Which pages to target for paid traffic?

Marketers often argue about whether it’s better to send ad traffic to product detail pages (PDPs) or dedicated sales pages.

It depends. Here are three factors that’ll help you make a decision:

  • Ad format. Text-based search ads capture demand while visual formats like Facebook and Instagram create it.
  • Your product and industry. Some products, like jewelry and apparel, are self-explanatory—PDPs usually perform well. Innovative products often need more explanation, which sales pages provide.
  • User intent. People at the top of the marketing funnel need more information (dedicated landing page) than people at the bottom (product page).

An example:

Ritual sells multivitamins for women. They run ads on Facebook/IG as well as Google search. Using Ahrefs and Facebook’s Ad Library, you can see how the ads’ destination pages differ.

Why the difference?

If people are Googling high-intent keywords like “best womens vitamin,” it makes sense to send them to a PDP. But on Facebook, where people aren’t scrolling with the intention of buying vitamins, a dedicated landing page helps get new prospects into the funnel.

Use ad format, product, and intent to create a hypothesis of where to send your ad traffic. Then test it.