Your landing page is a key component in your list building efforts. Creating landing pages that convert ensures that you are targeting the right audience for the solutions you provide. But it’s easy to make landing page mistakes that can derail your efforts.

Here are 10 landing page mistakes you don’t want to make.

Mistake #1: Your page loads too slowly

You only have a few seconds to get and keep your audience’s attention. If your pages load slowly, they’ll end up clicking away and going somewhere else. Use software such as GTMetrix to test how fast your pages load. Quick-loading pages will give you the best chance at capturing your audience’s attention and keeping them on the page.

Mistake #2: Your page is not personalized for your audience

There’s a temptation if you’re using a landing page template, to just do the bare minimum to make it usable. Don’t do that.

It may seem like a small thing to you, but it’s important to create landing pages that are personalized for the audience you’re trying to attract. For example, if you guest post on a blog, create a landing page just for that one audience, so they feel welcomed. You may have more than one landing page for each opt-in due to this in order to target the audience.

Mistake #3: There are too many distractions on the page

One of the biggest landing page mistakes I see is having too many distractions on your pages. Your landing page should be free of distractions so that your audience focuses on the offer at hand. You don’t need links to your blog or your shop on your landing page… they only serve to distract the prospect from your main goal, which is to get them on your list. You can share all your good stuff with them after they sign up.

Mistake #4: You haven’t differentiated between your offer and the competition

The main purpose of your landing page is to show your prospective customer or subscriber how your offer stands apart from the competition. This is when you get to show off your uniqueness to your new visitors, and not doing so can lead to them going elsewhere.  

Mistake #5: Your message doesn’t match your market

There’s an easy way to tell if you’re making this landing page mistake. If you notice you are getting a lot of click-throughs but no sign-ups, there is a good chance that your message doesn’t match the audience you’re trying to attract with it.

Take a step back and look at the description of the target audience you created as you made your lead magnet in order to make the corrections you need.

Mistake #6: There are not enough images on your page

These days your landing page must be visually appealing. This is especially true if you’re in the low content space where people rely on images of your products to decide whether they want to download them or not.

Most people respond better to images that enhance the words on the page. Plus, some imagery provides directional cues to the reader, helping them take advantage of your offers.  

Mistake #7: You don’t pay enough attention to SEO

SEO works for all types of content, but it will really help you get more traffic to your offers if you also include the skill on your landing pages. Headlines, keywords, headers, alt text, and more are all important on a landing page too.

Use a tool like Rank Math* to ensure you’re at least covering the basics of SEO to get organic traffic to your site.

Mistake #8: You don’t share any social proof

When people arrive on your landing page, they don’t know you from a hole in the ground (as my dad would say). Giving them social proof in the form of testimonials, likes, shares and downloads shows them that other people trust you and believe in what you say.  This is one of those landing page mistakes that can be easily fixed.

Mistake #9: Your landing page doesn’t work on your customer’s device

Mobile is huge, but not in every niche. If you optimize your site only for mobile users, then you’re going to alienate those customers who still do most of their online work on a desktop computer. Always check your demographics to see which devices are most used by your audience and make sure your page works on all of them.  

Page builders like Thrive Architect* make it easy by allowing you to preview in phone, tablet, and desktop view so you can see what your customers are seeing. Even your basic WordPress post now offers you the option of previewing on the three different devices.

Mistake #10: Your CTAs are not compelling enough

Using phrases “download now” and “click to download” are not really compelling enough calls to action anymore. Your calls to action should be specific to the audience you’re targeting, reminding them of the benefits of the download as well as why they need it.  

Final Thoughts

Creating landing pages that get results takes time and practice. The first one you make might not work as well as the ones that come after it. You can maximize your efforts to create pages that convert by ensuring that you’re not making any of these easily fixable landing page mistakes.

*Note: This post includes affiliate links, for which I will receive a small commission should you make a purchase.