9 Lazy Landing Page Mistakes That Kill Your Conversions

You’re getting a healthy amount of clicks, which leads you to believe your campaign is performing well. But your conversion rate is painfully low. Usually, the problem lies in a poorly optimized landing page. Average landing page conversion rates are about 3%, which means that 97% of the traffic your landing page gets, bounces. Part of the reason why this rate is so low is because many businesses are guilty of the following lazy landing page mistakes.

Read on to learn how to identify these defective tactics, and how to fix them.

Landing Page Mistakes #1. Busyness

Usually someone who is considered busy is rarely classified as someone who is lazy too. But in the case of landing page design, a busy layout can only be explained by a lazy marketer, because they neglected to create separate landing pages for different audiences/goals.

In the example below, the business is attempting to speak to all their personas, and address all of their goals on one extremely crowded landing page.

It’s completely overwhelming to a new visitor. In fact, it’s been proven that when people are presented with too many options, they typically don’t choose any.

How to Fix It

More isn’t always better. Break up content with white space, and focus on addressing one or two goals for each persona. Also keep in mind that too little content often signifies a lack of character.

Dig into your analytics to find out where people are clicking, and use a heat map tool to track mouse behavior. Ultimately, it’s best to work with your CRO agency to find the right balance of content for your landing pages.

Landing Page Mistakes #2. Too Many Goals

Each page on your website should have a unique goal. Otherwise, why does the page exist? But when multiple goals are set for one landing page, users get confused.

Take the example below. The visitor may land on this page without any prior knowledge of the company. If so, they probably  wonder, “Where am I supposed to click? Should I sign up? Or donate now? Or download the ebook?”

How to Fix It

You can’t expect your visitors to do exactly what you want them to do on your page. You need to essentially hold their hand and show them the path and be extremely clear about it. Strip out distractions and ensure all buttons and CTAs align with one goal.

Landing Page Mistakes #3. Bad Content

Sometimes marketers write copy for landing pages without really put much thought into it. There are a ton of landing pages with bad content.

Content can negatively affect your credibility if it:

• Lacks data to back up any claims
• Doesn’t provide any value
• Actually disengages the visitor
• Is incorrect

In the example below, it would appear that the goal is for the user to download the InfoBrief.

Nowhere in this copy does it tell the visitor the benefit of providing their contact information, (including phone number), other than to, “see how a changing world may be a change for the better.” This is vague copy that provides no value.

Landing Page Mistakes #4. Distracting Pop-Ups

Pop-ups should be used sparingly across your site as they can cause visitors to bounce. Google also penalizes sites that don’t follow the pop-up rules.

On a landing page where there is a specific action you want your user to take, a pop-up is only going to distract them from completing the goal.

In the example below, you can faintly see some content underneath the welcome mat, (which is a full screen pop-up).

As I was reading the blurb on why I should download the free checklist, I was interrupted by an intrusive pop-up for a completely different offer.

How to Fix It

Turn off pop-ups for any landing pages with forms, and landing pages where you want to keep visitors focused on the goal.

Landing Page Mistakes #5. Cheesy Stock Photography

Overly staged stock photos are completely cheesy, and very impersonal. They don’t reflect your brand, and are immediately recognized as “fake.”

Here’s an example of an offer that uses stock photography which provides absolutely no value to the user.

How to Fix It

Avoid becoming another woman laughing alone with salad meme by spending the extra bit of money on professional photography. If it’s not in your budget, purchase a camera yourself to capture visual content that will boost your conversion rates, not turn visitors away.

Landing Page Mistakes #6. Too Many Form Fields

You need to ask your users for at least their first name and email address in order to start building a relationship, and nurturing those leads. But asking for too much information from your visitors on landing page forms, like in the example below, may cause them to bounce.

How to Fix It

The number of form fields you require on your landing page should directly relate to the stage the content is in. For example, use fewer form fields for an awareness offer, like a tips guide. And ask your users for more information for a bottom-of-the-funnel decision offer, like a demo. Better yet--use progressive form fields which swap out ones your users have already answered with new ones to capture as much relevant data as possible.

The number of fields that are right for your company will require some experimenting. Split test your forms to see whether the shorter ones contribute to higher conversions.

Landing Page Mistakes #7. Slow Page Speed

Speed is a killer, and people won’t wait around for a slow page. This can severely affect your conversion rate. A study showed that half of web users claimed to expect sites to load within 2 seconds. And 79% of shoppers who experience a slow loading page say they won’t return to the site to buy again. Also, 44% of shoppers would tell a friend if they had a poor experience shopping online.

How to Fix It

Just because your landing page looks great, doesn’t mean it can’t perform great too. Log into Google Analytics to see what your average page load time is. You can find this metric under Behavior > Site Speed. If it’s any longer than 2 seconds, talk to your web developer about optimizing images, using caching, and compressing files.

Landing Page Mistakes #8. Lackluster Copy

Many marketers and business owners put more emphasis on their landing page design than on their copy. When it comes time to add content, it’s often slapped together, boring or vague, and won’t help boost conversions.

Here’s an example of a landing page for an SEO checklist. By reading the copy, you can tell that it’s not user-focused, and doesn’t aim to “sell” the offer. Instead of focusing on how the checklist will help the user solve a problem, it focuses on the fact that it’s free.

How to Fix It

Work with a copywriter who thoroughly understands your personas, products, and industry. As a general rule of thumb, ensure your landing pages are:

• More you focused than we
• Benefit-driven (think outcomes, not features)
• Relevant  

Landing Page Mistakes #9. Giving Away Content

What is the point of a landing page if you’re not asking for an email address in return? Some marketers will spend time creating a content offer, designing the landing page, and crafting the copy, and then give it to visitors without asking for an email address in exchange.

There are some circumstances where it doesn’t make sense to gate your offer, (like an infographic, blog post, or most videos). But in-depth content should be created with the goal to convert visitors into leads.

How to Fix It

Add a short form to your landing page with fields for at least the user’s first name and email address.

Just like your marketing strategy, your landing pages should follow a similar approach. Start with a goal, identify metrics and KPIs, involve your advertising and copywriting partners, and test often.