Guest post by Kelly Smith
5 Landing Page Mistakes Costing You Conversions
A good landing page will make your life easier. You want your customers to be able to utilize it to its fullest extent. It should be direct, lacking in fluff, and all of your key sections should be easy to understand. In essence, a landing page should be the strongest sales pitch you can produce. You’ll be able to share content in a variety of formats that reinforce your values, making your brand an easy choice for people who have digested this information.
So review your landing page and figure out where you need to make adjustments. Here are five common mistakes that are costing you conversions.
1. You don’t have a clear value proposition
A reader’s attention should be captured from the beginning. It’s unlikely you’re the only one offering a specific product or service, so you have to consider what sets you apart from your competition and lead with that foot. If potential customers don’t understand why they should choose you over your competitors, they’re likely to sweep you under the rug. Your value proposition, sometimes called a unique selling proposition, needs to be clear from the beginning. Your first paragraph of copy should highlight this proposition in a meaningful way.
2. There aren’t any images
You need something to break up all of your text. If readers are confronted with a plain page of copy, there’s nothing to draw their focus. Sticking in an image or two will create multiple areas of interest. You don’t need to use anything fancy – there are a wealth of stock images available to license that will probably fit with the theme of your proposition. If you’re looking to add a personal touch to create a friendlier environment, photos of real customers or professional quality product shots will also do the trick.
3. There’s too much to read
To put things bluntly, you’re trying to convert users and make money from them. They’ve already worked to earn it, so they shouldn’t have to work to spend it. You should be doing everything you can to make sure all the heavy lifting has already been done for users.
Learn to say as much as you can in as few words as possible. Creating bulleted lists and thorough, honest summaries will make your landing page easy to read. If you’re concerned you haven’t expressed everything you feel is necessary, use your sections as hubs to “read more” links. The potential customer will be able to access more information at their leisure and they won’t be required to sift through an unmanageable amount of text just to find key information.
4. You don’t appear trustworthy
When most people hit a landing page, one of the first things they wonder is whether or not it’s a scam. Some people are very dishonest in their pitches, making impossible promises and exaggerating their value. Content and images should be a fair representation of who you are and what you do. Outside of that, obtaining something like a Verisign stamp will help people recognize you as a legitimate entity. Some companies report staggering increases in conversions simply by obtaining the Verisign symbol.
5. Your call to action is vague
Your call to action can make or break you. You never want a potential customer to misunderstand what’s going on. They should know where your call to action is, what you expect them to do, and most importantly, what they’re signing up for. Call to action buttons should always be eye catching and the language you use counts. Something like “Sign Up Now!” or “Join Our List!” reads as confusing. More direct language, such as “Download Your 30 Day Trial” or “Request Your Customized Quote” do a better job of expressing your intentions.
A landing page can always be improved, no matter how well you feel it’s constructed. While these are the most common mistakes, they aren’t necessarily the only mistakes. It never hurts to do some trial-and-error runs to see what your customers respond best to!
Kelly Smith is an experienced writer and tutor working at Career FAQs. She’s keen on new motivational tools and productivity hacks. She’s also interested in the new media.
