The point of this article isn’t to continue to point out the obvious, but to show the more costly mistakes in terms of lost revenue and lost leads. Read the most dangerous mistakes you can make when it comes to your landing pages and learn how you can correct them.
Mistake 1 – The “Disconnected” Headline
When visitors see and click an ad, they immediately have a few “expectations” of what they want see on the page that follows the click of the ad. If your Landing Page Headline is NOT a continuation of the conversation that you started with your PPC ad, you are shooting yourself in the foot!
For example, let’s say you are selling electronics, but specifically want a Landing Page for “Bluetooth earbuds”. And let’s say your ad asks the question “Looking for the best Bluetooth earbuds?” (since ads that ask questions statistically perform well – source)
The Headline is not only an easy thing to test (we will cover testing in a minute), but the mistake that gets made too often is not continuing the conversation or not being the “other side” of the conversation that a visitor expects when they click.
Mistake 2 – Missing Content Strategy
Different visitors respond to different tactics based on different things. That’s not a secret, but if your landing page messaging speaks to only one type of visitor, you are missing a solid opportunity to convert the other types of visitors.
Aspects that affect the “type of visitor”
- How many times they have seen your landing page?
- What (if anything) have they done on your site or landing page before?
- What do they already know about you, or your company, and your landing page? Are they following you on Twitter, do they “Like” You, etc.?
- What are other people are saying, doing, and buying?
- How “warm” are they in terms of being ready to “Add to cart” or to “Talk to someone now”?
Each “group of visitors” in the funnel expects different items on a landing page, and as such, they respond better to different items on the page. In my opinion, HubSpot does a fantastic job of breaking down these visitors into sections of a funnel.
- Top of the Funnel – Consider adding a numbered list of the benefits on your landing page in a “Things you need to know about the product or service on this page” or say something along the lines of: “Did you know that this product or service can make your life easier by….”
- Middle of Funnel – Show the visitor what others are saying about the product or service on this landing page.
- Bottom of Funnel – Give the visitor a very clear, smart CTA. Lead Generation pages are a great place to add a “Talk to an expert now” with a live chat module CTA, or a Toll Free Phone Number. Even better than saying, “Talk to someone now”, let your visitor know what type of person they will be talking to. If your landing page is for Widget A with xyz features, let your visitor know they can “Talk to a Widget A expert about xyz features now”.
So, if your landing page items and landing page messaging are not created to offer something to each of the 3 areas of this funnel, then you are missing a massive opportunity to convert leads and move them further down the funnel.
Mistake 3 – No Incentive for the First Time Visitor
If you look at your landing page analytics from any ad or campaign (PPC, SEO, Banner, Display Radio etc etc), statistically you will see that most of your traffic is First Time Visitors (usually around 70% – 80%). Login to your analytics and take a look for yourself.
For Lead Gen
The mistake here is simply not providing an incentive to the First Time Visitor. Offer them a reason to get in touch with your company today. Lead them to a form that allows them have their questions answered by an expert today.
- Don’t just say “Contact Us” – that is too generic.
- Instead consider “Speak with a _____ Expert today. FREE – No Risk – No Obligation”
For Ecommerce – this is easy to remedy
Offer a coupon code or discount code. For example, “First time Buyers get 10% off this product today from this page”.
- Will this coupon or incentive get used more than once? Yes – most likely.
- Will this get shared? Yes – most likely.
- Is an increase in sales no matter how they come okay with most companies? Yes – almost always.
Mistake 4 – Not Testing
This mistake gets brought up more and more – but is often oversimplified. If people don’t know how to test, then they don’t test and as a result of not testing, they are missing a huge opportunity.
Testing can get as hard and complex as you like. It’s often a good idea to get in touch with a conversion or landing page expert when you want to test multiple variables, certain conversions, etc. But at it’s simplest, you should have 2 versions of your landing page.
- A – Control Version – Get your page up with your best practice tactics in place
- B – Variation Version – On this page – change the headline – or try a video in place of an image or change the color or working on the Call to Action button
After a certain period of time or certain number of conversions – you will be able to see which landing page variation performs better. From here you can test additional elements that will help you find your own “secret sauce” that your visitors respond best to.
Bonus – Great Guide to Creating Tests with Google FREE Content Experiments Module
Mistake 5 – Not Using an Optimized “Thank you” Page
There is a short and simple remedy for this mistake. Once a visitor has converted to a lead or a customer, let them know what to expect next – A call in an hour? A product shipped in 3 days? An email within 24 hours? Why not invite them to follow you and connect with you Socially?
Next steps
So there you have it – the 5 biggest landing page mistakes I see again and again … and now you have no excuse for making them.
Look at the checklist below to be sure you are on the right path:
- Does your headline on your Landing Page continue the conversation started with your ad?
- Do you have content (or a strategy) for each visitor depending on their level in the funnel?
- Are you offering an incentive for the First Time Visitor or First Time Buyer?
- Are you Testing at least ONE variation of your Landing Page?
- Are you letting the visitor abandon without a popup based on what they are looking at or when they are leaving?
- Are you supporting all landing page optimization and effort with a thank you page that invites and encourages connection and communication?
