6 Reasons Your Landing Pages Creep Me Out

Building Trust in Marketing

We've all been around the block a few too many times to have much patience for sketchy landing pages at this point. None of us have time for more SPAM in our inboxes, so we're slow to share our contact information. Besides, in our era of rapidly-disappearing privacy, we like to keep some things to ourselves. Did you know that asking your landing page visitors to share their age can make your conversion rate plummet by about 45%? I've compiled some of my landing page pet peeves that make me far more likely to leave than complete the form, no matter how great your TOFU content offer is:

Inaccurate CTA Buttons

Have you ever clicked on a call-to-action (CTA) button that promises a free eBook and found yourself on a landing page for an entirely different offer? Let's be honest here: we're living in an era where we're bombarded with thousands of marketing messages a day. We're wary of Internet SPAM. We're more than a little sick of people try to sell to us. When we click on a CTA promising a free tutorial eBook and we're directed to a landing page for a 5% off coupon, we all get a little defensive and likely leave the company website quickly, never to return. Please make sure your CTAs reflect your content offers. Those of us who are trying to build trust in marketing will thank you!

No Contact Information

I'm no web developer, but I'm judgmental of company websites without contact information. If I'm considering giving you my money, I want to ensure you're a legitimate operation. While it's wisest  to streamline your website navigation on landing pages and remove main site navigation, don't remove your address, phone number or social media buttons. If clients are still on the fence about whether they want to share their email address and phone number, not being able to prove whether you're a real business could sway their decision in the wrong direction.

Nosy Landing Page Forms

You probably need an email address and first name, but do you really need much else? The purpose of lead conversion forms are to be able to nurture your leads, not write a 300-page biography about their life story. Utilize progressive profiling and lead nurturing to get to know your future clients. Don't ask for anything more than the bare minimum on your landing page forms, or your conversion rate could start to plummet.

I experienced a mental tug-of-war recently when I encountered a long form on a landing page. I really wanted the content offer ' I knew it was going to be high-value information, but I just wasn't comfortable forking over some of the demographic information requested. I ultimately bounced. Don't lose out on connecting with your future clients because your questions seem unrelated or overly personal!

No Privacy Policy

So, you're reserving the right to send your leads SPAM day in and day out? No? Well, include a link to your privacy policy already. It should be visible but not too obvious, like the example shown. Chances are that very few of your readers will actually open and read the information, but having it there will put quite a few minds at ease.

No Third-Party Badges On Display

Third-party badges are just like your privacy policy. Are your website visitors actually going to click over to the Better Business Bureau to ensure you're really in good standing? Will they verify you're using McAfee? Almost certainly not, but just being able to see the logo of another brand they trust can boost your conversion rates and lend your own company credibility.

It Looks Like an Amateur Designed It

Before you deploy your landing pages, take a step back and evaluate whether your landing page is a reflection of your brand or whether it leaves something to be desired. Does it look like it belongs on a professional business website or does it look like a MySpace profile from 5 or 6 years ago? We're talking about more than just your grammar and whether you used spell check. Layout, design, and contrast can have a big effect on whether your page feels professional or laughable. Here are some tips to ensure the design is what it should be:

• Too Many Fonts and Colors. Are you taking advantage of every font possible? Is your text spelled out in 4, 5 or more different sizes? Busy design can quickly scare off your leads who don't feel very at ease. Stick to no more than 2-3 fonts and colors. Focus on using text effects to emphasize value, not add visual interest.
• Avoid Overly Enthusiastic Copy. Did you include more than a handful of exclamation points? Even worse, did you include several exclamation points in a row or unusual combinations of punctuation like '!?!' ? While your content offer might be the most valuable piece of TOFU on the block, avoid the temptation to use too much enthusiastic language like 'best ever' or 'super duper.'It's fine for irony or humor's sake but it ultimately holds little meaning. Landing page copy should be really brief and your readers want to learn that they're signing up for '57 pages of statistics and graphs,' not the 'very smartest statistics ever.'
• Don't Be MySpace. If it would look at home on a tween's MySpace page, you don't need it on your landing page. This includes any extraneous clip art, anything that resembles a flashing animation or hard-to-read text. Go for basic contrast, streamlined design and make your information the star, not any flashy design elements.

What elements of landing page design do you find creepy?