PARTLY

Partly true: a paid-traffic landing page does not need long SEO copy, but 'do not optimize for SEO' at all ignores that Google Ads scores your landing page relevance and charges you more when it is thin

Facebook · Oct 2026

The claim'If you want more booked calls through your landing page, DO NOT write SEO content or optimize for SEO.' On-screen: 'Optimising your landing page for SEO is USELESS.' In the clip: 'All this SEO content, you're writing all this so that Google will rank you on the first page. But if you are already paying for the click, you don't have to write all this content. You can make it a lot shorter and sharper. When I'm running Google Ads, I don't want to have this long SEO copy just to rank, because honestly nobody's going to read this. If anything, it should be what the process would look like.'

In the room, the advice was right. The page on screen is a security-management product site stuffed with paragraph after paragraph of 'iREP Security Management' feature text, the kind written to rank, not to convert, and the speaker's point is that if you are buying the click you should show the visitor the process and the call-to-action, not an essay. For a dedicated paid landing page, shorter and sharper usually wins. The caption turns a sensible critique into an absolute, and the absolute is wrong on two counts. First, Google Ads does grade your landing page. Quality Score has three parts (expected click-through rate, ad relevance, landing page experience), and Google's own help pages say higher-quality ads and landing pages 'typically cost less per click' and rank better. Relevance, clear content and transparency on the page are what that score measures, which is most of what people mean by on-page SEO, minus the word count. A thin page with a form and no substance can raise your cost per click. Second, most businesses cannot afford to buy every click forever; the same page often has to earn organic visits too, and that is a different page or a different section, not a reason to skip it. The right split is two pages: a short paid landing page that mirrors the ad, and the content pages that rank. The reel sells nothing explicitly; it is a speaking clip that positions the consultant's paid-ads expertise.

What holds up

Reel read frame by frame: on stage at Suntec Singapore, the speaker reviews an audience member's page (named on screen with his company) that is dense with 'iREP Security Management' feature paragraphs; overlay 'Optimising your landing page for SEO is USELESS'; closing line 'If anything, it should be what that process would look like.'
Google Ads Help 'About Quality Score' (fetched Oct 2, 2026): Quality Score is built from expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience, 'how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad', each rated above average, average or below average.
Google Ads Help 'Understanding landing page experience': 'High quality ads and landing pages are more likely to lead to successful clicks and conversions' and 'Higher quality ads typically cost less per click'; landing page quality feeds Quality Score and Ad Rank.
The specific critique (cut the SEO essay on a paid page, show the process and the ask) is standard conversion-rate practice for dedicated paid landing pages; the caption's absolute ('DO NOT... optimize for SEO') is the oversell.
No product, course or link is pushed in the caption; the clip is positioning for the speaker's paid-ads consulting.

What doesn’t

'Optimising for SEO is useless' contradicts Google's own Quality Score, where landing page relevance affects cost per click and rank.
The advice assumes you will pay for every click; most small businesses need the organic page too.
A stage critique of one bloated page is generalized into a rule for everyone.
Nothing sold directly; the clip builds the consultant's authority for paid-ads services.

The catch

Cut the essay, keep the relevance. A paid landing page should match the ad's promise in the headline, show the process in three steps, put the booking button above the fold, and still contain enough real, specific content that Google's landing page experience score does not punish you. Build your ranking pages separately instead of pretending you will never need them.

How to actually do it

Build a dedicated paid landing page per campaign: headline that mirrors the ad, a 3-step 'what happens next', proof, one booking CTA, no navigation.
Keep the page relevant to the keyword and honest about the offer; check the Quality Score columns in Google Ads after two weeks and fix 'below average' landing page experience.
Keep or build separate content pages for organic search; link them from the site, not from the ad.
Measure booked calls per 100 clicks on the paid page and iterate the headline and form before touching anything else.

The on-stage advice to cut long SEO copy from a paid landing page is sound and the page shown deserved it. The caption's absolute is not: Google Ads scores landing page relevance and charges more for thin pages, and most businesses still need pages that rank.

Confidence: High
Posted by: a Singapore-based paid-ads consultant and speaker critiquing an audience member's landing page on stage (42K views); reel sent to Buddy Thu Sep 24, 2026, ~8:55 PM

See the original claim →

We test hype for free. We build the real thing for a living.

Thirty minutes, no pitch — and you'll leave with something useful either way.

Book a call with Todd or start with the free Business Checkup →

The Verdict Weekly

Three verdicts every Friday. Free forever, unsubscribe anytime, no spam — that would be ironic.