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So, you’ve created a website for your business and it’s attracting a lot of visitors. But, why aren’t those visitors converting into loyal customers?
Unfortunately, having a range of strong products or services isn’t enough to help your business succeed. You also need to ensure that your website’s landing pages will do a great job of earning you sales.
There are a lot of elements that play into this. For example, your website will need to have an effective design and you should be writing landing page copy that sells.
Here, I’ll walk you through six reasons why your landing pages might not be converting as well as they should, and how you can fix it.
Your calls-to-action aren’t strong enough
Effective calls-to-action (CTAs) are a huge factor in increasing your website conversion rate.
To improve your CTAs, consider why visitors land on your page in the first place. Do they want to:
- Sign up for a newsletter?
- Buy a product?
- Join an organization?
- Invest in a service?
Every landing page should have a clear purpose and call-to-action, reminding visitors why they’re there, and what they should do next.
Here are a few ways to improve the efficacy of your existing CTAs.
Lead with a strong verb
Act now! Create with us! Join here! Start your journey!
What do all of these examples have in common? They lead readers with a convincing verb that evokes a need to do something.
Take a look at how Richmond, VA’s Ironclad Coffee Roasters utilize this tip effectively, with their front page CTA urging visitors to “Order Today!”.
Create a sense of urgency
A limited window of opportunity makes visitors more likely to quickly commit to an offer so they don’t forget about it before time runs out.
This tactic can work well with strong, active verbs that help to create that sense of needing to hurry. Some companies will also include a countdown to further drive the point home.
For instance, in their guide to 9 types of infographic templates, Venngage promotes an upcoming webinar with an urgent CTA.
Their Infographics 101 session can only be accessed during a limited time, so they urge visitors to “save my spot” before they lose the opportunity.
Lean into FOMO
The fear of missing out is another powerful motivator. It evokes a specific type of urgency related to our natural desire to be part of a group.
Accounting software provider, FreshBooks, uses this tactic by telling visitors that they should join the 24 million people that have already worked with them.
After all, wouldn’t you want to get involved with something that 24 million other people have used and loved?
Make it stand out
Sometimes it’s as simple as making sure people can find the link to continue.
If you have a Netflix account and you’ve been spontaneously logged out of before, you already know what this should look like. Their login page doubles up as a sign-up page, and it’s clearly evident what the company wants you to do by the very large “Get Started” button.
Meanwhile, the button to sign back into an existing account is much smaller and more hidden, way up in the top corner. Acquiring new customers is clearly Netflix’s priority.
You’re targeting the wrong keywords
A lot of businesses make the mistake of targeting the wrong keywords with their landing pages. When this happens, new visitors who discover you through a search engine may be disappointed by what they find on the page they click through to.
Keywords with a high search volume make a great choice if they’re relevant. But relevancy should be your biggest concern.
You also need to consider the search intent behind particular keywords if you want to send the very best people to your site.
It’s understandable if you feel like you should be ranking for keywords with the highest search volumes. However, receiving fewer website visitors, but more conversions, is always going to be more advantageous.
When researching keywords, make sure that the content already ranking for a specific term is in line with the content you plan to produce. Then, make sure your page improves on what is already available to the searcher.
Especially when first starting out, you’re likely to be more successful at ranking for less competitive target keywords. And, by targeting more specific keywords that are highly relevant to your business, you’ll attract far more high-quality traffic that will turn into sales.
Finally, make sure visitors who land on your commercial pages have the intent to buy. Your landing pages should specifically target keywords that encourage a decision to invest in your product or service.
A detailed explanation of how that works in practice can be found in Loganix’s exploration of how to find buyer intent keywords.
You need to build more trust with your customers
Expertise, authority, and trust are the new internet currency. Visitors who trust your website and your organization will be far more likely to convert into loyal customers.
So how do you ensure this happens?
One effective tactic is to create and curate high-quality content that positions you as an expert in your field. Let’s take a look at some businesses already getting this right.
Firstly, Lawsuit Legal, a law firm that specializes in workers’ rights, has a comprehensive guide to employment laws on their website. This shows that they know what they’re talking about so well, they could teach it.
This resource helps to educate potential clients about the scope of Lawsuit Legal’s services, while also positioning the company as an authority in its sector. While it might seem counterintuitive, providing your target customers with free information and advice can help to build trust with them, and will increase the likelihood of them paying for your services in the future.
This is because it gives you the chance to show off your expertise. If someone has read this guide from the company and then finds themselves in a situation where they need to pay for legal help in a workers’ rights case, they’ll be more likely to get in touch with the firm for help because there’s already an element of trust there. “This is a great way to market your law firm and promote future business”
Similarly, digital PR agency and link-building software providers Respona include a guide to increasing your domain authority on their blog. This article alone demonstrates their combined expertise on digital, marketing, and SEO topics while showing that they can be trusted to help other businesses in these areas.
Someone who is interested in this information may or may not be looking to pay for the services Responsa offers right now. But, either way, this guide positions the company as a knowledgeable source of information and will build trust with readers. That means the business will be top of mind when someone is looking for some real help with their digital marketing.
Graphic design software provider Canva also uses content curation to demonstrate their expertise. They provide a library of instructional videos on a variety of topics to help new customers visualize how their business could be improved with graphic design.
By asking outside experts to help develop these courses, Canva demonstrates that they will spare no expense in providing the best service possible. Anyone who finds all of this informational content helpful will be more likely to pay to Canva’s platform because they’ll already value and trust the company.
Once you have a plethora of expert content on your website, consider how you could provide evidence of the great work you’re already doing. One of the best ways to do this is to ask customers for reviews, and then showcase those testimonials directly on your website and within your content. Customer reviews can benefit your business greatly by demonstrating to new visitors that you’re a trustworthy organization to work with.
Workplace messaging platform Slack turned customer surveys into visuals that demonstrate their success in engaging users. These metrics are also interspersed with quotes from satisfied customers, further demonstrating the trust that its users put in the platform.
If you aren’t getting the conversions you want, think about whether you’re doing enough to earn your prospective customers’ trust. If you aren’t quite there yet, creating high-quality content that shows your expertise, and showcasing positive reviews on your site can really help.
It’s hard for your customers to contact you
If your customers have any questions or concerns, they’ll want to contact you directly.
However, if it’s unclear how they can do so, their query won’t be resolved, and they’ll be unlikely to go forward with a purchase.
Make sure that your contact information is easily accessible, and that you provide multiple avenues for communication. Phone, email, social media, and a brick-and-mortar address (if applicable), should all be listed in the same place.
If specific queries are better suited to a specific avenue, make sure that is clear as well. For example, if you have an email dedicated to addressing customer concerns, list it with that explanation. On the other hand, you might have a hashtag you use to curate photos of satisfied customers to promote on your Instagram. Make sure to tell visitors that as well!
Social media can also help with customer service and generally driving brand awareness. Any social media platforms that you have should be responsive and active. These platforms offer a great way to answer customer questions in a casual setting and publicly address customer concerns.
On landing pages themselves, it can help to include a chatbot designed to address any last-minute questions. Botsify makes it easy to add website chatbots, and this simple fix can have a huge effect on improving your conversions.
Your site offers a poor user experience
Even in the digital age, the experience is everything.
How many times have you clicked on a website that loaded slowly and decided to go back and pick a different search result? Have you ever sought out a company only to discover their website was hard to navigate and turned to a competitor?
In an economy of choices, these experiences are practically universal. This means that, if your website offers a poor user experience, people won’t hang around long enough to make a purchase.
That’s why optimizing the UX of your landing pages is so important.
There are a lot of factors that can affect the user experience of your website. Here are some aspects worth considering in your next UX website audit:
- Page load time
- Adaptable design for different devices
- Readability
- Accessibility
- Ease of navigation
To learn more about how to integrate good UX with an effective digital marketing plan, check out Botsify’s interview with dialogue UX designer, Sam Ursu.
You need to get straight to the point
Hopefully, your landing page visitors are there because they want to interact with your business.
But, if you fill your pages with lots of copy that your ideal customers aren’t interested in, this can deter them from making a purchase.
Instead, keep your copy simple, and get straight to the point. Show the value of your products and services right away. Don’t make people scroll.
The marketing and SEO experts at Chosen Data have already figured this out. Their website consists of a single landing page where the main focus is a bulleted list of everything the company can help with. It’s clear, to the point, and bound to attract the right people.
Alternatively, Khan Academy, an online learning resource, dedicates its homepage to the four markets they serve: learners, teachers, districts, and parents. Each has a dedicated link to follow so people can get started right away, or they can scroll down and learn a little bit more before clicking.
Take a look at your landing pages from a customers’ perspective, and consider whether you’re making them work too hard to find the information they need. Your content should address all of their pain points, explain how you can help them, and show why your company is better than your competitors straight away.
If someone can see all of this information as soon as they land on your website, all of their concerns will be put to rest and they’ll be far more likely to make a purchase.
Summary
If your landing pages aren’t converting, it can be frustrating to see your marketing efforts go to waste. But don’t panic.
Tweaking your site and improving your content over time can really help to increase your sales.
Slowly but surely, your landing pages will bring you the conversions your business needs.
For more conversion tools to skyrocket your business, check out Botsify’s article that delves deeper into the topic.
