Landing pages are some of the most versatile assets you can have for your business. From lead generation to sales pages, there’s no limit to what a good landing page can do in the hands of a great marketing team.

Whether or not you’ve already put up your own landing pages, there might be some optimization mistakes you or your team are guilty of making.

Read on to discover the 7 reasons why your landing page conversion rates might be dipping, as well as the actionable fixes you can start implementing today.

Why your landing pages aren’t converting

If you’re not getting the results you want from a particular landing page, you have an optimization problem. Review some of these landing page mistakes that might be costing you leads and sales.

Reason 1 : Your landing pages are confusing

Confusion can stem from anywhere in your landing page, such as ambiguous call-to-actions that make visitors unsure what to do next, opt-in forms that are difficult to find or fill out, or using too many distracting elements that take away from the page’s key purpose.

If a reader finds it difficult to navigate or make sense of your landing page, don’t count on them converting.

Reason 2 : Your landing pages cause friction in readers’ minds

A landing page might be doing the opposite of what it’s supposed to – taking away friction from readers’ and leads’ minds and getting them to convert.

Take for example a sales page that’s selling a marketing tool for solopreneurs. Now imagine that that same landing page has too much jargon that’s unfamiliar to most of the market, or doesn’t answer any of their fears or concerns.

For one thing, too much jargon leads to an instant disconnect. Visitors won’t feel welcomed or willing to take action when they don’t fully understand what they’re getting.

And another, sometimes your landing doesn’t address readers’ doubts or questions – such as questions about money-back guarantees, or doubts that the offer in the page is even helpful for them.

Reason 3 : Your landing pages are boring

If you’re playing it too safe, your landing page might have none of your brand’s personality that could connect with your audience. Unfortunately, a boring landing page will do nothing for your conversion rates – you simply can’t bore people into converting.

Certain industries might find this more challenging than others, especially if their brands are more polished and clean than fun and preppy. However, effective landing pages of companies with very prestigious or serious brand voices can still be exciting and connect with readers in their own way.

The common thread in common landing page conversion mistakes

If you’ll notice from the items above, common landing page mistakes that are killing your conversion rates mostly have to do with your landing page copy.

While copy definitely isn’t everything, it’s still one of the most significant elements you should optimize. After all, copy brings written language to beautiful key visuals and makes offers understandable by even first-time visitors who end up on the page.

Bottom line: fix your copy, and many of your landing page conversion problems disappear.

Copywriting: the secret sauce to high-converting landing pages

If you’re already using landing pages in most of your marketing campaigns but aren’t seeing the results you want, then your problem probably isn’t your campaign. It’s your landing page.

Getting your email opened by cold leads is one step, getting your lead to click through to your page is another – and yet getting them to convert from your landing page is yet one whole other step. Arguably, it’s the most important step of all.

If you really want to optimize your landing pages’ conversion rates, you need to focus on improving one thing: your landing page copy. Good copy will inform and outline your offer. Great copy will elicit feelings in your reader and move them to take action.

If you want to make the most bang for your buck in a cold email outreach campaign, keep reading for 7 copywriting tips that will skyrocket your landing pages’ conversion rates.

Copywriting tips for high-converting landing pages

Tip 1 : Understand your buyer persona

First and foremost, you need to know who you’re talking to.

While you already did the research for your entire marketing campaign, created super-targeted emails and ads that are each personalized to your audience, you’ll still benefit from creating one buyer persona that captures the essence of all these leads.

A great buyer persona will tell you what your buyer’s goals are, as well as their frustrations in meeting that goal. Examine closely how your offer can close the gap for your buyer – and then communicate that offer in your landing page copy, as we’ll see in the next section.

In the example above, you’ll see that the buyer’s goals are clearly laid out, as well as their frustrations in reaching said goals. When creating a landing page with this buyer in mind, take note of these goals and frustrations so you can inject them into your landing page copy. Use words that they would use when describing their problem or expressing their desired outcomes – these are all valuable pieces to insert throughout your landing page.

Tip 2 : Put the spotlight on your reader

Even if your landing page’s call-to-action doesn’t lead to a sale – such as inviting viewers to book a call for a partnership or encouraging them to download a free report or presentation – you still need to make your landing page all about the reader.

Include information in your landing page copy that makes it clear to your reader that you know exactly who they are and what they’re struggling with. To reiterate from the previous item, mention in their words the results they’re looking for from your offer. Don’t resort to industry jargon unless your reader speaks said jargon (and appreciates it) themselves.

This step also doesn’t need to be lengthy. A well-crafted headline can almost always elicit the exact feelings of frustrations prospects have while simultaneously offering hope that this is the offer that will finally help them bridge the gap between their problems and desired solutions.

In the example above, notice how the short invitation to “build better customer relationships” is highlighted with Zoho’s main offer: getting started with 10 free users. This addresses potential objections marketers might have when looking for a customer relationship management tool, i.e. paying per user, only getting free access for a limited time, etc.

Having clear, effective copy that clearly puts the spotlight on your reader gives them the feeling of being seen, that you understand exactly what they’re going through. And this puts them in the perfect position where they think you know how to help.

Tip 3 : Get rid of the fluff

When in doubt, keep your landing page copy simple. Ditch the highfalutin words that might just confuse your reader. (Case in point: instead of highfalutin, it would have been simpler to say complex or complicated.)

You want your landing page to appear inviting to viewers. Having hard-to-understand copy will intimidate readers more than impress them, so stick to simple, everyday words and phrases that you and your reader use in day-to-day life.

From Slack’s website, you can clearly see that they’ve taken great lengths to simplify their product’s benefits in ways that anyone – from managers to team members – can understand.

The headline “Slack is where work happens” is all but five words, but makes it incredibly easy to imagine what they’re offering, even if you’ve never heard of the app before.

Tip 4 : Inject stories

Stories like testimonials can do wonders for your landing page’s conversion rates. This is because people trust other people – even people they’ve never met.

Both reviews from previous customers and your business’s own experience with a particular struggle can help establish trust with your readers. Take the example below of a landing page that gives viewers the option to watch different customer stories for a specific dentistry service.

As a bonus, the customer’s testimonial in the example above immediately gives context to the photo of the woman below; you see someone “smiling, laughing” but reading the words pack a powerful punch to support the customer story.

In effect, visitors can assume that the woman in the photo is Katie – even if it isn’t. Combine customer stories with effective and relevant photos, and your landing pages can do all the extra work for you.

Tip 5 : Add the right keywords

Many landing pages are discovered organically all the time. If you can optimize your page for SEO while directing more traffic to it with a cold email outreach campaign, you can bump up your chances of ranking on Google and maximizing your potential conversions.

To do this, find and use the right keywords and put them on your page. These keywords may be words or phrases your ideal audience typically searches for on search engines.

Having a keyword-focused landing page for SEO can improve your landing page’s conversion rates in the long run by attracting more viewers organically.

You can implement some best SEO practices on your own, or consider outsourcing the task to professional SEO copywriters like Loganix.

Tip 6 : Tell them to take action

A call-to-action is the most important part of your landing page.

Invite viewers to book a call, schedule an appointment, or make a purchase by having clear CTA elements on your page.

Buttons and forms will do well to add a visual aid to your CTA. Consider using action words in your call-to-actions as well – so opt for “Book a Call Now” instead of “Appointment Scheduler,” for example.

Also consider using emotional trigger words in your call-to-action buttons or copy leading to the CTA.

For example, the words “free” and “proven” are great emotional words to have in your landing copy, as in: “Get the free checklist and use these 12 proven ways to boost your email open rates.”

If you’re able, implement A/B testing with your CTAs. See which button copy converts better, then continue to use them across your site. Some industries, for example, find that “Buy Now” is the most effective CTA, while others use “Add to Cart” instead.

Tip 7 : Keep it clean and easy to read

Just as important as your landing page copy is how that copy is presented.

Break up long chunks of text into shorter paragraphs, use headings, and observe proper hierarchy to highlight important text and copy.

Insert relevant images to add a visual factor to your landing page, and be sure these images support your copy’s message.

The key thing to remember here is clarity and skimmability. Many readers will seldom read the entirety of your landing page, so highlight all the important words and phrases that ought to catch their eye.

Key Takeaways

When it comes to online marketing campaigns, your landing pages are your extended salespersons working round the clock.

To make sure that these landing pages get you the results you’re looking for, review any mistakes you’re making, especially in the copywriting department. To avoid or fix any mistakes that could seriously hurt your conversion rates over the long run, use the steps above to optimize your landing page copy and get more leads and sales.