Common Landing Page Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Landing pages can drive thousands or even millions of leads to your business if done right.

In the modern digital space, landing pages are the foundation of all tremendous inbound marketing strategies. They are considered one of the most potent lead-generation tools that can be the location where potential customers can land on your website. If you're looking to gather leads for your business or sell products and services online, a landing page is the best place or tool to make that happen.

Like any marketing strategy or plan, creating a landing page for startups and businesses without implementing the right principles and best practices can break your marketing efforts, especially if your landing page has a poor design and doesn’t consider the user intent and experience during the development process. In today's fast phase of internet browsing, the average user's attention span can be limited to a few seconds, which is such a limited time to get the user's recognition and make a conversion.

To see a great return on investment (ROI) in your marketing efforts, it's critical to have a well designed landing page that is optimized and tested for maximum conversion rates. Your business return on investment can bounce as more and more customers ignore and leave your landing page. This will hurt your conversion rates and affect your search engine ranking and overall business or brand integrity.

Most landing pages are designed to be attractive but not effective. Creating landing pages should be creative and efficient to garner repeat visitors who will come across your page. This is why optimizing landing pages should be included in your conversion goals when building a landing page. Creating optimized landing pages will ensure that your website visitors will continuously see the information they expect on your website and can convert them to loyal brand procurators.

Landing page optimization is no longer a secret. It solves most of the common landing page mistakes that prevent businesses or marketers from reaping great results from their marketing efforts. A well designed landing page that is optimized with great usability can change the economics of a business overnight and can boost online marketing results instantly.

The best landing page has an optimized design with a valid head-to-head test, as it has proven more effective than a non-tested design. Having said that, it requires a genuinely diverse set of knowledge and perspectives to achieve this. Sadly, while most landing pages are designed to be attractive and engaging, many are still making common mistakes that prevent them from increasing their conversion rates and achieving business conversion goals.

It can be a subpage of a website or serve as a stand-alone webpage built to receive traffic from a marketing or advertising campaign to achieve any conversion goal or lead generation.

A landing page usually consists of a clear message and elements that focus on a specific offer or call to action to persuade visitors to do a particular activity that can benefit your business, such as filling out form fields, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase. A landing page is a part of every inbound marketing strategy and can be a great tool to generate more conversions.

Regardless of the type or design, a common landing page contains the following elements:

Headline

This is the first thing visitors see when they visit a landing page. A compelling headline must state a solid understanding of your business offer and cut through the noise in digital marketing.

Offer

This is the reason why visitors should take action. Effectively communicating an excellent offer for your marketing campaign should consist of an irresistible message about how the prospects should benefit from it.

Call-to-action

This is the element that visitors click on to take action. This usually consists of a button or a link that can send the prospect to the actual action. The call to action element should resonate well with your audience and provides relevant value to persuade the visitors to access the offer.

Layout/Visuals

This element showcases the creative visuals and variations of designs for your marketing campaigns. Its offer and call to action should heavily drive a good landing page.

Body Copy

This element refers to the main text or content on a landing page. The section presents the primary message, features, benefits, and other relevant information about the product, service, or offer to the visitor.

A landing page can help businesses achieve marketing and conversion goals, particularly in generating leads and sales, increasing conversions, improving advertising performance, and gathering valuable user information about the target audience, which can be used to improve marketing strategies and optimize future campaigns.

Landing pages can guide prospects to the most relevant web page on your website, where they can find the offer and information they need and persuade them to take action the way you want. Therefore, creating an exceptional landing page experience is essential to your inbound marketing efforts to convert a higher percentage of your visitors into potential customers or leads.

Landing page optimization is the process of enhancing the conversion rate of a landing page design. The primary goal of landing page optimization is to increase the chance of a landing page converting a potential customer and persuading them to do the intended or desired action on the landing page, such as purchasing a product or service and subscribing to newsletters. This can be accomplished through testing and improving various landing page elements such as layout, headlines, body copy, and calls to action using tools such as A/B testing, heat maps, and user feedback.

Landing page optimization is one of the most valuable methods for businesses and marketers to build a persisting competitive advantage. It can turn a landing page into a money-making machine if done correctly. Nevertheless, landing page optimization requires various practical knowledge and principles, including web design/development, copywriting, visual design, persuasion psychology, and UX/UI design.

Below are some of the reasons why Landing Page Optimization is essential to your landing page design:

• It provides visitors with a better user experience (UX), inducing them to stay on your website longer and engage with other content, such as your home page, products page, etc.
• It reduces bounce rates as it can prevent visitors from leaving your landing page without the expected action.
• It increases conversion rates and leads for your business.
• It converts existing customers to repeat customers.
• It helps you achieve a better return on investment (ROI) for your marketing spend.
• It helps build trust and credibility with your target audience.

Unsurprisingly, some marketers and businesses can still make a landing page mistake occasionally. This may be due to a lack of understanding of the purpose, poor planning, and not implementing the best practices on a landing page.

Here are seven common landing page mistakes both marketers and businesses make and how they affect your conversion rate and overall online success:

1. Lack of clarity

The first element your visitors will likely see when they visit your landing page is the headline, followed by the other elements, such as the landing page copy, call to action, and the offer itself. Given the eight seconds rule in digital marketing, the first few seconds of the visitors on your landing page are crucial in capturing the visitors' attention and recognition to create a lasting impression.

Unfortunately, lack of clarity is the most common landing page mistake when creating a landing page. This makes it difficult for visitors to understand the landing page, what you offer, and what they should do next. Suppose the purpose of the landing page needs to be clarified through its elements. In that case, the visitor may need clarification or clarification and leave the page without taking your intended actions.

2. Cluttered Format

A cluttered format is yet another landing page mistake many people commit during the design phase of a landing page. Too much text, images, form fields, advertising banners, and call to action buttons can distract visitors from the main message or offer of the landing page.

In addition, having a cluttered visual hierarchy on a landing page can also result in slow loading time, affecting the overall page speed and leading to a poor user experience and increased bounce rates.

3. Slow Load Time

A slow loading speed is the top landing page mistake in terms of increasing the bouncing rate and the best way to frustrate visitors before they even see the whole landing page. The landing page load speed significantly impacts the conversion rate and can lead to a poor user experience.

A slow loading time may also result in a lower search engine ranking, and traffic growth as search engine results (SERP) can take your landing page farther away from potential customers. In addition, it can also lead to sales or leads loss, as visitors may only abandon the page once they have a chance to be converted.

4. Poor Mobile Experience

Data shows that 59.16 percent of global website traffic comes from mobile devices. As more and more users use mobile devices to access the internet, it's a big landing mistake if your landing page needs to be mobile friendly.

Unfortunately, some businesses and marketers need to consider creating a mobile landing page design from the start of the development. A landing page that is not optimized for mobile devices can lead to slow loading times, difficult navigation, and a bad user experience.

In addition, search engines such as Google prioritize mobile-friendly pages in their search results. This means that a mobile landing page may rank high in search results, making it easier for potential customers to find your business.

5. Too Much Forms / Complex Forms

Strictly requiring visitors with longer forms with too many form fields and complex is another landing page mistake that some businesses and marketers make. Too many multi step forms and complex forms can be overwhelming for the visitor and may deter them from filling out the form.

Complex forms take longer to fill out, and first-time visitors may hesitate to provide too much personal information on a landing page, especially if the design looks suspicious. This can lead to a lack of trust in the website or business.

6. Lacking Elements of Trust

Another landing page mistake that is highly observable is the need for elements of trust. This can include outdated content, irrelevant message, old-style design (e.g., fonts, text, colors), and many more. This can also consist of more social proof to help first-time visitors establish trust in your business by showing that real customers have had a positive experience with the product or service.

7. Not Monitoring and Testing

Both analytics and testing are essential parts of every marketing campaign, which some miss taking advantage of. This can lead to missed opportunities for optimization and improvement.

Monitoring analytics provides information on your page's ranking and conversion. On the other hand, businesses or marketers can identify areas needing improvement, such as headlines, content, and call to action, by testing a landing page.

While there are some recognizable mistakes one can commit when creating a landing page, the good news is they are fixable.

Below is the list of the best practices and techniques that you can implement to avoid these landing page mistakes and create effective landing pages:

• Use clear, concise, and compelling headlines with a solid understanding of your offer. Make sure you state the benefit and value proposition of the offer in a few sentences.
• Keep the content or body copy simple, easy to understand, and focused on the benefits of the offer.
• Use a clear and actionable call to action. The call to action must be placed in the most striking part of the page to get the best possible attention.
• Use clear and clammer-free visuals. Ensure to use images and videos when it's essential for the message.
• Limit the number of form fields, images, links, and other elements on the same page that may distract the visitors from your offering.
• Use only one call to action and make it stand out among the other visuals.
• Optimize or minify images and other media forms for the web to reduce file size.
• Use a content delivery network (CDN) to improve page speed.
• Reduce the number of HTTP requests.
• Use a reliable hosting service that can handle high traffic volumes.
• Use mobile-first approach principles to optimize the landing page for smaller devices.
• Use responsive design to ensure the landing page is optimized for all devices. Always be cautious of whitespace when doing responsive design.
• Simplify the form and reduce the number of required fields.
• Use conditional form fields to show or hide fields based on the visitor's input to avoid the visitors from getting overwhelmed.
• Use real customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies to provide social proof.
• Use relevant content and remove outdated content.
• Use analytics tools to monitor and track your visitor's behavior, page ranking, and conversion rates.
• Test different landing page variations to see which works better and identify improvement areas.

Creating a high-converting landing page that can generate many leads or sales is not a walk in the park but is achievable.

There are quite a few essential steps that every business and marketer should follow when setting up and optimizing landing pages to create successful and efficient landing pages.

1. Define Your Goal

Before doing any steps, it's crucial to define a clear and specific goal and focus on the message of the offer, including the benefits of your product or service that are relevant to the user.

Having a clear goal can make it easy for you to design and optimize the landing page and provide a better user experience which can effortlessly persuade the potential customer to the desired or intended action, such as filling out a form or purchasing a product or service.

2. Create A Compelling Headline

The first thing your visitor sees on your landing page is the headline. Headlines often spell trouble for many businesses and marketers if not carefully crafted. A compelling headline should have a solid depiction of your offering. Clearly communicating your value proposition, including benefits and what makes your offer distinct from the competition, should be clearly stated on your headline.

In addition, the headline should be attention-grabbing but also short, sweet, and persuasive, consisting of at most 20 words. When writing a headline, make sure you can state the brand's point of difference in a single sentence. Lastly, the headline should tap into the visitor's pain and how they can use your brand to solve it.

3. Use Captivating Visuals

Visual contents are an essential part of every landing page. Captivating visuals can immediately grab visitors' attention and make a positive impression, increasing the chance of them staying on the page and engaging with your content. Compelling visuals can help you convey information more compellingly than pure text alone. It can also break up long blocks of text into manageable pieces and make the content easier to read and understand.

When using visual content, it is always recommended to use high-quality images and videos to showcase your product or service. Your visuals must contain an image of your product or services to create an emotional connection with the visitor and persuade them to take the intended action.

4. Discuss Pain Points and Solutions

Visitors don’t need a product or service if it doesn't solve problems. A pain point can be defined as the problem or challenge the visitor is experiencing, while a solution is a method to address that problem. By discussing pain points and solutions on your body copy, you can connect with your visitor's needs and offer a solution to help them overcome their challenges.

By highlighting the benefits of your solution and how it can address the visitor's pain points, you can demonstrate the value of your offering, which can persuade them to do the intended action.

One key factor you can integrate into your copy or other content is implementing pain references to existing customer testimonials. Including pain points in a real customer experience can effectively convey the importance of your product or service.

5. Use Powerful Call to Action (CTA)

A well-crafted call to action (CTA) can make all the difference in landing page conversion.

When creating a call to action, it should be closely connected to the product or service you offer and describes how users will benefit if they click through. For example, if you provide a free site review, instead of "Sign up Now," you can use "Show My Site Review." Instead of describing what visitors want, this CTA tells them what the site will do for them.

Lastly, using contrasting colors to make your call to action stand out and placing it above the fold so it is visible without the visitor having to scroll down will help to persuade them to take action.

6. Provide Guarantee (If Applicable)

Customers often trust websites with guarantees. A guarantee, no matter what it is or how it is stated, can help visitors feel at ease while visiting your landing page.

7. Include Real Customer's Social Proof

According to research done by Hubspot, 71% of customers are more likely to purchase on a website based on social media referrals than just pure sweet marketing words. By featuring real customers' social proof, such as reviews, testimonials, case studies, and social media posts, you can show potential customers that your product or service has been tried and tested by others and has already delivered real value.

8. Test and Optimize

After the landing page setup, you need to test and monitor your landing pages and make necessary improvements.

Conduct A/B testing by creating separate landing pages or two versions with minimal variations in elements such as headlines, visuals, copy, and calls-to-action. Once you have identified the winning variation, you can continue monitoring the metrics and constantly refine your landing pages to improve their effectiveness and increase conversion rates.

Landing page optimization is an essential process to improve the effectiveness of landing pages in terms of user experience, engagement, conversion rates, and other metrics. Optimizing landing pages can increase the chance of convincing visitors to take the desired action, whether filling out a form, subscribing, or purchasing a product or service.

Optimization can produce high-converting landing pages, increasing ROI and making marketing more cost-effective. While creating a high-converting landing page isn't rocket science, the steps and tips discussed in this article will help your business convert leads and increase sales.