When it comes to landing pages, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Even the most experienced marketers make mistakes with their landing pages, so don't worry. In fact, these mistakes need to be made in order to learn what NOT to do when creating your own landing pages. In this blog post we'll give you some advice on what not to do when designing your website's home page and how to avoid making these common mistakes.
#1 Landing page copy that is too lengthy
Keep it short and sweet. The point of a landing page is to get people interested in your product or service, so don't make them work too hard for it. If you have too much copy on the page, it will lose its effectiveness.
Use bullet points instead of paragraphs. Bullet points are easier to read than long paragraphs and they will help keep your copy concise while still being able to retain its message effectively.
Use a clear headline that lets visitors know exactly what they are getting themselves into when clicking through to the landing page. Having an effective headline can go a long way towards making sure people understand what they just clicked on and how that link relates back to their original search query (i.e., if someone searched for "cheap hotels in Berlin", then make sure that's reflected in your headline).
Make sure you have subheadlines throughout your content as well; these should be even shorter than the body copy but should still include keywords related back towards whatever keyword brought them there originally (for example: "Cheap Hotels In London" might be followed by "5 Star Hotel Deals").
#2 Relevance
The most effective landing pages are relevant to their source content and keywords, as well as their industry and business. For example, if you sell shoes online and your target audience is women aged 18-45 who live in the United States who are looking for specific types of shoes, then you want your landing page content to be about those things. A visitor has gone through some kind of effort (e.g., a Google search) to get to this point—so keep them engaged with compelling reasons why they should stay on that page instead of bouncing back out again.
#3 Forgetting about a call-to-action
You may be tempted to think of your landing page as a one-way street—you’re sending traffic there, but it’s up to the visitor to make their way through your site. But that isn't quite how it works.
When users arrive on your landing page, they are likely looking for answers or information from you. They may also have questions about what you're offering and why they should choose you over another option. That's where a call-to-action comes in handy!
A call-to-action (CTA) is any type of instruction or encouragement given by a website owner that prompts users to take some action based on what they've seen on the site or learned about its products/services. The CTA is a way for you to guide users through your site and steer them toward the next step. You can use CTAs in a variety of ways, depending on what kind of message you're trying to convey and how much control you want over user behavior.
#4 Weak headlines for landing pages
A successful headline is the most important part of your landing page. It has to be interesting, relevant and accurate. The headline should be short enough so that it can be read in one quick read and still convey the main message. Headlines should usually be written in the first person. For example: “What I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Business” or “How To Create A Successful Blog For Your Small Business”. The key here is to use an active voice that speaks directly to your reader. If you want them to click through and read more about what you have on offer, then you must speak directly into their ears with your headlines!
#5 Visuals which do not support the message
You should use visuals that are relevant to your message, and also support it. They should be clear and easy to understand. If your page is too busy or confusing, people will be turned off.
#6 Not enough Customer Testimonials
Your landing page is the face of your business. It’s a chance to show off your brand and all the great things you have to offer. But, if you’re missing out on some simple tricks that can help boost conversions, people won’t ever get a chance to see what you have to offer in the first place.
Testimonials are one of these simple tricks because they build trust with your audience right away—and they can be incredibly powerful in terms of social proofing (i.e., showing customers how others like them feel about using your product or service). To make sure that testimonials are working their magic on prospects visiting your landing page, make sure there are plenty of them! The more testimonials from happy customers that appear on your landing page, the better it will perform as far as bringing in new leads goes.
#7 Failing to A/B test your landing pages
A/B testing is a great way to get feedback on your landing pages. You can use A/B testing to determine which elements work best on your landing pages and make sure that you're not wasting time and money with content that doesn't resonate with users.
What does it mean?
A/B testing is a way of comparing two versions (A and B) of a web page to see which one performs better, then using that information to improve the design further before launching it.
How can you do it? There are many different tools that will help you A/B test your landing pages, including Google Analytics, Optimizely and Unbounce. You can also use a simple Google Doc to get feedback from users before launching.
#8 Not using clear and precise forms on your landing pages.
When it comes to landing pages, one of the most important factors is clarity. The goal is to get people to complete your form and submit their information so that you can begin a conversation with them. If your forms are unclear or confusing, then this will turn off many potential customers and make it harder for you to connect with them later on.
In order to avoid these problems, make sure you are using clear and concise forms on your landing page that are easy for visitors to fill out. In addition, include only the most important fields required for collecting contact details from new leads (such as name and email address). You should also make sure all of your forms are mobile friendly since most people now access websites via mobile devices instead of desktop computers or laptops.
#9 Allowing visitors to navigate away from the landing page
There's a lot of information on your landing page, so it's important to keep visitors engaged. This is why you should use a call-to-action (CTA). A CTA gives people something else to look at and think about, which will help them stay on the page and continue reading.
If your landing page is engaging and has a clear CTA, then your visitors will be more likely to follow it—thus helping you convert them into leads or customers.
#10 Not optimising your landing pages for mobile devices.
Mobile devices are the most popular way to access the Internet. They are also used by people who have a short attention span and a lower tolerance for frustration. You need to make sure that your landing pages are optimized for mobile devices if you want to keep those visitors engaged.
If you aren’t already creating separate landing pages for mobile users, it might be time to start thinking about how you can improve their experience on your site.
The key to success is knowing what to avoid.
Understanding the most common mistakes designers make is the key to success. You see, it's not enough to just know that you want to avoid making mistakes—you need to understand exactly what those mistakes are.
Conclusion
This brings us to the end of our list of mistakes. Now that you know what to avoid, you can make sure that your landing page is effective and gets the results you want! We hope this post helped clear up some common questions about how to get started with A/B testing, which is one of the most important parts of your marketing campaign.