7 Landing Page Mistakes to Avoid if You Want to Convert Readers into Paying Customers

In an era where most business deals are closed online, you may be tempted to believe that talking to your customers is no longer necessary. Or maybe that it’s just something that should be left to the sales departments.

But if you don’t talk to your customers or end users of your website, how else are you going to get feedback? Just by staring at metrics?

No matter how low your bounce rate and how big your CTR, they can’t tell you if your landing page is really good. And actual discussion with your end users can reveal landing page mistakes that your conversion rate and other metrics can’t.

7 common landing page mistakes you can easily fix

I have yet to hear a client tell me “Nah, I don’t want to sell more with my landing page. Leave it as is.” The fact is that, even though you sell enough to remain profitable, you could be doing much better.

And, if it’s been a while since you last spoke to an end user of your website, I’m going to tell you some of the mistakes that you could be making (and that your visitors would tell you about, if asked):

1. Lack of a clear goal

I can understand why you feel tempted to try and sell more than one product or service with a single landing page. If you can shoot (at least) two birds with one stone, why not do it, right?

Well, because it’s confusing.

If your potential buyer clicked on an ad to get to your website, your landing page should deliver exactly what was promised in that ad. For instance, if your ad has a photo of red shoes, make sure those (exact) red shoes shine on your landing page.

Don’t try to sell flip-flops along elegant red shoes. People who clicked on your ad want those shoes and, honestly, they don’t care what you think would fit them.

You can add a few (small) suggestions at the end of a page, in a less visible place. But the majority of the space should be taken by advertising a single product or service.

2. You don’t have a clear CTA in place

People who got on your landing page are clearly interested in that product or offer. Some of them may even know they want to buy it before they read the sales copy on your landing page.

So why not make it easy for them to give you money?

A clear, brightly-colored CTA should be visible from the very moment the user landed on your page. Of course, you need to add at least one other at the end of the copy – for people who needed to read everything before making the purchase decision.

Your CTA button should have a clear message: “Buy now,” “Download now,” “Contact sales” – don’t over-complicate it and don’t try to reinvent the wheel. You can add a lengthier tag line above it: “Double your sales with our Facebook ads strategy.”

3. You don’t keep content in mind

Odds are the users didn’t land on your page by accident. They clicked on a Google ad, a Facebook ad, a link you sent in an e-mail campaign or something similar.

But when they get there, your landing page uses different verbiage and speaks about different benefits. Things like this get users confused and bouncing off your landing page.

I’m not saying your page should repeat every word in your ad verbatim, but it should definitely give the readers a feeling of consistency.

Begin your landing page with the same benefit that your ad spoke of – that’s what lured them there, right? Use an identical tone of voice when you describe the other benefits. All in all, try to make the user feel as if they’re on chapter two of the same story.

4. You don’t abide by the 5-second rule

No, this is not about writing copy that can be read in five seconds or less. This is a landing page, after all, not a tagline.

This rule states that you have five seconds or less to grab your readers’ attention. If you fail, you’ve lost them. In order for this to happen, you need to start with a powerful tagline and a promise that they can get even more exciting information below.

Your landing page’s goal is to engage people and keep them reading until they have decided to press on the “buy” button. So don’t clutter the top of your page with tons of different bits of information and photos. A powerful tagline should be enough to keep them going.

5. You speak about yourself

“We are the best,” “we make the best shoes,” “we have an amazing offer” – do any of these sounds like your landing page? If so, you need to change your copy immediately.

A landing page isn’t supposed to make you shine and make the reader feel humbled about your amazing skills and products. It’s supposed to tell them that you can solve one of their problems or supply their wants and needs.

So, instead of “we,” focus on “you.”

“You just got the best offer on the planet,” “you will turn heads when wearing these shoes,” “you will learn all you need to know from our white paper,” “you will boost your sales with this proven strategy.”

This is the type of language that sells and keeps people engaged. Your users want to know how your product or service helps them. And it’s your job to paint that picture.

6. Your landing page is crammed

What I’ve noticed in most landing pages that we consulted on for our clients was an utter lack of white space. Copywriters and we designers seem to share the (wrong) idea that they should use every single pixel on the page.

Thus, most landing pages end up crammed and very hard to follow and read.

Don’t be afraid of white space. Use it to make transitions between text blocks and graphic elements. Use it to surround a powerful CTA button. Use it to allow the user some “breathing” space and to give a relaxed impression.

7. You don’t use action-inspiring graphic elements

Yes, the copy is the most important part of your landing page. But it needs to be supported by excellent graphics.

Photos are a great example – photos of teams hard at work or successful execs are great for B2B landing pages. However, you don’t need to stick to photos alone.

Graphic depictions of things like arrows and small space ships are also very inspirational. They give an uplifting feeling and convey a can-do attitude – and this is exactly how you want your reader to feel.

Crafting the perfect landing page is not a mission impossible

You just have to think about what your buyer persona wants to see and read. Not about what you would like to see. Avoid these mistakes, get an awesome copywriter to craft compelling messages and see your conversion rate soar.

Adriana Tica is an expert marketer and copywriter, with 10 years in the field, most of which were spent marketing tech companies. She is the CEO of Idunn, a digital marketing agency that helps clients all over the world with copywriting, social media marketing and marketing strategy. Follow her blog here: http://idunn.pro/blog.

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