Masters of Marketing -- Common Landing Page Design Mistakes

Common Landing PageDesign MistakesAnd How to Avoid Them

Amanda OldhamWebsite Coordinator

Landing Page:

A separate web page that stands out from your main website and is designed for a single, focused objective.

3 Key Areas to a Landing Page

1. Focus & Function• Objective of the page – what you want your clients to do on your page

2. Content• Written text and your call to action phrases

3. Design• The graphics, photos and overall layout of the landing page

Focus & Function Mistakes

Focusing on More than One Goal

• Too many buttons or things to do will overwhelm your clients

• Too many options and they will likely choose none

Solution:Pick 1 thing you want the client to do on your landing page

• Call

• Submit a quote request

• Sign up for your newsletter

Focus & Function Mistakes

Paying Attention to the Features, and Not the Benefits

• What is exactly in it for your clients?

• Having lots of features is great, but not as strong of a selling point

Solution:Focus on the value of your products

• Put more emphasis on why the client should choose you

• People like an agency that has good customer service, but they like it because it makes their lives (and insurance) easier and less stressful

Focus & Function Mistakes

Long or Complicated Forms

• One or two extra fields in a form can greatly decrease the chance a client will fill out the form

• Complicated or misleading questions can turn someone away

Solution:Keep your forms short and simple

• More information from 1 client vs. Contact information from several leads

• Ask for the basics (Name, Email, Phone) and follow up for a personal touch

Focus & Function Tips

1. Figure out your single biggest objective for your page.That is your main goal.

Every thing on your landing page should relate directly back to your main goal. If it does not directly connect to your goal, lose it.

2. Include a form.It could be a form directly on your landing page (preferred)

Or include a clear, visible button that takes clients to the form.

Without a form, there will be no way to track conversions.

3. Track visitors to your page and conversions.Use tools like Google Analytics to track the number of visitors

Having a form will make tracking leads from your page easier

Content Mistakes

The Text has No Value

• Goes back to focusing on features, instead of benefits

• Clients want to know why they should fill out that form

Solution:Make sure to emphasis the benefit

• What you can do for them

• List of features are okay, so long as the main emphasis of the page is about what the client gains from working with you

Content Mistakes

Too Much Text

• Clients are wanting to do something on your website, not read an entire book

• Everything is better in moderation

• Overloading the page with keywords is an obvious tactic and your clients will notice

Solution:Keep it short and simple

• Tell your clients why they should sign up with you and how to sign up

• Anything else is unnecessary

Content Mistakes

Content Gets Distracted

• Text on your page doesn’t match what you are actually offering

• Avoid going off on tangents• Don’t talk about home insurance on a page about life insurance

• Happens more often when there is too much text

Solution:Cut out the fat

• Figure out the 3 most important things your client needs to know and write just about those 3 items

• If you’re not sure if that sentence is necessary, it’s not. Lose it.

Content Tips

1. Only talk about things related to your objective.This will help lend proper focus to your landing page.

Also helps keep your content from getting distracted or too long.

2. Bullet point lists and keep your paragraphs short.Avoid giant blocks or a wall of text whenever possible.

Bullet points and short sentences help clients’ eyes process your content.

3. Proof read everything. Twice.Typos happen but are easy to fix.

As you proof read, cut out the content you don’t need.

Design Mistakes

Using the Same Design as your Main Website

• Landing pages should be unique

• Most normal websites have a lot of features and things to do, which can be overwhelming or confusing on a landing page

Solution:Make your landing pages simple and clean

• Cut everything that is not necessary for your page’s objective

• Keep just the basics for your agency’s branding:

• Logo

• Colors

Design Mistakes

No Images to Compliment your Text

• Pages with just text are boring and not visually stimulating

• Nothing to break up walls of text

• Looks like an outdated website and client cannot be sure that anyone is paying attention to it

Solution:Use photos that catch the eye

• Try to use photos that look less like stock photos and carry some emotion

• Use photos of your office, your clients or your city when you can

• Don’t go overboard on photos. 1 good photo should be all you need

Design Mistakes

Putting Important Content or Forms “Below the Fold”

• Anything below the fold will not immediately be visible

• Landing pages that require scrolling will be less effective

• Clients will be more likely to click away

Solution:Put everything above the fold

• Short pages work best

• Pages that require no scrolling will be more effective

Design Mistakes

Vague or Invisible Calls to Action

• “Submit” only tells the form what to do, not what the customer will receive by filling out your form

• If there are too many calls to action, the most important one will become invisible in all of the clutter

Solution:Make only 1 call to action

• Use contrasting colors to make it stand out from the rest of the page

• With a specific phrase telling the client want to do

• Instead of “Submit”, use “Request a Consultation”

Design Mistakes

Other Common Design Mistakes

Slow loading times• Clients expect quick response

times.

• If you’re too slow, they won’t wait around for you

Footer is too wide• List of links are not needed on

landing page.

• Not as beneficial to SEO and can distract clients

No symbol of trust• How can they be sure this isn’t a

scam or worth their time?

• Adding a client testimonial adds value to your words and product

Bad headline• The first thing clients see if your

headline

• 2 seconds to grab their attention

• If headline is too long or vague, they will leave

Final Words

• This webinar will be posted to the ITC Marketing blog:http://www.getitc.com/blog/marketing/

• Join us next month!• Digital Marketing Trends for 2015

• Presented by Jennifer Fitzsimmons(AgencyBuzz Product Manager)

• Thursday, January 15th at 12pm (CDT)

• Want to register? Visit:http://www.getitc.com/solutions/agency_marketing/webinar/

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The first 50 people to register only pay $49.95 for a full conference pass!

For videos, highlights from last year and more information on the 2015 Agent Conference, visit: www.agentconference.org

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