A landing page is technically any page that a viewer ends up on after clicking an online ad or link, and has the specific purpose of converting the traffic into leads or sales.
Online marketers who optimize their landing pages report lower cost-per-acquisition, and higher conversion rates. This can directly impact an organization's bottom line, and lead to increased revenue and profits.
In this white paper we provide examples of seven of the most common landing page bloopers, including information overload, missed expectations and boring pages.
This white paper will help you find and fix landing page bloopers so you can increase conversion rates and drive up your online marketing ROI.
Strategy Brief
7 Landing Page Bloopers
Find & ?x landing page bloopers fast. 1
As the scale of online marketing campaigns
grows, it can be challenging to ensure seamless
cohesion from click through conversion. It isn't
uncommon for a blooper to slip in.
Find & ?x bloopers fast.
1: Total implosion
Do your landing pages actually work? Do they look good in every browser? Although you don't see it very often, the 'total implosion' blooper is deadly. If you Landing pages are have broken links & images, buggy forms, browser incompatibilities or page errors often your then you have a big problem. You have a total implosion of conversion potential. opportunity to make a great ?rst impression. A blooper sends the wrong message, and hurts your chance of conversion.
Browser test your landing pages for all popular browsers to ensure the pages look great under all circumstances. And click your links once in awhile, or even just check your stats to make sure your pages are indeed receiving traffic and conversions. 'Page not found' errors on landing pages are the kiss of death, and yes, it can happen to anyone. 2
2: I can't convert now, something's 'popped up'
We could probably spend a day debating the pros and cons of pop up windows, but on a landing page, there are some special considerations. Most users view pops up as an annoyance, even when the pop up is utilitarian. So the question of pop ups on the landing page comes down to, "Is it really worth it?", and the answer is almost never. Don't annoy the very people you want to convert.
3: Great missed expectations
Are your landing pages a logical extension of the ads & links that drive traffic to them? When users click your ads they have conceptual expectations. For instance, if they search for a blender and click an ad that shows up, they expect to see a blender on the page. In fact, they expect to see the blender whether or not your ad even mentioned a blender. Web surfers can have a tendency to skip over the details when they are on a mission. So, the landing page needs to match the expectations of the user.
And don't think your campaign is too big to ensure every click goes to a conceptually relevant page. Even as the scope of online marketing continues to scale, humans decide where each and every ad link goes. Why not make it a good choice and send to a landing page that is a logical extension of the ad?
Home not-so-sweet home
Don't drive specific traffic to an unspecific page, like your home page. Ack! This is a recipe for high bounce rates and low conversion rates. A home page is one of the most unspecific pages on the web-it has to appeal to anyone and everyone who lands there. But traffic that clicks on ad or message isn't 'anyone and everyone'. It's traffic responding to something specific. 3
Sending campaign traffic to a home page is like welcoming a new visitor into your home by asking them to find your old winter coat. An unpleasant scavenger hunt! You are a better host than that and you can roll out the red carpet by sending your specific ad traffic to specific landing pages.
A specific call to action, leading to a home page that's disconnected from the call to action....leads to no action on the part of the visitor.
4: A match not made in heaven
Even when you have matched your landing page to the visitor's expectations, the more subtle blooper of mismatched messaging can lower your conversion rates. An ad is an implicit promise to the user. It says, "click here, get this". In fact, any link is an implied promise. If you break your promises you won't convert your traffic and you will have missed an opportunity to give a great brand impression as well. Don't break your promises with mismatched landing pages. Blooper check: Does your landing 5: A call to inactionpage copy have nothing to do with Your landing page needs to look actionable at a glance. Don't assume users know your ad copy? what they are supposed to do. All landing pages should be designed for action- instructing what the user on what to do next every step of the way. That means clear, short calls to action with visual click cues like arrows. Don't overwhelm the page with too many calls to action either. Ideally a landing page has one main call to action and can support one or two additional, less important offers. One primary visual cue will help m... [download for more]
