Top Problems with Landing Pages & How to Improve Your Conversion Rates

If your company is throwing around the idea of building a landing page or series of landing pages it is first important to understand what they are, as well as the elements that go into creating an effective landing page.

At their core landing pages are simply a single web page that contains a form that inspires your customers to take the next step. While seemingly simple, many companies are not properly implementing their pages.

Last week at SES New York I attended a session by New York Times Best Selling author and SES Advisory board member Bryan Eisenberg (@thegrok) on “The Anatomy of the Perfect Landing Page”.

The Problem With Landing Pages

Typically landing pages are focused on driving traffic. But how much is that traffic worth if your visitors don’t convert? According to Eisenburg on average only 2% of visitors convert once they reach a landing page.

While many websites don’t have a problem driving traffic there is a major problem with conversion. Even as technology continues to improve at a drastic rate, conversion rates have barely increased. What is the disconnect?

On average companies are spending $92 per visit to bring people to their site. However, the ratio of spend is $91 on driving traffic, and only $1 to convert traffic.

There is Hope for Landing Pages

A recent infographic released by Econsultancy on web testing suggests that you should test the following elements which apply to both landing pages as well as standard websites:

• Call-to-Action Buttons
• Page Layout
• Navigation
• Copy
• Promotions and Offers
• Checkout Process

According to another report by Econsultancy there are 4 variables that are most strongly connected to improving overall conversion ratios including:

1. Perceived control over conversion rates
2. A structured approach to CRO
3. Having someone directly responsible for CRO
4. Incentivizing staff based on conversion rates

Slice & Dice Optimization

Unless your website is already converting at 50-70% breaking up and re-assembling your page will not have a significant impact. You may be getting slightly better results, but if you’re trying to aggressively increase your conversion this approach will not have results that are worth the effort.

5 Dimensions of a Landing Page

Eisenburg shares what he calls the 5 dimensions of a landing page. These dimensions include:

1. Relevance: is your content relevant to the needs of your audience?
2. Quality: have high quality images been used on the landing page?
3. Location: are elements of the page properly located to catch attention and inspire action?
4. Proximity: does the flow of your landing page allow for quick access?
5. Prominence: are your calls to action prominently displayed and easy to access?

In order to properly develop the dimensions listed above it is essential that you focus on the “conversion trinity.” This trinity is a serious of questions that your customers will ask themselves either consciously or subconsciously as they are on your site.

1. Is this page relevant to my query?
2. Do I know why this is the right solution for me?
3. Is it obvious what I need to do next?

Cues that continue to move your customers through the cycle would include things such as trigger words or offers, appealing graphics, consistency in color, shape of elements, and location on page.

What Should We Ask Ourselves?

When building a landing page, website, or any online marketing tool it is key to ask yourself and your team: Why should someone do business with me? If you are unable to answer that question very quickly there is a problem. Be sure to always provide value and follow with strong calls to action that continue to move prospects through the buying cycle.

Looking for additional tips on optimizing your landing pages? Be sure to check out “Landing Page Tips to Increase Conversions – #SESNY” which was posted on our blog earlier this week.

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