The heart of your web site is the homepage. It’s the gateway to every other page. It is logical that errors on this web page can decrease your conversion rate.
People use search engines to find information quickly and easily.
Despite the fact that 63% of marketers rely on their intuition instead of best practices when optimizing their website, Business 2 Community shared a statistic revealing that many people still make this choice.
In the past, all you needed for the search engines was an attractive web site and pretty page content. But, today we’re playing a far different game. If you want to do well on search engine results pages, your homepage needs to turn visitors into customers.
This is why marketers are focusing on optimizing their homepages to increase conversion rates.
It is easier to get visitors to your web pages than it is to convert them into customers.
What does all this mean? It’s important to focus on your homepage when it comes to website optimization and search engine optimization. If you don’t pay attention to your homepage, you will lose conversions.
There are 14 things you can do on your homepage to improve your conversion rate.
Mistake #1: Adding Company News to the Homepage
It is beneficial to keep your audience informed about recent developments in your business in order to increase the trust they have in you. Furthermore, relevance can also help with recognition from the search engines.
Company news items help attract investors and customers. EToro says that being up-to-date on business news is important because it can have an effect on the markets.
Many software companies release updates on a regular basis, but they do so through their blogs. A typical example is Evernote. The company always announces new features on the Evernote blog.
There is a “news” option in the menu on Evernote, but it does not show up on the homepage.
Why not? Simple: because homepage news items can kill conversions.
A potential customer visits your site with the intention of subscribing to your email list or buying your product. However, when they land on the homepage, they are only greeted with your company’s news blurbs.
Your company news may interest or excite them, but it won’t make a difference. Why? The primary purpose of a business should be to attract customers and increase revenue, not to get people interested in company news.
On your site homepage, you want to eliminate any distractions that might take away from the main message you are trying to get across. If you have created a group of followers for your blog, then share your company news on your blog or create a new landing page for it. This allows you to improve your ranking on search engines by using more keyword phrases and connecting them to create more web pages.
Mistake #2: Cluttered Homepage With Unnecessary Text and Images
A research study found that people form judgments about a business based on the web site design and that 94% of a user’s first impression is design-related.
It’s time to get rid of the clutter on your homepage. If your homepage has too much text and too many images, it can actually discourage customers from converting, even if everything else on the page is fine. Too much information can be overwhelming and confusing, so make sure your homepage is concise and easy to understand.
The question then becomes: “How much is too much?”
Reducing the number of keyword phrases you use in your website content may seem like it would decrease your chances of higher search engine results, but that’s not what happens. More concisely, web page copy that is optimization-friendly helps convert website visitors.
Some copywriters disagree about this point. There is a debate among some people about what kind of copy is more effective in converting visitors to customers. Some believe that shorter copy is better while others believe that more copy is better.
The reality is that both sides have a point. When it comes to your homepage, you need to add enough text with relevant keyword phrases and correct search terms so that search engine spiders can index it in the search results. If you have too much text, it will distract your readers and they will not be able to focus on the main goal.
You should prioritize your site visitors over everything else, even search engines, on your homepage. You should prioritize giving them a great experience.
In addition to making your homepage free of unneeded text and images, you should also stay away from advertising that will only take away your visitor’s attention from your message and lead them to new search results and web pages.
Choose images for your homepage that help convey the message you want to get across, rather than images that will distract viewers from the purpose of the page. Since humans process visual information much more quickly than text, it is important to remember that your website’s visitors will be influenced more by images than by text alone.
Mistake #3: Too Many Calls-to-Action on the Homepage
Are you making it easy for your customers to progress from one stage to the next? This one objective should be given adequate attention on your homepage.
The more easily your customers can find what they are looking for on your website, the more value you are providing them.
If there are too many calls-to-action on the homepage, it can decreased conversions and prevent the website from being successful on search engines. Presenting too many options leads to customers not knowing what to choose.
Your CTA, or call-to-action, is the most important part of your website when it comes to getting users to convert, or take the desired action. This means that your CTA will either encourage visitors to stay on your site or leave it entirely.
It is more important to understand your customers and what they want than to focus all your energy on improving your ranking on search engines. That’s the simple way to avoid choice paralysis. Who is your target audience – beginners or those with more experience? Do they usually buy from you or are they mostly new customers?
What do you want your customers/site visitors to do upon landing on your homepage? Would you like them to try your free demo or view your special pricing plans? Would you rather they purchase your product right away or subscribe to your email list first?
The key to successful sales and customer retention is providing what your customers want.
Mistake #4:Misleading headlines
Right when you come to a website, you should be able to figure out what the page is about. This means that when you are looking at magazines, you are mostly looking at the headlines to see if the magazine is worth purchasing.
If the headline on your landing page is not related to the ad that the visitors clicked on, there is a good chance that they will leave the page immediately. Your headline should make visitors want to read more about your product; if it doesn’t, it should be changed. It’s important to make sure that your headline is attention-grabbing by using bold colors or making it a larger size.
To avoid making this mistake, you can always test your landing page headlines. It is important to have a continuity of ideas and keywords from the advertisement to the headline and landing page, in order to avoid a high rate of people leaving the page.
Mistake #5:The wrong images
You can increase conversion rates by up to 35% by using custom images.
When it comes to images, you can go wrong in many ways:
Some common pitfalls when using images on websites include: using generic images from sites like Shutterstock, using images that are too small, using distracting images, and using too many images.
It may take some time and investment to choose the right images, but it will be worth it in the end.
Mistake #6: Targeting the wrong audience
A particular source of traffic may target a specific market segment.
This client’s website was getting a lot of traffic and conversions from influencers. The majority of the traffic consisted of 18–24-year-old males. Even though the product was developed for 35-50-year-old males, the client still wanted to test it on a wider range of ages. The a group of people thought they were targeting but were not were a different group then what they had expected.
When choosing a source of traffic for your website, make sure to consider who the visitors of that source are and create products and messaging that will appeal to them specifically.
Mistake #7: No clear goal for the page
A common mistake that landing pages make is trying to accomplish too many things at the same time. The only result of this is that visitors are more confused about what to do next. You will need to figure out what you want your visitors to do depending on the campaign you are running and where the visitor is coming from. Once you know what you want them to do, make sure that this is clear on the page.
This does not negate having secondary goals. Their prominence should never match that of a primary goal. By just looking at the page, it should be obvious to anyone what they should do next.
Mistake #8: Not distinguishing yourself from the pack
A landing page is basically a page on your website where people “land” when they click on a link. It’s your opportunity to explain what your service or product is and why it’s better than the competition. Although it may be difficult, it is important to figure out what makes your company different from others. With so many competitors, how do you stand out? Products and services have become so similar that it is hard for customers to see the differences.
Identify the key differentiators between you and your competitors. Zappos first rolled out free next-day shipping and easy next-day returns to help them stand out from the rest of the competition. The company’s success was not due to the shoes themselves, but to the ease with which customers could try on and return different pairs.
Mistake #9: Unclear call to action
Your CTA is the heart of your landing page.
We see many common mistakes with calls to action. First, you might have too many of them. You’ve placed the CTA in the last part of the page, or even used the same color for the CTA as the website background. Make your CTA easy to find for visitors.
How can you make your CTA clear and more likely to be clicked?
Less is more. Try placing one CTA per landing page. Keep it visible. Make sure the CTA is visible and easy to find for the visitor. Make it distinct. Use a color that will stand out against the design of your page.
Mistake #10: Too much body copy
Don’t overload your landing page with lots of text. Too much text on a website page can be confusing for visitors and lead to a higher rate of them leaving the page (a high “bounce rate”). It can also make the page look too busy and complicated.
To avoid this issue, here are few tips:
• Use small paragraphs. Some tips for creating an effective landing page: -Keep your content concise and focused on your main message -Use visual elements like bullet points, headlines, and sub-headlines to help visitors quickly grasp your key points -Highlight the most important information so visitors don’t miss it
Video is a great way to communicate a lot of information quickly and effectively. Instead of writing out a long and detailed process, perhaps use a short and simple tutorial video.
Mistake #11: No emotional triggers
According to neurologist Antonio Damasio, almost all decisions require emotion. While most people believe that they make choices based on rational analysis of the available alternatives, the emotions are actually the main drivers of the decision-making process.
There are many emotional triggers you can use to boost your revenue and drive your conversion through the roof, and these are few main pointers:
• spinning a yarn • stressing the importance of time • being other-oriented • cultivating mutuality • establishing credibility • playing on sentimentality
Mistake #12: Too technical
No matter what you are selling, you need to have a good understanding of your market. Every conversion optimization project starts with creating personas. You may find that people buying your product or service don’t necessarily know all the technical jargon associated with it. This means that your text should be understandable for the average person.
Mistake #13: Visual distractions
I suggested using images and videos to persuade visitors to read more.
Picking an appropriate image will usually ensure that the information is conveyed accurately. In just 60 seconds, a video can explain your product and why visitors should buy it. If you overload a page with too many visuals, it can easily distract visitors instead of attracting their attention.
Mistake #14: Talking about features and not benefits
While this might be the case, your target market might not think the same way. You might believe that your product or service is the best in the world or has the most amazing features, but your target market may not agree. Although that may be true, it is not something that guests are concerned with. Instead of being interested in the abstractions of the class, they want to know how the class will benefit them.
every day For example, a typical delivery service might say that it is: • The best delivery service in the world • Many trusted customers are using our product every day
However, this is what visitors actually want to see:
If you refer us to a friend, you will get a 15% discount on your next delivery.
Wrapping it up
You can’t just create a landing page by adding random words and visuals.
It is important to invest both time and money in designing your website, crafting appealing copy, and testing different choices. If you avoid making these 30 mistakes, you’ll be on the right track to having a landing page that converts well and makes visitors happy.
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