helps you rank in normal search results too.

When your landing page matches the search query, Google rewards you with a higher quality score. That means you pay less per click and your ads show higher in the results. More importantly, the visitor sees what they were looking for, so they're more likely to convert.

Build landing pages around your main service categories and any locations you serve. If you offer both dine-in and delivery, create separate pages for each. The extra work pays for itself in lower ad costs and higher conversion rates.

5. It gives people a reason to trust you

Real photos of your team and premises, recent reviews, your address and opening hours, and a phone number that gets answered. These details matter more than clever copy, especially to someone who has never heard of you.

Trust is everything when someone clicks an ad from a business they don't know. Show your real face. Display your full address and a working phone number. Add recent customer reviews and testimonials. If you have credentials or certifications relevant to your industry, mention them.

Generic stock photos and vague promises don't work. A potential customer wants to see your actual pharmacy, restaurant or shop before they walk in or call. Real images build confidence. Reviews from other customers provide social proof that you deliver what you promise.

Where to start

You don't need a new website to fix most of this. Speed, tracking and clear calls to action can often be improved in a few weeks. If you'd rather have it done for you, our website plans cover builds and ongoing care, and our performance marketing plans pick up from there. Tell us what you're working with and we'll tell you what we'd fix first.