What Is Missing From Your Landing Page?
Your landing page is visually appealing and easy to use but why are conversion rates so low? Take a look what could be missing from your landing page.
A guest clicks the magic link to arrive at your landing page. The design is flawless, colors are just the right hue and your call to action button is picture perfect. So why are visitors clicking the ‘x’ in the top right corner?
Many site owners often ask themselves this question, and the answer could lie simply in your landing page. What are you missing? Here are a few common landing page mistakes to get you started in your quest for landing page greatness.
Key elements that make or break your landing page:
A less than clear idea of ‘why’:
Site visitors should know exactly what is in it for them. State your purpose loud and clear for the best click-through rates. Any vagueness on your landing page will lead readers to go elsewhere. If it is apparent why following your link is a good idea, your visitors are more likely to go ahead and click through.
Ads and/or popups:
Landing pages are not the place for affiliates or videos. Your one goal should be easily identifiable and even easier to complete. Save the ads for any other web page than this one. Nothing frustrates site visitors like videos that are slow to load or failing plugins that could prevent them from following your call to action. Remember: slow sites will also upset the search engines.
Information overload:
Keep paragraphs to a minimum and your message clear in the shortest amount of text possible. Too much elaborative explanation can get boring, leading visitors to click away. When writing the content for your landing page use clear, short, sentences that get right to the point. Remember to follow your brand’s unique tone of voice but be sure that the content isn’t too demanding of customer time.
Too many options:
There should be just one clear way to navigate your landing page that will lead visitors straight to the end goal without detours. Whether you are looking for newsletter signups or for visitors to purchase a product, there should be very few transactional steps for your visitor to take. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes can help you see options that you hadn’t considered before, so always ask for a second opinion.
Slow loaders:
Web pages must load quickly and landing pages must load even quicker to be truly effective. For tips on how to speed up the loading time of your pages visit this site. Remember to keep your landing page clear of oversized images, large videos and plugins that take time to download. By keeping your landing page simple you also maintain its effectiveness.
Failure to communicate:
Readers can get confused or overwhelmed by technical jargon and annoying acronyms. If it is absolutely necessary to use technical abbreviations or lingo, be sure that you define the terms in a clear and concise manner without being demeaning. Who knows, your visitor might open another tab to find the answer and if your competitor gives it to them they will most likely get the sale too.
There are many other reasons why your conversion rates might be less than stellar, but we will save them for another post like this one. Remember, no matter how great your conversion rates are there is always room for improvement when it comes to your business. Keep looking for the next way to improve your site.
For inspiration check out these great examples or head over to Midphase.com for website building templates that make landing pages a breeze.