Are You Guilty of Making these Landing Page Copywriting Mistakes

It’s frustrating when you invest your time, labor and resources into creating a custom landing page, only for it to generate few-to-no sales. Landing pages differ from traditional websites in the sense that they have one primary goal: to generate sales. When it doesn’t fulfill this objective, you may feel lost or otherwise discouraged.

Before scrapping your landing page and moving on a new project, take a moment to evaluate your content. Many business owners and digital markets are guilty of making some critical copywriting mistakes when designing and developing their landing pages. So, check your landing page for the following mistakes to determine if t they are to blame for poor performance and low conversion rate.

Generic Title

Arguably, one of the most important elements of a landing page is the title. Some experts have even so go far as to say that half of your time should be devoted to your title.

If your title is generic, nondescript or doesn’t reflect what the landing page is about, it’s not going to have a positive impact on visitors’ decision to take action. The vast majority of users will simply skip right over the content without following the call-to-action (CTA) button or link.

The problem that many digital marketers make when crafting titles for their landing pages is that they focus on the product or service. A better approach is to explain how your product or service can benefit the customer in your title.

And underneath the title, include information about the product or service in a subheading. This combination of a title plus subheading tends to work well for most types of landing pages. Regardless of your objective, try the title and subheading combination on your landing page and you’ll probably notice a positive change in conversions.

No Call-to-Action

You can’t expect visitors to take action on your landing page if there’s no clear button or link for them to do so. Linked text does not constitute as an effective call-to-action (CTA) for a landing page.

Take a few steps back to place yourself in the shoes of a typical visitor. After accessing the landing page, where do your eyes first look? Is the CTA prominent and easy to see? Does the CTA work as intended? These are all questions that you should try to answer when developing your landing page. CTA

A good CTA should not only be prominent but also entice the user into taking action. Steer clear of generic, overused words like “search” and “buy” by themselves, and instead use power words to trigger a visceral, emotional response in visitors.

So, should you place your CTA above the fold or below the fold of your landing page? Conventional wisdom should lead you to believe that placing your CTA above the fold will yield more sales since visitors can see it without scrolling.

But studies have been somewhat conflicting regarding the placement of landing page CTAs above the fold versus below. For this reason, it’s recommended that you split-test two different versions of your landing page, one of with the CTA above the fold and another with the CTA below, to see which one works best.

Phony Testimonials and Reviews

Studies have shown that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations (source). Unfortunately, not all testimonials are legitimate, with some marketers and business owners using obviously fake testimonials in their landing page copy. Aside from the legal gray area this creates, fake testimonials and reviews will likely have a negative impact on your landing page’s conversion rate.

When a visitor sees a testimonial that is obviously fake, such as “This product has changed by life! I’ll be sure to spread the word and tell others!” it will discourage him or her from taking action. If you are going to include either testimonials or reviews on your land page, make sure they are legitimate. Take a look at this post, Tips on Using Customer Reviews in Social Media, for tips on using reviews.

Listing the Features of Your Product or Service

There’s nothing wrong with listing the features of your product or service, but you should focus on the benefits. Consumers grow tired of hearing features; they want to know how a product or service is going to benefit their life.

If you are selling a knife sharpening stone on your landing page, for instance, you could explain how it will allow users to cut through fruits, vegetables and meats in less time, while also reducing the risk of injury. This sounds better than explaining features like a stainless steel design, portability, etc.

You can make the benefits of your product or service stand out by including them in the form of a bullet-point list on your landing page. Bullet points naturally attract readers’ attention, enticing them to read the listed text. By including a list of your product or service’s benefits, more visitors will read it, which should yield a higher conversion rate.

In Conclusion

Creating an effective landing page isn’t always easy. You have to guide visitors through the sales funnel while explaining why they need your product or service. And to make matters worse, many marketers are guilty of making some critical copywriting mistakes, restricting their ability to convince users into making a purchase.

To recap, you should use descriptive and eye-catching titles, place your CTA in a clear location, use real testimonials, and list the benefits not the features of your product or service. Following these tips will go a long ways in creating a successful, profitable landing page.

Which landing page copywriting mistakes are you guilty of making? Let us know in the comments section below!