Tips on Optimizing Your Landing Pages for Success

Too many website owners underestimate the power of a fine-tuned landing page. Your landing page is the very first thing a potential client sees, and it has the ability to grow your business or leave you wondering why your online marketing efforts aren’t performing as well as you’d like them to. You only have a few seconds to entice a visitor to your site to browse your content, and a poor landing page will cause your bounce rate to skyrocket. Landing page optimization isn’t exactly rocket science, but there are several common mistakes that lead to mediocre online marketing results. Make sure you avoid these pitfalls when designing your landing page.

Don’t You Dare Use a Submit Button

There have been a ton of A/B studies that illustrate the effectiveness and power of copywriting. Though you may think it is a small matter, even your button-copy needs to be top-notch. The problem with a submit button is that it is far too bland and mundane. It doesn’t offer a message to your audience that will get them excited to take action.

So, for example, let’s say you own a web business that helps motivate and coach people via counseling and one-on-one sessions. Instead of a submit button, your button-copy could be something along the lines of ‘Change Your Life Forever.’ Or, if you owned an fitness company, your button copy could be ‘Get Fit Now.’ The key is to express the benefits to the potential client and give them a more actionable and exciting step to take than ‘Submit.’

Less is More

With all the time and energy it takes to drive traffic to your site, it can be easy to overdo your landing page. Trust me, I get it. You want your landing page to knock the socks off your visitors to drive conversions, right? Just remember one thing: less is more. It is very easy to get carried away and create a landing page that is so busy your visitor has a hard time deciphering your message. Instead of making your landing pages busy, streamline them by offering only necessary information such as the core benefits of your product, your unique selling proposition, and a call to action.

Concise Web Forms are a Must

In today’s high-tech, fast-paced world, people have access to goods, services, and information faster than ever before. As such, this has created a culture that doesn’t value patience. People want what they want when they want it, and have little time to wait.

Knowing this, you can see why an overly long web form can harm your conversion rate. A visitor to your site might see a long form as yet another tedium, and may opt out of your service if the form is too long – even if they like your service. Also, people generally distrust websites that ask for too much information about them. Even if you claim that you won’t distribute their personal information to other companies, many people still won’t believe you. It will make them feel uneasy and your long web form is going to hurt your bottom line.

Write Copy Tailored to the Visitor’s Perspective

Some people get carried away talking about their business on their landing page. For some reason, they feel it is a good idea to give facts about the history of their company or list the features of their product or service. These are two big mistakes.

First, you shouldn’t talk about yourself unless you have something that makes you unique and provides the customers with service they can’t get anywhere else. A unique selling proposition is great to have on your landing page. Otherwise, talking about your business can be a bit narcissistic and egocentric. Remember, the customer visited your site because they want to solve their own problems!

Secondly, don’t fall victim to the trap of listing the features of your product. The ugly truth is that the vast majority of customers don’t give a rat’s fart about the features of your product. What they do care about are the benefits. What does your product do for them? How does your product or service make their lives easier? How can you improve their health, happiness, efficiency, or income? It all boils down to your ability to solve problems by providing value, and this idea is central to the concept of money exchange. You need to communicate how your product will help your customers with benefits.

Make Your Landing Page Easy to Read

I see more and more websites these days with non-traditional designs. Many of these websites follow the trend of making the background to their landing page a large, black and white photo that has been slightly blurred. Some even go as far as to make an animation or short video their background. While all of this razzle-dazzle may seem to be a good idea for your landing page at first, you should know that it isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.

You need to take extra care when following this trend for your website. Some images just make the text harder to read, and an illegible message is going to murder your conversion rate. Take care in selecting your images, or customers are going to leave your site in droves. It may be well worth the time to perform some A/B testing on your background images if you choose to employ this type of page for your website.

Optimizing your landing pages is a great way to increase your profits that most people overlook. However, even simple mistakes on your website can cost you a lot of conversions. Avoid these mistakes to make your landing pages run like a well-oiled machine.