What Makes a Bad Landing Page?

Last Updated on April 19, 2024 by Eric Cantu

Landing pages are the gateway to your business. They are the first impression that visitors have of your brand, and can make or break your conversion rates. Done wrong, a bad landing page can totally destroy your revenue potential!. So what makes a bad landing page?

What Makes a Bad Landing Page?

A bad landing page is often marked by unclear messaging, poor design, lack of focus, confusing navigation, slow load times, ineffective calls-to-action and an overall disconnect. These issues create a poor user experience, high bounce rates and low conversions.

Key Takeaways

• Defining a Bad Landing Page: Factors that contribute to a bad landing page include conversion killers like slow loading times, poor user experience, irrelevant content, and technical issues.
• Importance of Clear Focus and Design: A successful landing page needs to have a clear focus to guide visitors towards a specific goal along with user-friendly design and navigation.
• Visual and Technical Aspects Matter: Avoiding visual mistakes like inconsistent branding and make it your focus to have your page SEO optimized
• Strategic Considerations: Aligning the landing page with its traffic source, conducting A/B testing, and building trust with your audience are elements that will significantly impact the effectiveness of a landing page.

In this article, I’ll be breaking down the different elements of a landing page and identifying the key mistakes that can make it ineffective. By the end, you’ll know how to avoid these mistakes to create a landing page that converts!

Defining a Bad Landing Page

As someone who has spent a lot of time creating landing pages, I can tell you that there are a few things that can make a landing page bad. Here are some of the most common issues that you should avoid:

1. Lack of Clear Focus

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when creating a landing page is not having a clear focus. Your landing page should be designed to achieve a very specific goal, whether that’s to get people to sign up for a newsletter, enroll into a course, or buy a product. If your landing page is cluttered with too much information or distractions, your visitors won’t know what to do and will likely leave.

2. Poor Design and Layout

The design and layout of your landing page are crucial. If your landing page is poorly designed or just overall wonky, your visitors will assume that your product or service is also of poor quality. Think clean and professional with your design. This immediately builds trust with your visitors and makes them more likely to take action. Do you want to go with a static page or a blogroll?

3. Lack of Directional Cues

Piggybacking on the idea of poor design and layout, it’s important to remember that visual elements not only need to be high quality and relevant, but actually guide the visitor’s attention towards key areas of the landing page. This can include arrows, images looking towards the CTA, strategic use of colors, and layout designs to naturally lead the eye towards conversion points.

Without these cues, visitors might miss crucial information that can make or break their decision to take action and convert.

Avoid These Conversion Killers!

When it comes to making an effective landing page, there are a few common conversion killers that can really hurt your chances of converting visitors. Here are three of the most common conversion killers that you should avoid at all costs:

4. Ineffective Headline and Text

Your headline and text are the most important parts of your landing page. They’re there to reach out from the screen and grab your visitor’s attention and hold it. They need to clearly communicate value to your audience. If you’re not doing a good job with this, it will definitely be reflected in your bounce rate.

Headlines should be clear, bold, concise, and attention-grabbing. Text should be easy to read and communicate the benefits of your product or service.

5. Confusing Calls-to-Action

Your call-to-action (CTA) is one of the most important elements of your landing page. It literally tells your visitors what you want them to do next. If your CTA is unclear or confusing, it can kill your conversions.

Don’t overthink this. Make sure your CTA is clear and straightforward. Use action-oriented language that tells your visitors exactly what they need to do next. For example, instead of “Submit,” use “Download Now” or “Sign Up Today.” “Get Started Free” is a favorite of mine.

6. Slow Loading Times

We live in a world of microscopic attention spans. Because of this, slow loading times can be a major conversion killer. If your landing page takes even a few seconds too long to load, your visitors are likely to get frustrated and leave before they even have a chance to see your offer.

To avoid this, make sure your landing page is optimized for fast load times. This means using optimized images, minifying your code, and leveraging browser caching to improve slow page speeds.

Don’t Kill Your Audience With User Experience Pitfalls!

When it comes to creating a landing page, user experience is everything. Neglecting the user experience will definitely lead to a bad landing page that fails to convert visitors into customers.

7. Overwhelming the User

Overwhelming the user with too much information can also lead to a bad user experience. It’s important to get right to the point. As I’ve already mentioned, users have a very short attention span online, and if they can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they’ll leave your page in their rearview mirror.

8. Too Many Form Fields

Again, keep things simple for your audience. Visitors are less likely to fill out a long form, especially if they’re not sure what they’re going to get in return.

Keep your form fields to a minimum. Only ask for the information you really need, and make sure your visitors know what they’re going to get in return for filling out the form. Eliminate all the extra steps between your visitor and that conversion!

9. Neglecting Mobile Optimization

In today’s world, if you’re not optimizing for mobile, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Mobile optimization is a must-have for any landing page and any website in general. A mobile-friendly landing page should load quickly, have a responsive design, and be easy to navigate on a small screen.

How Clear is Your Content and Messaging?

It seems obvious to say, but it’s all about content. Too often people just overthink this area. Get this wrong and your conversions will plummet.

10. Irrelevant Content

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make is to have irrelevant content on your landing page. Trim the fat! Get to the point! If you don’t. have a direct answer to the topic or question at hand at the very top of your landing page when your audience arrives, guess what? They’re not going to stick around to search for the answer. They’re just going to hit the back button and leave.

11. Missing or Weak Value Proposition

A value proposition is a statement that clearly explains the unique benefit that your product or service offers to the customer. It’s basically you telling your audience how this product or service will solve their problem.

To create a strong value proposition, you need to understand your target audience’s pain points, desires, and motivations. Use this information to craft a message that resonates with them and highlights the benefits of your product or service.

12. Lack of Social Proof

Social proof is a powerful tool that builds trust, credibility, and authority with your visitors. When we see a group of others enjoying the benefits of something it can instantly trigger our FOMO response (fear of missing out). If your landing page doesn’t have customer testimonials, reviews, or case studies, the visitor may not trust your brand.

Use relevant customer reviews along with ratings or endorsements from industry experts (TrustPilot, for example). Make sure the social proof highlights the relevance of the product to your audience’s needs.

The Most Common Visual and Aesthetic Mistakes

When it comes to landing pages, they practically lead with color and aesthetics. Let’s make sure your visuals and branding are on point.

13. Inconsistent Branding

As a marketer, you may not think of your branding when it comes to aesthetics. You want to make sure that your brand is consistent across all your marketing channels, including your landing pages. If your landing page looks completely different from your website or social media pages, it can create confusion for the visitor. “Is this the right page? Am I in the right spot?” Make sure that your landing page has the same logo, color scheme, and visual style as the rest of your brand.

14. Poor Use of Images and Videos

Images and YouTube videos especially can be a great way to grab a visitor’s attention and convey your message quickly. However, using low-quality or irrelevant images and videos will have the opposite effect. Make sure that your images and videos are high-quality and relevant to your message. Don’t use stock photos that look fake or overly staged. Instead, when possible use real images of your product or service in action.

15. Inadequate Use of Whitespace

No one wants to arrive at a wall of text. Let your content breathe! What is whitespace? This is the area between paragraphs and other elements on a page.

Inadequate use of whitespace can make a page feel cluttered, overwhelming, and off putting. Make sure that your landing page has enough whitespace to create a sense of balance, letting the content breathe and allowing visual cues to draw attention to important elements.

Let’s Get Technical: Technical and Functional Issues to Avoid

It’s not just about the visuals. Every website has to remain functional. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

16. Failing to Optimize for SEO

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to ignore SEO when designing your landing page. Yes, SEO takes some time to show its effects, but If your page isn’t optimized for search engines, it will be very difficult for potential customers to find it.

Make sure you use relevant keywords in your page title, meta description, url, and throughout the content. Also, ensure that your page loads quickly, as page speed is a ranking factor for search engines.

17. Not Enough Attention to Tracking and Analytics

This is an easy one to overlook. I’m not an analytics guy, but when you’ve created a landing page you’re definitely going to want to check its stats to see where it’s doing well and where it’s falling short.

Without proper tracking and analytics, you won’t know how many visitors are coming to your page, how long they’re staying, or what actions they’re taking. Make sure you have Google Analytics or another tracking tool installed on your page, and that you’re tracking the right metrics, such as bounce rate, conversion rate, and average time on page.

18. Too Many Pop-Ups

Pop-ups and other intrusive elements can be a major turn-off for visitors. While they can be effective in some cases, they can also be annoying and distracting. If you must use pop-ups, make sure they’re relevant and not intrusive. Also, ensure that they’re easy to close, and that they don’t interfere with the user experience.

I think a good exit pop can work well (like the one on this site), but if you’re getting in the way of your audience’s user experience, then the pop up is working more against you than for you. Also consider having certain popups only show themselves on certain devices, and orient them accordingly to make the most out of a smart device’s screen or a full desktop’s.

Missteps on Marketing Strategies

If you want to create a bad landing page, there are several strategic and marketing missteps you can take to make sure that happens.

19. Not Aligning with Traffic Source

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not aligning your landing page with your traffic source. What do I mean by that? If someone clicks on an ad that promises one thing and then lands on a page that delivers something completely different, they’re going to leave your site pretty quickly.

To avoid this, make sure your landing page aligns with the ad that brought them there. Use the same language, offer, and imagery to create a seamless experience for the user.

20. Ignoring A/B Testing

Another mistake is ignoring A/B testing. A/B testing is essential for conversion rate optimization, and if you’re not doing it, you’re completely missing out on valuable metrics that will help you improve your landing page. You can a/b test different headlines against each other, images, and calls to action to see what resonates best with your audience. The numbers don’t lie! You might be surprised by what works and what doesn’t.

For my YouTube channel, I always a/b test the thumbnails with Tubebuddy. Sometimes a thumbnail you swear is going to work great just doesn’t. Without a/b testing you’ll never know.

21. Overlooking the Importance of Trust

Last but not least, it all comes down to trust. If your audience doesn’t trust you, you’re never going to convert them. If your landing page looks sketchy or unprofessional, people will get bad vibes and bolt! Make sure your landing page is well-designed, easy to read, and free of errors. Use testimonials, social proof, and trust badges to build credibility and trust with your audience.

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Final Thoughts

Creating a landing page that converts depends on your ability to communicate value to your audience. Use this checklist of common mistakes to avoid to perfect your landing page and turn it into a gateway for continual conversions and consistent revenue for your business.

How do you feel? Have you had mixed success building a landing page? What were the biggest eye-openers from my list? Let me know in the comments section below!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are common design errors found in ineffective landing pages?

Design plays a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of a landing page. Some common design errors that could lead to poor performance include cluttered layouts, confusing navigation, and poor use of color and typography. A landing page should be visually appealing, easy to navigate, and have a clear message that aligns with the ad or promotional material that led the user to the page.

How can poor content quality impact the performance of a landing page?

Poor content quality can lead to a high bounce rate and low conversion rates. The content on a landing page should be engaging, concise, and relevant to the user’s needs. It should also be optimized for search engines and include relevant keywords and phrases to increase its visibility.

In what ways does a lack of clear call-to-action affect landing page conversion rates?

Without a clear CTA, users may not know what to do next, leading to a high bounce rate and low conversion rates. The CTA should be placed prominently on the page and be easy to understand. It should also be relevant to the user’s needs and align with the message of the page.

What are the pitfalls of using an overly complex or confusing navigation structure on a landing page?

An overly complex or confusing navigation structure can lead to a poor user experience and a high bounce rate. Users should be able to easily find the information they need and navigate through the page without getting lost or confused.

How does slow page load speed influence the user experience on landing pages?

Slow page load speed can have a significant impact on the user experience and lead to a high bounce rate. Users expect a landing page to load quickly, and if it takes too long, they may become frustrated and leave the page.

Why is it important to optimize a landing page for mobile devices, and what happens if it’s not done?

Optimizing a landing page for mobile devices is essential in today’s mobile-first world. More than half of all internet traffic now comes from mobile devices, and users expect a seamless experience across all devices. If a landing page is not optimized for mobile devices, it may not display correctly, leading to a poor user experience and a high bounce rate.

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