(This is a follow-up to the Affiliate Summit wrap-up from Monday.)

Everyone is guilty of committing a landing page design sin, including ourselves, the pros. That is why it is important to always be testing your pages by using Google Website Optimizer, for example.

What is a landing page?

Any page where traffic is directed to for some specific purpose – to prompt a certain action. The point of a landing page is to get the visitor to take your desired action. The visitors may be coming from organic search results, pay per click, email newsletters, banner ads, etc.

Why are good landing pages important?

- It takes visitors 2-3 seconds to decide to stay or leave.

- Bad landing pages directly impact the effectiveness of your online marketing. Instead of paying more money to get more traffic, why not spend time to make better use of that traffic?

- Making small changes – like headlines – can have a huge impact on your conversion rate.

Which of these 7 sins below have you committed?

1.) I have unclear calls to action.

a. It is not crystal clear what I expect users to do when they land on my page.

b. Many different visual elements are competing for attention.

c. I have a lot of buttons that are all given equal importance.

2.) I give users too many choices.

a. I show users every choice they have on my website.

b. Users must click more than twice to get to what they are looking for.

c. Users must read to find what they are looking for.

3.) I am asking for too much information from users.

a. In forms I ask visitors to provide information that only helps me and does not concern the users.

b. I ask for information that I do not need immediately, but would like to have anyway.

c. My forms are the size of an entire page.

4.) I have too much text on my page.

a. I use multiple paragraphs on pages that are meant to sell my company’s products/services.

b. I use marketing-speak.

5.) I am not keeping my promises.

a. I have an advertisement that promises one thing and takes visitors to a page that does not fulfill that promise.

b. I don’t put promised information on my landing page.

6.) I have too many visual distractions on my page.

a. I use pop-ups.

b. There are graphics on my page that distract from the content on the page.

c. My graphics are competing with my call to action.

d. My photos are generic and do not convey a message.

7.) There is a lack of credibility and trust on my page.

a. I do not give any reasons for visitors to trust my website.

b. I do not provide endorsements of my company.

c. I do not include trust symbols on my page.

d. I do not mention policies or guidelines.

To confess your sins, contact Blue Fountain Media. We’ll help you convert! (…your visitors into customers.)