You spend a lot of time and money creating a marketing campaign. You’ve created a results-driven marketing plan. You’ve invested in paid media. You’re getting a lot of clicks and traffic, but your landing page is not converting. Whether you’re trying to collect leads, generate sales, or drive downloads, landing pages do what your website doesn’t — they focus on one dedicated conversion goal. But if yours isn’t working, you need to fix it fast.
At Highforge, we created this handy checklist of the seven reasons your landing page might not be converting, and what you can do right now to fix it!
- Blah, Blah, Blah
You’re not writing the Great American Novel. Users in today’s environment scan and skim. In fact, nearly 80 percent of users simply scan your page for key information. You have only a few seconds to grab a visitor’s attention, so it is essential to have a headline that sucks the user in and sums up your unique selling proposition (USP). Your headline should match exactly what the user clicked to arrive on your page. Keep it short and simple. Bulleted lists, subheaders, and images/video add visual interest and scannability.
- Your Multimedia Doesn’t Wow
Impactful images and videos entice viewers to scroll through your content. Ensure they match the messaging. From the header image to visual elements used throughout the page, they all need to be relevant. What does each say about your product, offer, and USP? Enable your customers to envision themselves using your product and realizing its benefits.
- They Don’t Trust You
In order to convert, your landing page requires information from the user. Why should they trust you with their personal information? Customers are more cautious and savvy with protecting their private information than ever before, so it is essential to build trust. You can do that by creating social proof. Social proof includes testimonials and reviews. Display them prominently above or directly below your call to action and be sure to manage reviews and comments.
- Your CTA isn’t Compelling
A call to action (CTA) is one of the most important elements of a landing page. The landing page above, which Highforge created for our client, combines a very appealing offer with a clear and easy-to-claim single call to action. The CTA should be your landing page’s most prominent element as it instructs visitors on what to do next. And pick just one. Don’t overload your potential customers with too many choices. This leads to decision paralysis. Provide one offer with one goal — to get visitors to convert. Keep it simple and straightforward, and frame your CTA with clear copy on a large, colorful button surrounded by white space so it stands out. Include the benefit in the CTA with strong language like Become a Paid Media Expert or Increase Your Conversion Rates vs Click Here or Download Now.
- Your Design is Distracting
Pare your landing pages down to the bare minimum. With mobile devices making up more than half of all web browsing, ensure that limited screen space is clutter-free. A busy landing page decreases the user experience and discourages conversions. Make every single element on your landing page contribute to your goal. If it doesn’t support that goal, get rid of it. Remove links, ads, and navigation bars. Trash anything that doesn’t drive potential customers to your call-to-action button or you risk them getting distracted and leaving your site before converting.
- You Provide No Sense of Urgency
Why should the user convert now? They can always come back after they’ve shopped around, right? However, chances are if they leave, they’re not coming back. So, you must create urgency. Countdown timers, “just sold” live alerts, limited inventory notices or time-based special offers all convey a sense of urgency.
- Your Offer Sucks
Your offer is absolutely critical to your landing page converting. You can do all the steps above, but if your offer doesn’t measure up, all that other work is for nothing. Ten percent off is not going to cut it. Demonstrate real benefits and value. When a prospective customer arrives on your landing page, they want to be provided with a solution to the problem they are experiencing. Whether it’s an eBook, a free consultation or a product trial, be sure the benefits of the offer are clearly conveyed on your landing page.
In addition to all these items, we’ll say it again for those in the back. Test, test, test. Tweak your content, your offer, and test multiple versions of your page. Don’t change everything all at once, change one thing and measure. Repeat.
Try doing these seven checks before running your next marketing campaign, and if you’re still not converting, you know who to call! We’ve just scratched the surface on some easy fixes, but we have plenty of other tricks up our sleeves. Here at Highforge, we do this all day, every day. Contact us and we’ll be glad to set you up for landing page conversion success.