Common Landing Page Myths That You Need To Know

Sales funnels are the process you lead consumers through from an initial interaction to conversion. For example, you run Facebook ads that capture potential consumers’ attention. They click on the ad, which leads them to a landing page. On the landing page, they are promised a freebie if they share their email. They share their email, get the freebie in their email. You follow up with a series of emails that give customers value related to your industry. At the end, you offer the potential customer an exclusive deal. They convert! 

That was an incredibly simple breakdown of a complicated process that requires a lot of work. But you get the idea. 

Sales funnels walk the consumer through the process of awareness of the brand, interest in the freebie, valuable content that helps consumers make a decision, and an exclusive deal that spurs action. This sales funnel model, and many similar ones, are replicated by businesses worldwide to convert their customers. 

So, why isn’t it working for you? If you have set up a sales funnel and are waiting for the ? to roll in, but it’s slow going, it may be because you are relying on 4 common landing page myths. These myths are believed by a lot of people, but that doesn’t make them true. Let’s dive in so we can set the record straight! 

Myth 1: Your Forms Should Be Short

Short forms have a higher conversion rate, so you should only use short forms, right? 

Wrong. 

In the short term, it’s true that less lengthy forms have a better conversion rate. But long term, how does that affect your business? 

Forms with a few more questions give you more information about potential customers, which can help you improve how you market your services, your lead quality, and your overall lifetime value from the landing page. <<< That sounds like it’s worth the effort to ask a few more questions! ?

Asking the right questions helps you get the right type of customers in the door and moving through your sales funnel. Although it might deter some potential customers (shorter forms are a lower point of entry, so more people will fill out a form if it only asks one or two questions), you get more information about those that do complete the form. 

This not only helps you market better to them in this sales funnel, but you learn more about the customer for future sales, and gives you a better idea of how to market to other similar customers. 

It’s up to you to determine how long you want your form on the landing page. I recommend making it as long as it needs to be — those that are truly interested will fill out the form. 

Myth 2: You Can Only Use Landing Pages

Wait….isn’t this a blog post all about landing pages? ? 

Here’s the thing. You don’t always have to use landing pages. They can extremely helpful and an important part of your brand, but they can also not be necessary in every circumstance. It can be more beneficial to direct web traffic to your homepage or another page on your site. 

There are a lot of different reasons you may choose to send traffic to your site rather than a landing page. For example, if you are running a brand awareness campaign, customers want to learn about your company. In this case, sending them to a landing page can be an extra, unnecessary step because what the user really wants to see is your website. They are going to explore your website before converting, so it’s helpful to lead them there in the first place. 

This doesn’t mean to get rid of all your landing pages! It’s not all or nothing. You can determine whether a landing page is needed based on the campaign’s goals. 

Sometimes that means a landing page because landing pages offer an excellent opportunity to guide folks through your sales funnel and run A/B testing. Sometimes that might mean mixing it up on where you direct paid advertising traffic and sending users to your homepage or another page on your website to learn more about your brand. 

Myth 3: You Can’t Have Outbound Links 

This myth is kind of connected to the one above. Conventional belief is that you direct paid advertising traffic to a landing page (not your website) and then you convert them on the landing page (never sending them to a link to your website). 

But we aren’t conventional. ?

The myth that getting people to leave your landing page means you’ll lose them as a customer is just that: a myth. This might have been true back in ye olde times of 2004, but the internet, and our tracking tools, have changed A LOT. 

That means we can use tools like a Facebook tracker to retarget certain customers that have visited a landing page. Potential customers that leave your landing page aren’t lost because they may end up converting on your website or through retargeted marketing in the future.  

Not giving your customers a link to your main website can also just be a hassle for the user. If they want to go to your website, they are going to do that, so why not give them a link? Your landing page design needs to think about the customer journey and what they are interested in seeing, not just what you want to show them. 

Myth 4: Pages Start Out Converting

Oh boy. This myth has ensnared a lot of people, even experienced online marketers. 

Many digital marketing specialists believe that since they have built high converting landing pages before, and have followed similar methods to build a new landing page, that the new page should start converting at the same rate immediately. 

But it doesn’t work like that. 

The average conversion rate for all industries is just 2.35% on landing pages. That’s pretty paltry. So if you set up a landing page expecting a 50% conversion rate right off the bat, you might be disappointed. 

The good news is that you don’t have to settle for average. You can run A/B testing on your landing page, remarketing campaigns, change the offer, or even change the design of the page. For example, you might be marketing housing solutions for elderly people. Asking right away for users to pick between two options — “Are you helping a loved one find housing” or “I’m looking for housing”— can help segment your users and show the most relevant content. 

All of the above can help you increase your conversion rate, but realize that if you are starting out at 3%-5%, you’re already doing better than average! ?

When setting up a landing page or monitoring your PPC advertising performance, don’t fall for these myths. Instead, focus on user-friendly design and experience that guides potential customers towards conversion. 

Over the course of your campaign, it will be helpful to engage in A/B testing to fine-tune your landing page. Something as small as changing a title or a photo may make a difference. Or your landing page may require much bigger changes, like altering the offer. Practice conversion rate optimization (CRO) on your landing page, homepage, and website pages to maximize your opportunity for conversion.

Need more help with your landing pages? Let’s chat!