Top 5 Landing Page Mistakes

1. Not Showing What Your Site Offers to Users
Many sites are horrible at showing exactly what they offer and how their services or products are different from those of their key competitors. Instead, they hide this informationin industry jargon that may be lost on users. Keep in mind that users will only spend a few seconds to scan your site for what they need.

2. Using Gratuitous Animation and Graphics on your Site
People clicking on a PPC campaign link typically aren't the most sophisticated internet users. So running a landing page which requires a plug-in is a surefire way to dramatically lose people from your site.A dirty secret among Web designers is that they love to see cool animation and graphics, even if these don't contain relative content or information. Using generic stock photos that have nothingto do with your content can distract users from the main oal on your page - taking action.

3. Too Much Introductory Text on Your Landing Page
The Worst kind of filler copy usually starts with, "Welcome to our site, click on the bla bla bla link to get info on bla bla...". Telling people what to do on your site is useless. The user will go where he or she feels like. Peoplegenerally read very little on a website. Instead users scan the page, picking out words that are relevant to them.

4. Slow-Loading Landing Pages
According to the latest studies, 70 percent of North-Americans now have high-speed connections. But can you really afford to turn away customers that are using dialup lines with a bandwidth-sucking splash screen? Flash-driven screens are great for branding, but before you go overboard, ask yourself whether you can achieve the same objectives without alienating 30 percent of your other possible prospects.

5. Outdated Landing Pages
This error is common in the personal services sector. If I'm searching for a real estate agent, and I see that his landing page was updated more than a year ago, I'd wonder about how much attention he'd give me in order to sell my house. A lawyer whose landing page has a "Copyright 2004" notice will create similar doubts about his ability to stay current on current case law. The fact that these obvious errors persist for years creates a dark cloud in the prospect's mind about the quality of the promised personal service, and should be avoided, especially because this error is so easy to correct.