Why UX is the Secret Weapon for Maximizing Ad Performance

The aim of this article is a simple one: 

To cause you to make UX a core part of your marketing strategy, not an afterthought. 

It shouldn’t be a separate team hidden in a corner that nobody talks to. It needs to sit at the heart of your marketing efforts because that’s how businesses win today.

What UX Really Means

When I first started in UX about seven or eight years ago, I spent a lot of time explaining what UX wasn’t. Many people assumed it was the same as SEO or just “making things look pretty.” But UX goes far beyond that.

At its core: UX is the overall experience someone has when interacting with your product, service, or system.

It’s not just about functionality or design—it’s about how the user feels about your product and the perception they leave with.

Good UX vs. Bad UX: Everyday Examples

We all interact with products daily, so we all instinctively know when something works well—or when it’s a nightmare. Here are a few simple examples:

• Suitcases
  Old suitcases without wheels? Terrible UX. They cause back pain, are awkward to carry, and frustrate travelers. Add wheels, and suddenly the experience is smooth and stress-free.
• Ketchup Bottles
  Glass ketchup bottles require shaking and tapping like a maniac. A squeeze bottle? Instant ketchup happiness. Good UX feels effortless.
• TV Remotes
  Cluttered remotes with 50 buttons confuse and intimidate users (my 60-year-old mother still calls me to ask which button to press). A streamlined remote with only essential buttons creates a stress-free experience.
  

The takeaway:
Good UX is simple. It removes friction and anxiety. It makes people want to use your product.

UX in the Digital World

The same principles apply online. When we talk about UX for websites or apps, two core factors matter most:

1. Usability – Is the experience smooth and satisfying?
   
   • Easy navigation
   • Clear structure and layout
   • Intuitive interface
     
2. Relevance – Does the content match what the user is looking for?
   
   • Accurate information
   • Trustworthy, credible design

Examples: Great UX vs. Bad UX

• Bad UX: Cluttered websites with confusing menus and unclear layouts frustrate users. Imagine landing on a page where you can’t even find the main menu.
• Good UX: Think Apple or Airbnb. Their clean designs, logical navigation, and relevant content make it effortless to find what you need.

When your site nails both usability and relevance, users stay, engage, and convert.

Why UX Matters to Your Ads

Everything leads to your website or app.

It doesn’t matter how much you spend on ads, how creative your campaigns are, or how strong your targeting is. If you drive users to a poorly designed, confusing, or irrelevant site, you’re wasting money.

Your website is the final mile of the journey. If that experience fails, the entire funnel collapses.

The Connection Between UX, Brand, and Performance

UX impacts both brand reputation and performance metrics:

• Brand Impact:
  A smooth, seamless experience builds trust and strengthens brand loyalty. Happy customers come back, and they tell their friends.
• Performance Impact:
  A frictionless buying process increases conversion rates, leading directly to more revenue.

Simply put: Better UX = stronger brand + better sales performance.

How Search is Changing: The Role of AI

Search behavior has shifted dramatically, especially in the last 12 months, driven largely by AI.

Here are two key points to be aware of:

1. 15% of daily searches are brand new.
   This happens because the world changes constantly—new trends, new slang, and unexpected events (like Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup!)
   
2. 25 billion visual searches every month on Google Lens.
   With better smartphone cameras and visual-driven platforms like Instagram and TikTok, more users are searching with images and videos rather than text.

These new behaviors create an overwhelming volume of unique search queries that no human team could manage manually. That’s why Google relies on AI to match ads with relevant searches—and why your website’s UX and content need to be top-notch.

Key Features That Depend on UX

Here’s how UX directly impacts advertising tools and performance:

1. Automatically Created Assets (ACAs)

Google can pull text, images, and videos directly from your website to create relevant ad content.
If your site lacks high-quality, relevant content, ACAs won’t work effectively.

2. Final URL Expansion

Google’s systems crawl your site to identify the best landing page for each ad.
Poorly structured or outdated sites confuse the system—and your potential customers.

3. On-Site Navigation Quality

As of February, Google now factors navigation quality into ad quality scores.
If users click your ad but quickly bounce because they can’t find what they need, your ad visibility may decrease.

The Competitive Advantage of UX

Last year, I ran a UK-wide Google-funded program offering businesses free UX improvements through partner agencies. Out of 200 businesses pitched, less than 15% signed up, despite the fact that it was free and required little effort from them.

That’s the opportunity.

While most companies focus on budgets, creative, and targeting, very few are optimizing post-click experiences. If you prioritize UX now, you’ll gain a significant competitive edge.

How to Get Started

Here are some signals of bad UX that can spark conversations internally:

• CPCs are too high
• Conversion rates are low
• Customers aren’t satisfied
• Sales targets aren’t being met

If these issues sound familiar, it’s time to review your site experience.

Key Questions to Ask

• How are we currently improving our website or app?
• Do we have a clear roadmap for the next quarter and beyond?
• Are our marketing and website teams working together—or are they siloed?

Marketing and UX must be in the same room, having the same conversations. Creatives and content are two sides of the same coin.

The Business Case for UX

Here’s a practical exercise:

1. Look at your current conversion rate.
2. Forecast what happens if you improve it slightly (e.g., from 2% to 2.5%).
3. Calculate the additional revenue this would generate.

Then compare that potential revenue to the cost of:

• A UX audit
• Hiring a UX researcher
• Investing in A/B testing tools

If the revenue gain outweighs the cost, it’s an obvious investment.

UX is the Closer

Advertising is the enabler, bringing users to your site.

UX is the closer, turning those visits into conversions.

Every click leads somewhere.

If the destination is frustrating or confusing, users won’t convert—no matter how good your ads are.

Your ads, your marketing objectives, and ultimately your business goals all depend on the experience you deliver after the click.

Invest in UX. Because when you improve the experience, you improve everything.

Clinton Koola is a Performance Specialist at Google

This article is based on a talk given by Clinton at Hero Conf UK in April 2025. You can watch a recording of the talk below.