09 Aug Avoid These 6 Landing Page Conversion Killers
Ever stroll through a retail mall and realize businesses are direct targeting someone far off from your demographic? As if you were too old, too young or too hip for the crowd they are targeting? Landing pages are often designed the same way.
Landing pages are meant to appeal to everyone but really cater to a select few.
A landing page is like an outlet store – it is waiting to sell you discounted items at a reduced rate, in exchange for loyalty and perhaps a conversation. And much like a mall, consumers have money in their pockets and perhaps no real reason to be there, but the goal is to make them stay and – hopefully – spend.
Like a retail mall, your landing page is one of many and if it isn’t targeting the right folks, chances are your customer is walking right on past your flashy marketing endeavours.
Counter that bounce rate and take your leads back!
There are real reasons conversions do not happen.
Your Opt-in form is too opt-in-y and not enough opt-me-faster please
Your opt-in form should be crisp and the most noticed piece of content on the landing page.
Making your consumers dig to download will make them bounce, and bounce fast.
Make use of bold headlines and sub headlines to get the single objective across. If your lead cannot spot scan your offer, they will not continue reading.
Like a mall, customers detest digging for sales and they’ll bombard all of your content in search of one.
Don’t you dare double up your Call To Action (CTA)
Your landing page should be clear and contain one offer.
Asking your customers for more than one piece of information before the conversation has started is a sure way to scare off new business. As an online business, we tell our customers to be cautious online everyday – so why should they treat our offer any differently?
Ease in and make the landing Ease in and make the landing page clear. A clear page is a trustworthy page.
Like a mall, it is easier to convince your consumer to come in and spend money on a sale of 25% off all merchandise than to convince them to enter your store at 10%, with another 15% by using the coupon they found online and downloaded.
Making your customer work to find the best deal possible is a conversion killer.
Click Bait creates brand distrust – find a more clever way to land your leads
Everyone loves free stuff… right?
But marketing incentives, like contests, should not come at a cost to the customer – even if the cost is time.
Say you saw a targeted advertisement on your Facebook that read:
“FREE TRIP TO VEGAS EVERY WEEK FOR EIGHT WEEKS, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS DOWNLOAD THE APP, and SHARE and LIKE!”
Sounds like a fairly low commitment for your customer, hey?
Exactly. It is half the reason they clicked your CTA in the first place. 
Now, if your customer clicks your advertisement to follow the contest rules, and then are bombarded by opt-in forms, contract-style sign offs and are asked to sign their life away – chances are you have chased off that lead.
Click bait will create distrust because your potential customers will feel tricked into having a conversation with your business.
Click bait is a conversion killer.
Your landing page needs to be mega fast
If your landing page takes more than five seconds to load, they’ll bail. A landing page needs to have impact, but not be over-designed.
Stick to simple elements such as bold and clear headlines, typography that needs no downloading and little imagery. Even a PNG file can take more than 5 seconds to load.
If you really need visuals to push your landing page, try your best to do it before the conversion. No good visual is going to drive a sale if they have to twiddle their thumbs to see it.
Slow landing pages are a sure way to kill a conversion.
CTA headlines demand action
For a good landing page to convert, it must say everything without saying anything. It should be the best way to convince a lead to land on your page.
Asking your consumers to take action, and then explain the benefit is the sure way to attract an engaged and vocal community. Those who generally take action are influenced by others who do the same.
No immediate action on a landing page is sure to be a conversion killer.
Your landing page is U-G-L-Y and basically has no alibi
It is true – no one likes an ugly design, but this is even more than just producing a low quality, static website. If what you put out there stands out like cheap suit, chances are people will consider whatever it is you are offering to be just as small time.
Premium design sells, and conveniently, design elements are becoming much simpler with many free resources available to those who are design-illiterate.
To keep up with design trends, there are fantastic resources like Envato Market that provide landing page templates, purpose-built in a manner that will provide your business with the tools to create the best possible landing page while eliminating human error.
A landing page that lacks clarity is a sure way to kill a conversion.