You know your landing page sucks, right? That’s why you’re reading this.
But why? Are you a talentless hack, have no staff to help you, or are you hindered by I.T. to make the pages you want? Either way, these 4 things to avoid should help you improve your conversion rates:
Providing too much text on a product or lead gen landing page can overwhelm or even intimidate visitors, causing them to miss your central sales message and abandon ship. Thanks Steve Krug.
The above landing page is lengthy (we even cut it off), it wouldn’t be so bad if they’d broken it up a bit (chunking) with some images or video, but paragraph after paragraph just doesn’t lend itself to conversion.
The content may be useful, but less reliance on text and some more visually pleasing elements would help this page, a lot. Yes, it’s true that long-form sales pages work – but mainly for spammy infomercial related products (Slap Chop, hello!).
Having said that, there is a movement towards long landing pages that using internal “smooth scrolling” navigation (as opposed to multiple pages) that are working too. In fact Unbounce is currently testing a long page like this right now.
Never assume a visitor will take the time to read your page then make a determination about what you’re offering.
Bold, descriptive headlines should be one of the first things a visitor sees.
Fail. This site has an eye-catching layout, and looking at the page as a whole, the graphics and color scheme indicate they offer a product that is related to Facebook.
So, why the fail? Their headline, “Facebook Applications,” is a little vague and not descriptive enough. Visitors are required to do the work of reading all the subtext to decipher the product that is offered by the company.
Headlines should be:
I don’t care what your page is about. If you don’t have a CTA somewhere that can lead to an increase in one of your KPI’s (your bottom line for example) – then you’re doing it wrong.
TIP: Once a week, pick a page on your site and add a CTA – send it to a targeted landing page with a clear purpose and see if you can get 1 extra signup a week. The difference will be huge if you keep optimizing your site like this.
All call to action buttons should aim to have a visitor perform a certain activity and the verbiage, style of buttons and layout should all work to encourage them to take that action. It should be clearly indicated on the button: buy, sign up, download, install, try, experience, etc.
The size of call to action buttons is also significant. Too large, and your button will overpower everything around it (editor’s note: this can be okay – test it). Too small and the content on the page will hide the button and cause visitors to play where’s waldo with your landing page.
Call to Action Buttons should:
A marketer who ignores the influence of social networks, recommendations and testimonials, does their landing page a disservice. The landing page needs to be more than just an advertisement. It should offer proof of current users who vouch for the product.
Proof allows one to establish credibility and visitors to build trust in your offer, don’t miss out on that opportunity.
Ways to incorporate social proof and build trust:
The landing page above highlights social proof of the product’s success. “Millions of people use Basecamp” It immediately makes the user feel like tons of really important people and businesses trust this company, perhaps they should too.
Here are a few examples of landing pages that are done well, to get your juices flowing as you jump in and create a healthier landing page.
If you have examples of great landing pages or epic fails, share them in the comments below.
Joynicole Martinez is a professional consultant specializing in marketing and the healthcare industry. When she isn't developing marketing strategies, raising capital, challenging organizational cultures or writing for online outlets, she spends her time training for marathons and chasing the runner's high. 
On the CTA example I am somewhat confused. Immediately prior you endorse a single CTA per landing page, with if necessary a phone number as a secondary option. Yet, the example cited as beautiful appears to have 3 CTAs [watch a video, download the mobile browser and read more]. Is the single CTA per LP situational, or what am I missing in integrated the statement and example in a usable takeaway?
Good stuff. As a matter of fact, I’m going right now to take a look at a couple of specific pages of mine before I read any more blogs tonight.
[...] 4 Ways to Stop Your Landing Pages from Being a Giant Fail, unbounce.com [...]
very useful tips for making a landing page success, I have been designing landing pages since last 4 years and I do agree with you.
[...] recently had the pleasure of reading a post on unbounce's blog titled "4 Ways to Stop Your Landing Pages from Being a Giant Fail" (I recommend you check it out once we're done here). The 4 takeaways from the post were:Stop Using [...]
[...] gives you four ways to stop your landing page from becoming a giant fail. The usual suspects – no blocks of text, strong headline, testimonials, and call to action. [...]
Great post, Joynicole. Right before reading this post, I just changed my home page to have less text – or at least emphasize key points in bullet and bold format. I tried to make it clear and concise and your advice for call to action (CTA) is solid – so I am making sure that is included and is also a clear benefit statement. I am including your post in ‘Best of the Web’ http://j3webmarketing.com/best-web so others can also benefit from your post. Thank you.
Excellent
Keeping up with good client relationships is key to a successful business. Should your client relationships suffer, it is all too easy for a client to pick up and do business elsewhere. Maintaining a positive relationship builds good will so that if problems do arise, they can be addressed more positively. Following a few basic rules can help your business stay on track. Thanks.