Maximizing Landing Page Success: Touchstone Analysis & the Power of SEO and SEM Alignment 

Executive Summary 

In February 2025, Google announced improvements to its AI model to better detect misleading or poorly structured landing pages. As a result, ads and links leading to low-quality destinations will be penalized, impacting both Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. 

This change can result in higher ad costs, lower-quality traffic, and reduced engagement. To mitigate risks, landing pages must align with ad content, provide high-quality, informative content, and ensure seamless navigation. 

Effective collaboration between SEO and SEM is crucial for optimizing landing pages. Using Touchstone, CMI Media Group’s proprietary Quality Score Analysis tool, search teams can enhance engagement, improve conversions, and maintain compliance with Google’s evolving standards. 

What Makes a Successful Landing Page? 

A landing page is the web page users reach after clicking on a paid ad. To be effective, the page should engage users, build trust, and drive conversions while also ensuring that ad spend is used efficiently by delivering a seamless experience. Whether used for lead generation, sales, or content downloads, a high-performing landing page should follow best practices to encourage action.  

Below are the key elements that make a strong landing page: 

1. Fast Load Time & Mobile Optimization – 47% of users expect pages to load in under 2 seconds. 

2. Clear Headline & Strong Metadata – Titles, descriptions, and headings should clearly convey the page’s purpose to users and search engines. 

3. High-Quality Media & Visual Appeal – Engaging visuals enhance user experience, reinforce branding, and support diverse search habits. 

4. Engaging, Relevant Content – Clear, value-driven content aligned with E-E-A-T principles (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) boosts credibility and visibility. 

5. Strong Call-to-Action (CTA) – A compelling, well-placed CTA guides users toward the intended action without confusion. 

When optimized strategically, these elements not only enhance user experience but also play a role in improving Quality Score and overall search performance.  

Quality Scores: How Google Evaluates Landing Pages 

Google evaluates search ads using a Quality Score (rated 1 to 10), which influences ad placement and cost-per-click (CPC). Higher scores indicate better alignment between user intent, ad relevance, and landing page experience, leading to improved rankings at lower costs. 

Quality Score consists of three primary factors: 

• Expected Clickthrough Rate (CTR): Likelihood of users clicking your ad. 

• Ad Relevance: How well the ad matches search intent. 

• Landing Page Experience: Relevance and usability of the landing page. 

These components are rated as ‘Above average,’ ‘Average,’ or ‘Below average’ compared to competitors. A low factor rating can decrease Quality Scores, increasing CPCs. Optimized landing pages focused on speed, relevance, and content quality help achieve higher Quality Scores, improving both paid and organic performance. 

Touchstone Analysis: How SEO and SEM Work Better Together 

Though often managed separately, SEO and SEM are most effective when treated as complementary strategies. SEO strengthens long-term visibility and trust by helping sites rank higher in organic search results, while SEM drives immediate traffic through targeted paid ads. When aligned, these teams can amplify each other’s impact. 

To maximize the effectiveness of both channels, collaboration should begin early in content development with keyword research, as SEO and SEM both rely on keywords to drive traffic. Keyword research identifies the terms target audiences use, helping brands align content and ad campaigns with user intent and search behavior. 

Another way these channels can collaborate is through data sharing and conducting a Quality Score Analysis. A Quality Score Analysis evaluates paid search campaign performance data through an SEO lens to find areas where organic search improvements can help ads perform better.  

CMI Media Group’s proprietary tool, Touchstone, offers a customized approach to this process, uncovering valuable opportunities to help clients increase their search presence across both search channels, while making their campaigns more efficient. Common SEO recommendations that come from this analysis include: 

• New Content/Page Creation – Identifying content to boost relevance, rankings, and efficiency. 

• On-Page Optimization – Updating content with relevant keywords to improve search engine understanding. 

• Site Structuring and Organization – Optimizing site layout for increased content discoverability. 

• User Experience and Relevance – Enhancing design and content to better meet user needs. 

By addressing these areas, brands can strengthen their relevance in search, leading to better ad performance and reduced costs. In fact, a study by WordStream found that increasing Quality Score can significantly lower ad costs, with a QS of 6 reducing costs by 16.7% and a QS of 10 cutting them by 50%. This underscores the value of optimizing both paid and organic strategies to enhance overall search performance.  

Additional Landing Page Considerations for Newer SEM Features & Trends 

In addition to keyword Quality Score and its components, other factors can also influence SEM ad placement and cost. The search space is continuing to evolve to become more AI-based and contextual in nature as it strays further away from the keyword. As a result, these ever-evolving SEM trends are also important to consider when developing landing pages: 

• Flexible Matching – The SEM matching behavior continues to evolve and become more flexible, allowing advertisers to serve ads for more searches. As a result, it is important to ensure landing page content is robust to encompass the different searches that SEM may capture. SEM ads should also include both targeted and broader messaging for these various searches. 

• Smart bidding – In addition to landing page content, landing page measurement has become increasingly more important to maximize the full potential of smart bidding intended to drive specific valued outcomes. Page design that encourages scrolling, has prominent conversion buttons such as downloading new data, a doctor discussion guide, or PDF, meaningfully contribute to these SEM efforts.  

• AI-Based, Multi-Modal Campaigns – Search engines also offer campaigns that use more data signals and AI, various creative formats, and different inventory sources as a streamlined way to drive high value outcomes. Given this, it will be important for the SEM creatives to closely align with the visuals and messaging on the site to deliver a good user experience. 

By addressing these unique considerations, brands can take steps towards improving their landing pages in ways that maximize SEM performance. In addition to CMI’s Touchstone Analysis, the SEM team can share data with the SEO team in order to develop landing page recommendations that take these newer search trends and features into account. 

Staying Ahead of the Curve with SEO and SEM Collaboration 

In today’s evolving search landscape, the alignment between SEO and SEM has never been more critical. With Google’s continued emphasis on user experience and landing page relevance, brands must ensure their pages are not only optimized for visibility but also meet users’ needs. Prioritizing clear navigation, fast load times, and high-quality content can improve both ad performance and organic rankings. By combining SEO best practices with SEM strategies, brands can create a unified approach that lays the groundwork for long-term search success. As algorithms and user behavior continue to evolve, ongoing collaboration and optimization between these channels will be essential to maintaining a competitive edge. 

During website updates, it’s important for SEO and SEM teams to work together to ensure ad messaging aligns with the landing page it leads to. For existing content, CMI Media Group’s Touchstone enables SEO teams to leverage SEM data to identify optimization opportunities—enhancing ad performance, boosting organic rankings, and reducing paid search costs. To learn more about Touchstone, reach out to your CMI Media Group SEO and SEM teams.