Introduction

Keyword research decides who sees your ads. What happens next decides whether they become customers. A person searches, sees your ad among several others, decides whether to click, lands on your page and decides within seconds whether to call, enquire, buy or leave.

Three elements shape this journey: the ad, the landing page and the tracking that measures what happens. Many campaigns fail not because of poor targeting, but because ads are generic, pages are slow or confusing, or conversions are not tracked, leaving the business and Google’s bidding systems guessing.

This article covers the second step of our Google Ads process: building and tracking. It explains how to write effective responsive search ads, how to use assets, what makes a landing page convert and how to set up accurate conversion tracking for calls, forms, WhatsApp messages, online sales and offline sales. It reflects how the digital marketing, content and web teams at Dsigngo Group work together on campaigns.

Writing effective search ads

How responsive search ads work

The standard search ad format is the responsive search ad (RSA). You provide up to 15 headlines (each up to 30 characters) and up to 4 descriptions (each up to 90 characters). Google tests combinations and shows the ones most likely to perform well for each search. An ad typically shows up to three headlines and two descriptions, along with your display URL and assets.

This flexibility means each headline and description must make sense on its own and in any combination.

What to include in headlines

Strong headline sets usually cover:

• The keyword theme: reflect what the person searched, such as “AC Repair in Colombo”.
• The main benefit: “Same-Day Service”, “Free Delivery Island-Wide”.
• Proof and trust: “15+ Years’ Experience”, “250+ Business Clients”, “Authorised Dealer”. Use only claims you can support.
• Offers and prices: “Packages From LKR X”, “10% Off First Service”, if genuine and current.
• Calls to action: “Book Online Today”, “Call for a Free Quote”, “Chat on WhatsApp”.
• Location: “Serving Kandy & Matale”, “Dubai & Sharjah”.
• Brand name: include it in at least one headline.

Writing descriptions

Descriptions expand on the benefit, give supporting detail and end with a clear call to action. For example: “Certified technicians, genuine parts and a 90-day service warranty. Book your visit in 2 minutes.”

Pinning: use sparingly

You can “pin” a headline to a position, for example to make sure a required disclaimer always appears. Pinning reduces Google’s ability to test combinations, so use it only when necessary.

Ad strength

Google rates each RSA’s ad strength from Poor to Excellent, based on the variety and relevance of headlines and descriptions. Ad strength is a helpful guide, but not a direct measure of results. We aim for good or excellent ad strength while making sure every message is accurate and on-brand.

Policy and claims

Ads must follow Google Ads policies, including rules on punctuation, capitalisation, misleading claims, trademarks and restricted products. Local advertising and consumer protection rules also apply. Avoid superlatives such as “best” or “No. 1” unless you can prove them.

Using assets to stand out

Assets, previously called extensions, add extra information to ads, making them larger and more useful:

• Sitelinks: links to specific pages, such as “Prices”, “Our Work”, “Contact” and “Branches”.
• Callouts: short benefits, such as “Free Consultation” or “Cash on Delivery”.
• Structured snippets: lists under a header, such as “Services: Installation, Repair, Servicing”.
• Call assets: a phone number or call button, valuable on mobiles.
• Location assets: your address and map from Google Business Profile.
• Image assets: images that appear with search ads in some placements.
• Price assets: products or services with prices.
• Promotion assets: sale details for specific dates.
• Lead form assets: a form inside the ad where users submit details without visiting your site.
• Business name and logo: brand identification in ads.

Adding relevant assets usually improves click-through rate and helps ads appear more prominently. Google chooses which assets to show in each auction.

Ads beyond search: creative for Performance Max, Demand Gen and YouTube

Visual campaigns need different creative:

• Images in several shapes (landscape, square and portrait), with clear products and minimal text.
• Logos in square and landscape formats.
• **Videos** in horizontal, square and vertical formats. Short, vertical videos are essential for YouTube Shorts.
• Headlines and descriptions written for scrolling audiences, not just searchers.
• Product feeds with accurate titles, images, prices and availability for online stores.

Strong visual creative is often the biggest factor in Performance Max and Demand Gen results. Our design and commercial video teams produce assets made specifically for these formats, rather than reusing print designs.

Landing pages that convert

A landing page is the page people reach after clicking an ad. It can be a page on your main website or a page created specifically for the campaign. Sending all ad traffic to your home page is one of the most common and expensive mistakes.

The message match principle

The landing page should continue the conversation started by the ad. If the ad promises “Same-Day AC Repair in Colombo”, the page headline should confirm it, and the content should explain how it works. Visitors who do not immediately see what they expected usually leave.

Elements of a high-converting landing page

• A clear headline that matches the search and ad.
• A short explanation of the offer and its benefits.
• A visible call to action above the fold on mobile, such as “Call Now”, “Get a Quote” or “Chat on WhatsApp”.
• Trust signals: years in business, certifications, guarantees, client logos used with permission, photographs of real work and genuine reviews where available.
• Key details: prices or price ranges, delivery areas, opening hours and response times.
• A simple form: ask only for the information you need to respond.
• Answers to common questions, which reduce hesitation.
• Contact options that suit local habits, including phone, WhatsApp and email.

Speed and mobile experience

Most Google searches in Sri Lanka happen on mobile phones, often on mid-range devices and variable connections. Landing pages must load quickly, display clearly on small screens and have large, easy-to-tap buttons. Google’s PageSpeed Insights shows performance and suggests improvements. Slow pages lose visitors and can affect Quality Score.

Language and localisation

If ads target Sinhala, Tamil or Arabic searchers, the landing page should offer content in that language. Currency, phone formats, delivery information and payment methods should match the market.

Testing and improvement

Landing pages should be tested and improved over time. Changes to headlines, offers, form length, images and call-to-action wording can make a noticeable difference. Even without complex testing tools, comparing conversion rates before and after a change, over a sensible period, gives useful insights.

Our web team designs and builds campaign landing pages, and our content team writes copy matched to each campaign. Insights Article 7 on our Software and Mobile App Development page explains the design principles behind usable pages.

A sample ad set for one service

To show how these principles fit together, here is an example headline and description set for an imaginary air-conditioning company in Colombo.

Notice that every headline works on its own, that the set covers the keyword, benefits, trust, offers and calls to action, and that the descriptions add detail rather than repeating headlines.

Landing page checklist

Before sending paid traffic to a page, check that it:

1. Loads quickly on a mid-range mobile phone over a normal connection.
2. Shows a headline that matches the ad within the first screen.
3. Explains the offer and its main benefits in a few short lines.
4. Has a clear call to action visible without scrolling on mobile.
5. Offers the contact methods customers prefer, including phone and WhatsApp.
6. Includes genuine trust signals and real photographs.
7. Answers common questions about price, delivery, timing and guarantees.
8. Uses a short form with only essential fields.
9. Shows a clear thank-you message or page after submission, which also helps tracking.
10. Links to a privacy policy that explains how enquiry details are used.

Turning enquiries into customers

Ads and landing pages create enquiries, but the business turns them into customers. Speed matters: enquiries answered within minutes are far more likely to convert than those answered the next day. Assign responsibility for responding, use templates for common replies, track the outcome of each enquiry and share that information with your marketing team. When sales outcomes are fed back into Google Ads as offline conversions, the whole campaign learns to find more of the right customers.

Conversion tracking: measuring what matters

Conversion tracking records valuable actions people take after interacting with your ads. Without it, you can see clicks and costs but not results. It is also essential for Smart Bidding, which uses conversion data to set bids.

What to track

Typical conversions include:

• Phone calls from call assets and from the website, using Google forwarding numbers or website call tracking.
• Enquiry form submissions.
• WhatsApp clicks, an important contact method in Sri Lanka and the UAE.
• Online purchases, with order values.
• Bookings and appointments.
• Lead form submissions from ads.
• Store visits or direction requests, where available.

Not all actions are equal. A completed purchase or qualified enquiry is worth more than a click on a phone number. We set primary conversions, used for bidding, and secondary conversions, observed for insight, and assign values where possible.

How tracking is set up

Tracking can be set up with the Google tag directly or through Google Tag Manager, which makes managing tags easier. Conversions can be created in Google Ads or imported from Google Analytics 4 (GA4). We usually:

1. Set up GA4 on the website, with key events for important actions.
2. Install Google Tag Manager to manage tags.
3. Create Google Ads conversion actions for the most important goals.
4. Add call tracking where calls are important.
5. Track WhatsApp and email clicks as events.
6. Pass purchase values for online stores.
7. Test each conversion with real actions before launch.

Enhanced conversions

Enhanced conversions improve measurement accuracy by securely sending hashed first-party data, such as an email address or phone number provided in a form or checkout, to Google, which matches it to signed-in Google accounts. This helps recover conversions that would otherwise be missed because of cookie restrictions and cross-device behaviour. It must be implemented in line with privacy laws and your privacy policy.

Offline conversions

Many businesses close sales offline: a phone enquiry becomes a site visit, then a quotation, then a sale weeks later. Importing offline conversions, by connecting the original ad click to the eventual sale from your CRM, shows which keywords produce real revenue, not just enquiries. This is powerful for property, education, B2B services and high-value products. Our software team can connect CRM systems to Google Ads for this purpose.

Consent and privacy

Tracking must respect privacy laws and user choice. Sri Lanka’s Personal Data Protection Act, No. 9 of 2022, as amended in 2025, sets rules for processing personal data, with key obligations from 1 January 2027. The UAE has its own personal data protection law. Campaigns targeting users in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom need consent management that supports Google’s Consent Mode. A clear privacy policy and, where needed, a cookie consent banner are essential.

Common tracking mistakes

Tracking problems are surprisingly common, even in large accounts. Watch for these:

• Counting the same action twice, for example when both a Google Ads tag and an imported GA4 event record the same form.
• Counting page views as conversions, which makes campaigns look successful when they are not.
• Tracking a form “click” instead of a successful submission.
• Missing calls, when many customers phone rather than fill in forms.
• Tags removed during a website update, so conversions silently stop recording.
• No values for online sales, preventing bidding for revenue.

We test tracking after every website change and monitor conversion trends, so unexpected drops are investigated quickly.

Quality checks before launch

Before any campaign goes live, we check:

• Every ad and asset for accuracy, spelling, prices and policy compliance.
• Every landing page link, on mobile and desktop.
• Page speed and form submission.
• Conversion tracking, by completing test actions.
• Location, language, schedule and budget settings.
• Billing and account access, in the client’s name.

Illustrative example

The following example is illustrative and does not describe a real client.

A private English-language preschool in a growing suburb runs Search ads for “preschool near me” and similar searches. Ads link to the home page, and the only tracked conversion is “page views”. The school cannot tell whether ads bring enquiries.

The team writes new responsive search ads highlighting small class sizes, qualified teachers, safe premises and open days, with sitelinks for fees, curriculum and location. A new landing page presents the key information, photos of classrooms, an open-day booking form and a WhatsApp button. Conversion tracking is set up for form submissions, WhatsApp clicks and calls, and enquiries from the school’s admissions spreadsheet are later imported as offline conversions when parents enrol. The school can now see which searches lead to enrolments, and the campaign budget moves towards them.

Frequently asked questions

How many ads should each ad group have?

Usually one or two well-built responsive search ads per ad group are enough, with a full set of headlines and descriptions.

Do we need separate landing pages for each campaign?

Not always, but each major service or product should have a relevant page. Dedicated pages often perform better for important campaigns.

Can we track WhatsApp conversations?

You can track clicks on WhatsApp buttons as conversions. Tracking whether chats become sales requires recording outcomes and, ideally, importing them as offline conversions.

Why do Google Ads and Google Analytics show different numbers?

The two tools count conversions differently, for example in attribution and timing. We explain the differences and use consistent definitions in reports.

Is conversion tracking legal?

Yes, when implemented in line with privacy laws and your privacy policy, with consent where required.

Conclusion

Ads, landing pages and tracking work as a chain. Relevant, specific ads earn the click. Fast, focused landing pages turn visitors into enquiries and sales. Accurate conversion tracking shows what works and gives Google’s bidding systems the data they need. When one link is weak, the whole campaign suffers.

Our digital marketing, content, design, video and web teams work together so every part of the chain is strong.

Want to know whether your ads and tracking are working? Ask for a free conversion tracking check.

Check My Tracking

Sources

• Google Ads Help, About responsive search ads: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7684791
• Google Ads Help, About assets: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7331111
• Google Ads Help, About conversion tracking: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722022
• Google Ads Help, About enhanced conversions: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656
• Google Ads Help, About offline conversion imports: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2998031
• Google Ads Help, About consent mode: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10000067
• Google, PageSpeed Insights: https://pagespeed.web.dev
• Personal Data Protection Act, No. 9 of 2022 (Sri Lanka), as amended by Act No. 22 of 2025.