There are few pieces of content more vital to the success of your business than landing pages. They move traffic swiftly in one of two directions: closer to (or directly into) a conversion or straight out the door. If your landing pages have been in the latter category lately, there is probably a reason for it. In fact, it could be more than one.
Reason #1: You’re Caught in the TMI Trap
Some marketers think that their landing pages are space for long-form sales copy or that they have to do all their selling in one place. Here’s a hint for you: the less actual selling you do on your landing page, the better. Make friends with your prospects. Make promises about your brand or your product. Drive benefits over features. Yes, even push the pain buttons a little, but save the selling for your email campaigns.
You will always have a small number of people who buy based on the content of the landing page, but it will always be a small number. The conversion aspect of this isn’t just how well the page performs; it’s about how good the leads are that it generates. Most of your actual conversions will happen once you’ve captured the email and have started nurturing that lead. That leads to my next point…
Reason #2: You’re Getting Too Personal
This doesn’t have as much to do with the amount of information you share as it does with the amount of information you solicit. You don’t need a lot of information from your prospects on a first contact. You don’t even need to do a lot of heavy convincing. All you need to do is drive the value of the product, service, or company behind the landing page and convince people that starting a relationship with your brand is a good idea.
You can start by not going the information overload route with your opt-in. You don’t need a full name, address, contact phone number, or any of that to get someone through the door. In fact, be too pushy about the personal info, and you’re going to lose people – lots of people. All you really need is a first name and an email address. That will help you build your list and make your emails a bit more personal.
Reason #3: Your Offers Aren’t Very Exciting
There has to be a degree of perceived value in what you are offering on your landing page. If that part is missing from the equation, you won’t capture leads and you won’t make any sales. Think of it from the point of view of the reader: chances are that whatever it is that you’re selling it’s something they’ve been sold before in one form or iteration or another.
Yours has to be a unique voice. You have to be excited about your brand. You have to communicate the necessity of taking your product seriously because it’s seriously better than anything else out there. Fail to communicate that, and it’s “game over” in a heartbeat.
Reason #4: Your CTAs Are Too Weak
Your calls to action need to communicate clearly and concisely what you want the reader to do. They also need to provide a compelling incentive for doing it. “Sign up for our email list” isn’t strong enough. Why should the reader do what you say? Because you said it? Dream on. Your prospects approach your message with the same attitude nearly 100% of the time, and it’s from the perspective of “what’s in it for me?” All right, then, answer the question in your call to action.
“Get our top-rated Kindle e-book ‘Auto Responder Revolution’ with 10 of our highest-converting email swipe files FREE when you join our list! Just enter your first name and email address in the box below!”
There is no easier way to churn up excitement and get your leads on your side than with an enthusiastic CTA that promises an immediate and valuable benefit to them. If your CTAs are looking weak, it’s time to level up.
Reason #5: You’re Not Split Testing
Don’t skimp on landing page creation. They aren’t the cheapest to produce, but you’ll be doing more damage only developing one than you will A/B testing two or more. I personally recommend trying a few variations and tracking the results. It might take some time to uncover the winning combination of message and visuals, but once you do, your conversions will likely blast through the roof. It’s well worth the effort and the expense, and that’s true of both the written copy and the visuals that go into your landing pages.
Experiment with different headlines or different placements of headlines. Pair your headlines with different visuals. Test out different opt-in forms. Test out different placements for your opt-in forms. Test out different action buttons and their placement as well. You can also use a split-testing application to help with optimization. Every bit of effort you put into this will help you better pinpoint how to effectively communicate with the people who are most likely to buy.
So now that we’ve reached the end of the article, what about your landing pages needs a makeover? Need help with that? We’re here for you, and we can help you develop all the variations you need in the copy to effectively market and split-test your content. Sure, you could go it alone, but there is much to be said (and earned) from applying a more professional touch.