Five Things Your Website Needs Before You Spend on Ads
Ads bring people to your door. If the website they land on is slow, confusing or hard to act on, that ad spend leaks away.
Running ads without a website that’s ready for them is like paying for a billboard that points to a locked door. People click, look around for a few seconds and leave.
Before you put money into Meta or Google ads, check your website does these five things.
1. It Loads Fast on a Phone
Most people who click your ad are on their phone, often on mobile data. If the page takes too long to load, many of them give up before they see anything.
Open your site on your own phone, away from Wi-Fi. If it feels slow to you, it feels slow to them. Large images and too many plugins are the usual culprits.
2. It Says What You Do in Five Seconds
When someone lands on your site, they should know straight away what you do, who it’s for and where you work. Not after scrolling, and not after reading a paragraph about your history.
A clear headline, one supporting line and a photo of your real work does more than a clever slogan.
3. There’s One Obvious Next Step
Decide what you want visitors to do (call, request a quote, book a visit) and make that action easy to find on every page. Put the button at the top, repeat it further down and keep forms short.
Every extra field on a form is another reason to stop. Ask for what you need to reply, and get the rest on the call.
4. It Shows Proof
People want to know you’ve done this before. Show real projects, real photos and real reviews. Google reviews, before and after photos and named clients build more trust than any description of your quality and service.
If you’ve got a strong Google rating, show it.
5. You Can Measure What Happens
If you can’t see which ads lead to enquiries, you can’t tell what’s working. Before launching, make sure:
- Your forms send leads somewhere you’ll actually see them, fast.
- Analytics and your ad platform’s tracking are set up, with visitor consent.
- You know where each enquiry came from.
With that in place, you can put more money into the ads that bring in leads and switch off the ones that don’t.
Where to Start
You don’t need a brand new website to run ads. But if yours misses more than one or two of these, fixing them first will make every dollar of ad spend go further.
Not sure how your site stacks up? Get in touch and we’ll take a look. If you’re a builder or in the trades, The Get Sorted Bundle covers a new website, social media and your first ads in one go.
Want this done for your business? We handle social media, content and websites for businesses across New Zealand.
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