The same campaign, the same ads, the same £10,000 a month. Only the page changes (example, with 50p a click and a £50 average order):
| Page conversion rate | Orders | Revenue | ROAS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1% | 200 | £10,000 | 1.0 |
| 2% | 400 | £20,000 | 2.0 |
| 3% | 600 | £30,000 | 3.0 |
Calculation for the first row: £10,000 ÷ £0.50 = 20,000 clicks, × 1% = 200 orders, × £50 = £10,000. Tripling the conversion rate triples the return. Nobody touched the ad, the audience or the budget.
The ad gets the click. The page decides whether the click becomes an order. Most brands fix the ads first, because ads are quicker to change.
What the visitor sees
Here is a common failure, side by side (example, redrawn, not a screenshot):
The visitor clicked for 30% off running shoes and has to hunt for them. Many leave.
5 checks, in order
- Message match. Does the headline repeat what the ad promised? In the example above it does not. Put “30% off premium running shoes” at the top of the page.
- Load speed. In the accounts we see, most paid traffic lands on a phone. Google’s Core Web Vitals report rates a page good when its main content loads within 2.5 seconds and poor above 4. Check yours in Google Search Console. Large images and third-party scripts are the usual cause.
- Proof above the fold. A first-time visitor from an ad has no relationship with your brand. Put reviews, a known stockist or a real guarantee on the first screen. If proof sits at the bottom of a long page, most paid visitors never reach it.
- A clear offer. An offer gives a reason to buy today: “Free delivery over £50, dispatched tomorrow” or “30-day returns, no questions”. Make that case on the page itself.
- One action. If the page offers buy now, sign up for emails and read our story, you have split the attention of someone who came to buy. Keep 1 primary button. Move the rest below it.
A page for each campaign
The best-converting paid pages are built for one ad, one audience and one moment. That means a matched headline, reviews for the exact product the ad showed, little or no navigation and a single button.
You cannot build one for every campaign. Start with your biggest spender. Build a single bespoke page for your largest Meta or Google campaign. This is CRO work.
Find the rate your page has to hit
Work out your breakeven ROAS first, then turn it into a conversion rate. At a 40% margin, breakeven ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.40 = 2.5. At 50p a click and a £50 order, that needs 2.5% conversion (500 orders, £25,000). If the page cannot reach that rate with clean traffic, more budget loses money faster.
Try it with your numbers
Your break-even ROAS
Where each order goes
- Product
- Shipping
- Fees
- Returns
- Left for marketing
Left for marketing: £ an order
Aim for a target ROAS of ×, 20 to 30% above the floor.
Add your fixed costs (monthly view)
Staff, rent and software don't rise with each sale, so they stay out of the floor. To see the MER you need to cover them too in a month, add them here.
To cover fixed costs as well, this month needs an MER of ×.
Related reading
- Breakeven ROAS for ecommerce: the floor your page has to clear
- Checkout conversion optimisation: the step after the page
- Why your ads are not working: where the page sits in the full diagnosis
Know the number your page has to beat before you fix it.
Fix the page first, then scale the campaign. If you want us to review yours, see our CRO agency service or book a free call.
Quick answers
What is a good conversion rate for an ecommerce landing page?
In the accounts we see, 2 to 4% is common for paid traffic landing pages selling physical goods. High-intent search traffic can convert at 4 to 8%. Below 1.5% on paid traffic usually points to a page problem rather than a traffic problem.
Should I optimise my landing page before scaling my ad spend?
Yes. Every pound of extra spend that reaches a poorly converting page is mostly wasted. Lifting a page from 1% to 2% conversion halves your cost per acquisition, at no extra media cost.
What is the biggest conversion killer on ecommerce landing pages?
Message mismatch: the ad promises one thing and the page delivers something generic. The visitor expected continuity and got confusion. That is why bespoke landing pages for paid campaigns tend to beat category or homepage traffic.
How do I know if my landing page is the problem?
Compare the ad's click-through rate (CTR) with the page's bounce rate and conversion rate. High CTR with high bounce rate means message mismatch or a page experience problem. High CTR with a low conversion rate among visitors who stay means an offer or trust problem.
What tools do I need for CRO?
Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity for recordings and heatmaps. Google Analytics 4 for funnel reports. A/B testing through native Shopify, Convert or VWO. You do not need all 3 to start. Recordings alone surface most of the obvious problems.
