Not too hard to miss – landing page mistakes everyone should avoid
5 min readFor any successful ad campaign online, landing pages are the main support they have. A mistake in them and the whole ad campaign becomes a money-devouring monster. But the good news is that making the best kind of landing pages is key to avoiding this mistake. This is why web designers and developers place a key focus on landing pages.
Experienced web designers and developers have been emphasizing making crisp and clean landing pages free from errors. Numerous landing pages have been researched and analyzed. They were strewn with multiple errors which could have been prevented.
Importance of landing pages
Landing pages are important. They are the place where most website visitors obtain their first impressions. It is a key step in the sales funnel that helps convert prospects into leads. The way a landing page is created can spell all the difference in driving growth and revenue.
In case the landing page is not able to convert prospects into leads, there are key landing page errors that businesses, brands, and companies alike make. Now is the time to help rectify and fix those errors.
Key landing page mistakes each company should avoid
In all honesty, landing pages are a key part of any digital marketing tactic. Everyone makes mistakes and they can be found in the page’s design. As per HubSpot, companies having more than 40 landing pages get 12 times more leads than those with five or fewer than that.
However, a landing page that was badly designed is not a viable lead catcher. It is hence wise that each business, brand, and company make sure they get their landing page design done correctly.
This is the reason digital marketing specialists from one well-known web design company in Dubai have decided to share their insights in this regard to help companies avert the following landing page errors:
A lack of a clear call to action
A call-to-action (CTA) is a prompt asking visitors or users to take a certain action (transaction, sign up, etc.). It can be either an image or a sentence. Any visitor to a website may use it to sign up for a webinar, download something useful, sign up for a newsletter, or buy something useful. CTA placement and portrayal are key to converting leads into customers.
Industry experts have explained how an unclear CTA can hurt the SEO of landing pages. The idea of having one is to give any website’s visitors directions to either a contact form, a PDF file to download, or vice versa. Failure to provide that will result in visitors leaving the website. This can impact the Google search engine ranking adversely.
It should also be understood that putting multiple CTAs on a landing page can turn users away from other websites. This is why a CTA should have an individual and unified focus.
Let’s have a look at Uber’s landing page. It does demonstrate an example of a clear CTA, which focuses on selling to prospective driving partners with the companies whilst highlighting briefly the benefits of working with Uber.
Distractions need to be avoided
The last thing anyone wants to do after making a concise message is create distractions. It prevents the message from getting across quickly and also disrupts the landing page’s essence. Visitors should not be confused because of excessive choices, which leads to choice fatigue.
Hence, removing elements from landing pages that do not reinforce the main message of what the business, brand, or company’s offering. Header navigation should be removed to eliminate choice fatigue. It will help users remain focused on the task at hand and can make it clear the action they’re taking.
In case of a secondary conversation, it must be ensured that it is not the main action brands expect users to take.
Excessive amount of information
Excessive amounts of information are disastrous. A wall of text nowadays does not attract visitors nor does it offer them anything. This is why Bullet points are way better for highlighting key points that do not overwhelm the reader. A brief introduction should be added and then the value proposition should be presented in brief and understandable points.
It is not too hard to do so. Have a look at HubSpot’s landing page; it effectively communicates the value of their marketing software in a span of a few clear points:
Having too many steps in a CTA ruins the essence
A landing page should not make anyone feel stressed or tired. It should not be a bureaucratic process. It should focus on obtaining from users only the needed information and give them later information on a follow-up. This is the reason Shopify gets it done right by prompting users to only add their email address to get started.
Adding friction only makes matters worse
Distraction-free landing pages are indeed a plus. Yet there is still a matter of reducing friction in making it more seamless for raising conversions. Any unnecessary barriers placed by brands between users and CTAs are the reason they do not convert.
It is best to consider things from the user’s perspective and look for things that overturn the user experience (UX). Pop-ups and scroll hijacking are a big no. Paying special attention to the CTAs and the steps users take for conversion helps in many ways (especially in areas where form fields need to be filled out and whether or not they are adding any friction).
Not optimizing it properly for mobile
Now this is something no one should ever overlook. Any business, brand, or company not focusing on customer’s mobile user experience is committing a serious SEO error. Why? Here are some facts backed by statistics to consider:
- Almost 60% of the internet traffic comes from mobile devices.
- 52% of website visitors reveal they are less likely to engage with a company provided the mobile experience was bad.
- Third, almost half the consumers feel that a lack of mobile optimization is an indicator of business entities not serious about doing business.
Streamlining landing pages for mobile users with responsive web design is key. No need to add page pop-ups because they will ruin the mobile user experience (UX). Copy should be placed in short paragraphs that do not look like either a block or a heavy chunk of text. Moreover, giving the landing page some white space helps too.
Those who are using landing page builders must ensure the code is lightweight and optimized for mobile performance. Going with single-column layouts having a wholesome amount of whitespace and complete width sections helps make web design more responsive whilst maintaining a consistent experience.
Conclusion
Landing pages aren’t something to take for granted, they help convert visitors into leads, leads into users and customers alike. They provide them with something of value and they further complement calls to action (CTAs).
Landing pages are a key part of most digital marketing strategies and they are here to stay and to make things even better. The key landing page errors identified above can help many businesses prevent their landing pages from going bust and ensure they are on the right track.