Overview
A large mailing list, a decent amount of social media followers, organic traffic from search engines; your performance in these areas of your online marketing endeavours may mean little if you have an ineffective landing page.
A landing page on your website serves as a 24-hour salesperson. It is there to show your visitors around, highlight the benefits of your services, and ultimately, convert them into paying customers.
Keep in mind that successful online selling requires every facet of your business to be not just good, but exceptional. The market is already too crowded for “regular” players. So you either go all-out on your search engine marketing efforts or live with a subpar business with suboptimal growth.
If you think that you have everything done correctly but are yet to see the bucks rolling in, then you could be guilty of the following landing page mistakes:
1. Heavy Paragraphs as opposed to Organised Lists
Statistics show that landing pages with bulleted lists perform better than those with overflowing text. This is because readers prefer condensed information presented to them in the most convenient way possible. You should also cut the fluff and keep it within the 100-word range.
2. Low-quality or Irrelevant Images
Images inspire and communicate emotions more efficiently than words.
Unfortunately, it is easy to convey the wrong message to your audience if you just pulled an image in without any thought. First of all, be sure if an image is necessary at all for your landing page. If it is, opt for high-quality, professional images. If there’s a person in the image, make sure he or she is not looking away from your text since viewers tend to follow their gaze.
3. Unclear Value Proposition
Having Unique Selling Propositions or USP’s is your key to earning your share in a competitive market. Without them, your brand is just a drop in an ocean of businesses that are offering the same thing. More importantly, your landing page should be able to convey your value proposition in one glance. To achieve this, it must be reflected into 4-page elements; the main headline, a subheader, the facts list, and the closing statement.
4. No Emphasis on Urgency
In business, there is value in urgency. Do not imply that you have an abundant supply, nor should you state that your price range is fixed for a long period of time. Instead, emphasise scarcity with strategies such as a limited-time offer or a trial package.
5. Unconvincing Testimonials
Testimonials trigger strong responses because they are relatable, but they can also be underwhelming. Make sure your positive testimonials are detailed and will highlight your company’s selling points.
6. Bad Call-to-action
The call-to-action is the cherry on top, so be sure it steals the show. Make it centered, easy to find, and focused on converting. Also, limit the outbound links from your landing page to prevent readers from being confused.
7. No Clear Starting Point
Having a focal point is crucial when it comes to designing landing pages. It doesn’t matter if it’s a signup form, a checkout link, infographics, or a video – it must be the first thing your audience will see. Whatever you do, do not overwhelm your reader by adding too many elements in your landing page at once.
8. Underused Headlines
There are three tones that effective headlines have; preventing a loss, highlighting a benefit, and sparking a question. For example, you can show the value in loss prevention with a headline like: “Don’t let a bad spine hold you down – consult our chiropractors now”. Alternatively, you can highlight the benefit with: “Live strong in your golden years – let us help you by getting a free quote”.
9. Relying on Videos
A lot of unsuccessful marketers committed the crime of relying on a video to carry an entire landing page. Let’s face it; not too many people have the time to sit through a 10-minute video. Of course, you can include relevant videos as long as it is less than 1 minute in length. Just be sure your landing page does not depend on your videos for lead generation conversions.
10. Poor Color Choice
Psychology and selling go hand in hand. Believe it or not, viewers subconsciously associate emotions with your site’s colour scheme. For example, blue implies security and authority, while red inspires cravings and love.
Correcting your landing page mistakes is a step in the right direction. Remember that you need constant adjustments and tests to identify what works and what fails.
11. No Live Chat (Bonus!)
Having a live chat function in a landing page works phenomenally well for two reasons. One, your would-be customers will love it. And two, most of your competitors are probably not using it. Remember that you want your audience to be as comfortable as possible. Even the slightest hint of doubt can make them turn away from committing to your company. With a competent agent, your prospects shall have all their questions answered and their doubts cleared.
If you need help with your landing page optimisation, reach out to Shout SEO Agency today.
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