Marketing FAIL – 7 Newbie Landing Page Mistakes

In our free advertising eBook “101 Landing Page Optimization Tips“, I mentioned constructing good habits by making a greatest practices guidelines in your touchdown pages. It may be an effective way to make sure you don’t repeat your errors.

Nevertheless, greatest practices are solely nearly as good as your understanding of them, and typically the best way to turn out to be a greater marketer or designer is just to study what to not do.

Our record of basic touchdown web page blunders will assist you keep away from stepping in what could be thought-about the promoting equal of doggy doo.

Or – 7 methods you may step in touchdown web page poop and are available out smelling of conversions (that’s presupposed to sound like a flower – nasturtiums maybe).

FAIL #1 – Message Mismatch

If you happen to’re going to do only one factor improper to screw up a advertising marketing campaign this could be it. It’s so basic that it blows my thoughts how steadily this fail happens. Message match is when the supply/copy/messaging in your commercial maintains momentum all through the conversion funnel. In different phrases, there may be consistency from AdWords/banner advert, by way of to the touchdown web page, and on to the affirmation web page or vacation spot web site (relying on the aim of your marketing campaign).

Everytime you break the conversion momentum you’re giving your customer a slap within the face and telling them they could as effectively go elsewhere. If you happen to can’t preserve your message throughout each marketing campaign touch-point you’re failing in an enormous method.

The issue can typically come up when completely different departments deal with completely different facets of a marketing campaign (the e-mail man doesn’t communicate to the marketing campaign supervisor who doesn’t even know in regards to the PPC staff). If so, get everybody within the room – or ask the advertising supervisor to do it – and open a can of conversion advertising whoop-ass on them. Then sketch the marketing campaign stream on a whiteboard to make sure the message transfers with out altering path.

Warning – should you failed #1, continuing previous this level might be painful…

FAIL #2 – Damaged Lead Technology Varieties

You spent 3 days designing and creating the proper touchdown web page, your software program man put a type in it for lead era and also you’re good to go. You’re daydreaming about all the nice leads that can come flooding into your inbox or Salesforce.com account. Then you definately head out for beers on Friday after work.

Monday rolls round and your boss asks for a report. Candy, time to blow his head off with the tremendous low cost-per-lead you bought out of your $2,000 PPC spend over the weekend.

However wait, there’s not a single lead or e mail, and the PPC funds have been drained.

“WTF occurred?
You examined it proper?
Umm, effectively no, it labored on Dave’s pc so I simply figured…”

The lesson: at all times take a look at your touchdown pages to make sure something interactive works completely. Check out the shape on completely different browsers and ensure it’s bulletproof earlier than you spend cash driving site visitors to it.

FAIL #3 – Promoting One thing Apart from your Major Goal

I’ve seen real touchdown pages that had a single goal, equivalent to making the most of a 50% coupon or a lead gen type. After which on the prime and right-hand facet of the web page there are… watch for it… Google AdSense commercials. Critically? Give it some thought. You simply paid $2 to get somebody to your touchdown web page by way of PPC, and also you’re serving up extra of the identical to take them away out of your web page.

Okay, in order that’s the worst case situation. What else shouldn’t you do?

It’s been confirmed again and again that touchdown pages with a singular focus are simpler than a homepage. The reason is that you’re offering a focused message for focused site visitors and your guests can focus their consideration on the duty at hand.

On a homepage there are too many distractions and a number of pathways that may lead individuals away from the all-important shiny button.

With this in thoughts, attempt to keep away from the next issues in your touchdown pages:

• World navigation to your total web site
• Banners for different provides you’re working
• Google AdSense – we already coated why it doesn’t make fiscal sense, however it additionally makes most pages appear low-cost and spammy

FAIL #4 – Leaving Watermarks on Stolen Inventory Photographs

Tsk, tsk, tsk. My finger is wagging in your face proper now. For starters you shouldn’t be ripping off images. There are many good options equivalent to wiki commons and low-cost inventory businesses the place you will get an image for a few bucks. There are additionally a ton of freely accessible icons and social media illustrations that you need to use (this weblog makes use of a good quantity) so you will get respectable design property fairly simply. For the document, I designed the FAIL stamp myself (thanks to this technique).

Nothing screams low-cost and untrustworthy like a 5 greenback photograph you didn’t pay for.

FAIL #5 – Asking if I Actually Wish to Go away this Web page

You recognize what I’m speaking about proper? A spammy web page that throws up a dialog field “confirming” whether or not or not I’m “positive” that I need to go away the web page. Often offered in difficult double negatives that make it arduous to know if OK will make you keep or go away, and if Cancel will make you keep or go away.

Do you not perceive why it’s completely not un-bad apply to usually or falsely re-ask for affirmation about whether or not or not you don’t need to not be elsewhere? OK or CANCEL? Hurry up and reply?

Exhausting to learn proper? Don’t do it. Ever.

FAIL #6 – Taking part in Conceal & Search with the Name To Motion (CTA)

You need to keep away from eliciting the “What am I presupposed to do right here?” response in any respect prices. In the first 5 seconds of arriving in your touchdown web page the customer ought to be capable of discern the aim of the web page and the tactic by which they work together with it. Sometimes it is a massive shiny button. Put it above the fold in order that they’ll get their bearings as quickly as they present up.

A great way to consider this may be illustrated by catching a airplane. When passengers get by way of the ticket space in an airport – particularly if they’re late – they should know 3 issues:

1. The place am I?
2. The place do I must go?
3. Do I’ve time for a beer earlier than I get on the airplane?

To resolve this momentary interval of panic they give the impression of being round for info. The “Departures TV” to see what time the airplane leaves and from which gate, and the map that exhibits the “You might be Right here” dot and the departure gate. Having established the place they’re, the place and the way they’ll get there, they chill out into purchasing mode. That is what you need in your touchdown web page. Clarify in a succinct method what the web page is about, and present them methods to full the transaction. Then they’ll sit again and discover your web page with no worry of confusion.

FAIL #7 – Recreating Struggle And Peace

You’re not attempting to make individuals go to sleep are you? With an excessive amount of copy on the web page you threat a few reactions:

1. Your customer sees reams and reams of textual content, balks on the prospect of being requested to work (we had sufficient of that in class) and clicks the again button.
2. They actually go to sleep from boredom and hit the backspace key with their head (you by no means know).

Both method, you’ve misplaced them.

Steve Krug (writer of the basic net usability gem – Don’t Make Me Think) coined a phrase which holds very true for touchdown pages. To paraphrase what he says within the e book relating to net web page copy, it is best to “minimize it in half, then throw away 50% of what’s left”. Nice recommendation.

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So, now that we’ve made you poop-proof, you will get began in your subsequent epic touchdown web page. You would possibly discover some inspiration from our landing page templates.

Good luck and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

— Oli Gardner