Landing pages are an essential part of any digital marketing campaign as they are specifically designed to generate leads and achieve conversion goal. However, even a small mistake on a landing page can be the difference between a successful campaign and a failed one. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand the common landing page mistakes that businesses make and avoid them at all costs. Moreover, failing to provide visitors with a clear path forward from your landing page, whether to additional content or a conversion opportunity, can leave them feeling lost and frustrated, emphasising the need for clear navigation and a strong call to action on the same page.
In this article, we will discuss the biggest landing page mistakes and provide insights on how to avoid them. By the end of this article, you’ll understand important aspects of what not to do when designing landing pages and be better equipped to create landing pages that generate leads and conversions for your business.
Click here to learn the difference between a pillar page and a landing page!
Lack of clarity
The first and most significant mistake businesses make when designing their landing pages is the lack of clarity. The landing page’s purpose is to communicate your offer and its value to potential customers and encourage them to take action. If visitors cannot easily understand what your offer is, what benefits it provides, and what you want them to do, they are more likely to leave without converting.
How to avoid this typical landing page mistake?
It’s essential to ensure that you understand the buyer personas and your landing page has a clear and concise message that communicates the offer’s value proposition. This means you need to use language that speaks directly to your target audience, addressing their needs and pain points. Be sure to provide a clear headline that summarises your offer and benefits, followed by supporting subheadings, bullet points, and images that further illustrate your offer’s value. Too many images, cta buttons or pop ups can also dilute the messaging.
Slow loading speed affects the campaign’s performance
In today’s digital landscape, visitors expect quick load speed of web pages, and landing pages are no exception. Slow page speed is one of the most significant landing page mistakes that businesses can make. When the marketers ignore core web vitals and the landing page takes too long to load, the ad traffic is likely to lose patience and abandon the page before it even loads.
How to avoid a slow site?
To avoid this typical mistake, digital marketers need to optimise their landing pages for speed. One of the best ways to do this is by fixing broken links and optimising images and videos used on the page. Large, high-quality images and videos can take up a lot of bandwidth and slow down page load times. Marketers should compress images and videos and use formats that load quickly, such as JPEG and MP4. Both real photos and stock photos are often used in resolutions that are completely unnecessary for a dedicated landing page.
Additionally, use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to reduce the distance that content needs to travel, speeding up page load times.
Minimize plugins and scripts
Another way to speed up landing page load time is by minimising the use of plugins and scripts that can increase page load times. This includes social media plugins, chatbots, and tracking scripts. Businesses should carefully evaluate the use of each plugin and script and eliminate those that are unnecessary or slow down page load times.
Furthermore, businesses should optimise their landing page code by minifying CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files. Minification reduces the file size of the code by removing unnecessary spaces and characters, which can significantly improve page load times and help achieve conversion goal.
Unresponsive design
According to the GoodFirms survey, 73.1% of website designers think that the top reason for the audience to leave a website is unresponsive design. A poor mobile experience means that the layout and content of the page do not adjust to the screen size of the device that visitors are using. This can result in text that is too small to read, images that are distorted or cut off, and a frustrating user experience. With mobile devices now accounting for over half of all internet traffic, businesses cannot afford to neglect the importance of responsive landing page design.
Avoid this mistake and create a well-designed landing page
To avoid this mistake, marketers need to invest in mobile landing page optimisation with responsiveness in mind. This means that the page should be optimised for all devices, including mobile and tablet, to ensure that visitors have a seamless experience. The best way to achieve this is by using a responsive design framework that automatically adjusts the layout and content of the landing page to fit the screen size of the device being used.
Another way is by using a mobile-first design approach, or mobile friendly approach. This means designing the page specifically for mobile devices first and then scaling up to larger screen sizes. By applying this approach ensures that the landing page is optimised for the smallest screens first, which can help achieve conversion goals by streamlining the design and content, which ultimately bring in more visitors in first impressions.
Too much clutter makes it a bad experience
What a visitor sees on your landing page is crucial to their first impression of your brand. The best landing page is designed to be simple and focused, with a clear message and call-to-action. Too many visuals or clutter on the landing pages do not makes sense and distract visitors from the main message and call-to-action, leading to confusion and reduced conversion rates.
Clean up the page and see your conversion rates going up!
To avoid such common mistakes, businesses need to ensure that their landing pages have a clear and concise message and only include content and elements that are directly related to the offer and call-to-action. Marketers should aim to keep the landing pages clean and uncluttered, with plenty of white space to help the main message.
Another way to avoid visual distractions on landing pages is by using the breadcrumb technique to guide visitors’ attention. It’s a visual hierarchy design technique that uses size, colour, and placement to guide visitors’ attention to the most important elements on the page.
Make the text easy to read and understand
Additionally, bullet points and short paragraphs are easier to read and scan than large blocks of text, making it more likely that visitors will engage with the content and take the desired action. Moreover, while images and videos can be powerful tools for conveying a message, too many can distract visitors and make the page appear cluttered.
Besides that, one of the most common mistakes is requiring visitors to create a free account before they can access any content, which can be a major turn-off and lead to high bounce rates.
Weak or irrelevant headline
The headline is one of the most important elements on a landing page because it is the first thing visitors will see. It serves as a hook to capture the attention of visitor and encourage them to engage with the rest of the page. If the headline is weak or irrelevant, visitors may lose interest and leave the page, leading to reduced conversion rates.
Even the best landing page paired with irrelevant headlines will bring no results!
To avoid this landing page mistake, the headline should be easy to read and understand, and it should clearly communicate the value of the offer. One way to create effective headlines is to use the AIDA formula. This formula is a proven copywriting technique that can help businesses create headlines that are both attention-grabbing and relevant to the offer. The headline should generate interest in the offer, create a desire for the product or service, and encourage the visitor to take action.
Another way to create effective headlines is to use emotional triggers to emotionally connect with the visitor. For example, headlines that tap into the fears, hopes, or desires of the visitor can be very effective in capturing their attention
Ineffective call-to-action (CTA)
A call-to-action (CTA) is the element on a landing page that prompts the visitor to take a specific action, such as signing up for a newsletter, downloading an ebook, or making a purchase. An ineffective CTA can significantly reduce the chances of a visitor converting into a customer. If the CTA is not clear, visually appealing, and strategically placed within the ad, blog post, or home page, website visitors may not know what action to take or be hesitant to click. Too many ctas lead to the same issue, users can get in doubt where to pay special attention.
How can you avoid this common landing page mistake?
This landing page mistake can be avoided by ensuring that the text on the button should be straightforward and communicate the benefit of taking the action. For example, “Get started now” or “Download the guide” are clear and direct CTAs that tell visitors exactly what they will get when they click the button.
The design of the CTA button is also critical. The button should be prominent, visually appealing, and stand out from the rest of the page. Using contrasting colours for the button and text can make the CTA more noticeable and increase the chances of visitors clicking on it. Marketers should also consider using larger font sizes, bold or italicised text, and graphics to make the CTA more visually appealing.
Always a CTA or form above the fold!
Moreover, ensure that the CTA is prominently placed on your now well-designed landing page, and is easily visible to visitors. It should be above the fold, so visitors do not need to scroll down to see it. Placing the CTA in the centre of the page, surrounded by white space, can also make it more prominent and noticeable.
Another important aspect of an effective CTA is the sense of urgency it creates. Visitors are more likely to take action if they feel that they will miss out on something valuable if they don’t act quickly. Using phrases such as “limited time offer,” “act now,” or “only a few left” can create a sense of urgency and encourage visitors to click on the CTA.
Unclear offer
An unclear offer is one of the most important landing page mistakes to avoid. Visitors who arrive on landing pages are looking for a specific solution to their problem, and if the value proposition is not immediately clear or does not resonate with them, they will likely leave without converting. It the next steps are unclear, it can have the same effect, so always make sure that both your offer and the next steps are crystal clear!
Unclear offers significantly decrease conversion rates
Prevent this landing page mistake by ensuring that the offer is crystal clear and appeals to the needs and desires of the visitor. The offer should be specific and clearly communicate the value that visitors will receive when they convert.
Moreover, focus on communicating the benefits of their offer, rather than just the features. Visitors want to know how the offer will solve their problems, save them time, or make their lives easier.
Lack of social proof
Did you know that 61% of shoppers read online reviews prior to buying a product or service? Lack of social proof is the biggest landing page mistake that businesses can make. Social proof is a psychological concept that describes the tendency of people to follow the actions of others when they are unsure about what to do. In the context of landing pages, social proof can be a powerful motivator for visitors to convert.
How to incorporate social proof the right way?
One of the most effective ways to incorporate social proof into separate landing pages or ad copy is by using customer testimonials. Testimonials are a powerful tool for building trust and credibility with visitors. They provide social proof by showcasing the experiences of existing customers who have already tried the product or service. When real customers see positive testimonials from others, they are more likely to take the right path in making a purchase.
It’s an amazing company, and you can confidently do business with them
– A mom
Displaying ratings or reviews from third-party platforms like Yelp, Google, or Trustpilot is a great example to incorporate social proof. This can be especially effective for businesses that are just starting out and do not have a large customer base.
Social proof is often an easy fix
Besides that, you can also use other forms of social proof, such as social media shares, press mentions, or endorsements from industry experts. However, it’s important to use social proof strategically and authentically. Marketers should avoid using fake or misleading testimonials or reviews, as this can damage their reputation and credibility. Instead, they should focus on collecting genuine feedback from potential customers and incorporating it into their landing pages in a way that feels natural and relevant.
Poor form design
One of the most common reasons why visitors abandon lead capture forms is confusion within the form fields. The form may have poor design or lack clarity, leading to a confusing experience for the visitor. For instance, if the form fields are not labelled correctly, visitors may not understand what information they are being asked to provide. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that multi-step forms are designed to be user-friendly, with clear instructions and an easy-to-follow layout.
Another landing page mistake that can impact form design is when it is overwhelming. When you create a longer form, the potential customer feels that it is too time-consuming or requires too much effort to fill out. They may choose to abandon the form altogether rather than complete it.
Less is more in form design
Marketers who fall short to align visitor clicks with their intended actions, can result in confusion and frustration, leading to high bounce rates and missed conversion opportunities on your landing page. Therefore, it is essential to keep the form as concise as possible, only asking for the most important information that is needed for more conversions.
Moreover, while it may be incredibly important to gather as much relevant information as possible from visitors, it can be overwhelming and may cause visitors to feel uneasy. Therefore, it is crucial to only ask for enough data that are required to complete the conversion process. This includes relevant details such as name, email address, and any other pertinent information that is needed to fulfil the purpose of the landing page.
Finally, the design of the form itself is essential. A poorly designed form may look unprofessional or unappealing, which can cause visitors to lose trust in the brand. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the form is visually appealing, with an attractive layout, clear typography, and a colour scheme that matches the brand’s visual identity.
Not testing or optimising
When it comes to creating an effective landing page, it’s essential to ensure that it is optimised to achieve its primary objective: converting visitors into leads or sales. Testing your landing page elements involves experimenting with different variations of the elements, such as headlines, images, and calls-to-action (CTAs). By testing these elements, you can determine which version performs better and which ones need to be adjusted to achieve the desired outcome.
How to test and optimise landing pages?
One way to test your landing page elements is through A/B testing. A/B testing involves creating two or more versions of a landing page and comparing their performance. This can be done by randomly directing visitors to different versions of the landing page and tracking their behaviour, such as click-through rates, bounce rates, and conversion rates. By analysing the data, you can determine which version of the landing page is more effective and make adjustments accordingly.
Learn more about how to measure landing page performance.
Another essential aspect of optimising your landing page is analysing the user experience (UX). The UX refers to the overall experience that visitors have when interacting with your landing page. If the UX is poor, visitors may be deterred from completing the desired action, resulting in a lower conversion rate.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it’s crucial to acknowledge that landing page optimisation is the most crucial component of any marketing campaign. It is the first impression visitors have of your brand, and it can make or break the success of your campaign. Even a small change in the landing page’s design, copy, or CTAs can significantly impact its effectiveness and ultimately the conversion rate. Moreover, ignoring core web vitals when designing landing pages can result in slow loading speeds, poor user experience, and ultimately lower search engine rankings
To ensure the success of your landing page, it’s essential to avoid the common landing page mistakes discussed in this complete guide. If you observe any of these issues, there might be a problem with your landing page. But hey, don’t worry too much about it; instead, see it as an opportunity to improve. Once you understand how to spot top landing page mistakes, you’ll find it simpler to improve your pages.
