Common Landing Page Design Mistakes

👀 Lessons from the Most Surprising A/B Test Wins of 2024 📈 Reflecting on 2024, here are three surprising A/B test case studies that show how experimentation can challenge conventional wisdom and drive conversions: 1️⃣ Social proof gone wrong: an eCommerce story 🔬 The test: An eCommerce retailer added a prominent "1,200+ Customers Love This Product!" banner to their product pages, thinking that highlighting the popularity of items would drive more purchases. ✅ The result: The variant with social proof banner underperformed by 7.5%! 💡 Why It Didn't Work: While social proof is often a conversion booster, the wording may have created skepticism or users may have seen the banner as hype rather than valuable information. 🧠 Takeaway: By removing the banner, the page felt more authentic and less salesy. ⚡ Test idea: Test removing social proof; overuse can backfire making users question the credibility of your claims. 2️⃣ "Ugly" design outperforms sleek 🔬 The test: An enterprise IT firm tested a sleek, modern landing page against a more "boring," text-heavy alternative. ✅ The Result: The boring design won by 9.8% because it was more user friendly. 💡 Why It Worked: The plain design aligned better with users needs and expectations. 🧠 Takeaway: Think function over flair. This test serves as a reminder that a "beautiful" design doesn’t always win—it’s about matching the design to your audience's needs. ⚡ Test idea: Test functional designs of your pages to see if clarity and focus drive better results. 3️⃣ Microcopy magic: a SaaS example 🔬 The test: A SaaS platform tested two versions of their primary call-to-action (CTA) button on their main product page. "Get Started" vs. "Watch a Demo". ✅ The result: "Watch a Demo" achieved a 74.73% lift in CTR. 💡 Why It Worked: The more concrete, instructive CTA clarified the action and benefit of taking action. 🧠 Takeaway: Align wording with user needs to clarify the process and make taking action feel less intimidating. ⚡ Test idea: Test your copy. Small changes can make a big difference by reducing friction or perceived risk. 🔑 Key takeaways ✅ Challenge assumptions: Just because a design is flashy doesn’t mean it will work for your audience. Always test alternatives, even if they seem boring. ✅ Understand your audience: Dig deeper into your users' needs, fears, and motivations. Insights about their behavior can guide more targeted tests. ✅ Optimize incrementally: Sometimes, small changes, like tweaking a CTA, can yield significant gains. Focus on areas with the least friction for quick wins. ✅ Choose data over ego: These tests show, the "prettiest" design or "best practice" isn't always the winner. Trust the data to guide your decision-making. 🤗 By embracing these lessons, 2025 could be your most successful #experimentation year yet. ❓ What surprising test wins have you experienced? Share your story and inspire others in the comments below ⬇️ #optimization #abtesting

Your users aren't dumb - your UX is fighting their brain's natural instincts. Ever wonder why that "perfectly designed" feature gets ignored? Or why users keep making the same "mistakes" over and over? Listen founder, you're probably making these costly cognitive bias mistakes in your UX: Avoid: • Assuming users remember where everything is (they don't - it's called the Serial Position Effect) • Cramming too many choices on one screen (Analysis Paralysis is killing your conversions) • Making users think too hard about next steps (Mental fatigue is real) • Hiding important info "just three clicks away" (Out of sight = doesn't exist) Instead, here's how to work WITH your users' brains: 1. Put your most important actions at the beginning or end of lists (users remember these best) 2. Limit options to 3-5 choices per screen (users actually buy more when they have fewer choices) 3. Use visual hierarchies that match real-world patterns (we process familiar patterns 60% faster) 4. Keep important actions visible and consistent across all pages (our brains love predictability) Great UX isn't about being clever. It's about being obvious. Your users' brains are lazy - and that's okay. Design for how they actually think, not how you wish they would think. --- PS: What's the most counterintuitive UX decision that actually improved your conversions? Follow me, John Balboa. I swear I'm friendly and I won't detach your components.

Found a tiny design flaw on Monday.com's pricing page that’s likely costing them millions. You might be making the same mistake. The culprit? Dropdown feature lists. Why is that a problem? Decision fatigue. Prospects don’t want to "discover" value. They want to see it INSTANTLY. Every second they spend clicking around is a second closer to bouncing. Most pricing pages look fine… but tiny missteps like this stack up. And when they do, they silently kill conversions. Bill Wilson, a SaaS pricing expert who’s coached 400+ founders and analyzed hundreds of SaaS pricing pages, found that the average page fails 14 out of 22 key conversion dimensions. Even well-known companies like Monday.com (7.5/10), Motion, and Jobber (6.5/10) make these mistakes — proving there’s always room to optimize and capture more revenue. The upside? Even small fixes drive massive returns. A 7% conversion increase on a $1M ARR business? That’s an extra $70,000 annually, with zero extra marketing spend. This is HUGE. So, what are the levers you need to be pulling? FOCUS CLARITY – Confused prospects don’t buy. ❌ “Unlimited features” buried in dropdowns ✅ 3–5 clear differentiators that help users self-select AMPLIFY CONFIDENCE – Buyers hesitate when they don’t see proof. ❌ Generic stock images, no testimonials ✅ Customer logos, tier-specific reviews, and clear risk-reversal SHAPE PACKAGING – Customers don’t buy features; they buy outcomes. ❌ Feature lists that read like technical manuals ✅ ROI-driven pricing models (Motion’s $981/month ROI calculator) TRIGGER ACTION – Every extra click kills momentum. ❌ Competing CTAs that overwhelm users ✅ One clear, primary CTA that guides them effortlessly Want to see how yours stacks up? Bill Wilson does deep-dive pricing teardowns for SaaS Academy founders, breaking down exactly where their pricing page is leaking revenue and how to fix it. But, I believe his SaaS Pricing Scorecard is a tool every founder should have. It helps pinpoint exactly where you’re losing revenue right away. 💬 What's the one thing on a pricing page that convinces you to hit that "Buy Now" button? #pricing #ux

Marketers obsess over headlines, CTAs, hero images… but ignore what happens in the middle of the page. Let me tell you what’s actually happening: When people hit your landing page, they do one of three things: • Instantly bounce (bad offer) • Instantly convert (great offer or strong intent) • Or… they start scrolling, and slowly lose interest This third group is your opportunity and your risk. Here’s what’s killing them: • Wall of text with no visual cues • Too many product features and not enough use case storytelling • Overuse of brand speak (“revolutionizing” / “transforming” / “solutions”) • No “conversion ramps” (micro CTAs, social proof, restated value) to pull them back in Here’s what to try instead: • Reintroduce the CTA midway through, not just at the end • Break long pages into digestible “chapters” with subheads • Inject movement: gifs, subtle animations, or scroll-triggered elements • Use “boomerang copy”: remind them what they’d lose if they stop reading Scrolling is not passive. It’s a mental energy cost. And if your page doesn’t earn the scroll, you lose.

I have spent hundreds of hours rewriting Ship 30's landing page. These 7 mistakes were costing us millions of dollars in lost sales: 1/ "Learn how to..." Brutal truth: nobody wants to learn. Anyone who buys an online course wants the OUTCOME. So on your landing page, don't promise them: "Here's what you're going to learn!" Instead, promise all the things they're going to: • Do • Experience • Unlock --- 2/ "Here's what you get!" Customers don't care how much work you've put into your course (features). They only care about what your course can do for them (benefits). • In your landing page headlines, state the benefits. • In your course descriptions, describe the outcomes. --- 3/ No templates The value of your course is not in how many hours it is. Or how many modules are included. The value = the specificity & effectiveness of your action steps. And action steps = templates. "I do X -> I unlock Y." Your course better come with templates. --- 4/ No bonuses This is copywriting 101 stuff. To increase the level of perceived value of your course, don't just "sell a course." Sell your course, PLUS: • Bonus modules • Bonus templates • Bonus Q&As • Etc. The more bonuses you add, the easier the purchasing decision. --- 5/ Few testimonials So many courses settle for 2-3 testimonials on their landing page. Giant mistake. You don't want 2-3 people talking about your course. You want HUNDREDS of testimonials: • Text • Video • Long-form blog post success stories --- 6/ Listing solutions w/o stating problems The customer can't care about the solution until they care about the problem. So, first thing on your landing page: • State the 10 biggest problems your target customer is facing • Emphasize the top 3 • And show you understand them --- 7/ Not giving away enough "free" material It's counterintuitive: The more you give away for free, the more likely people are to sign up and pay. Example: we took almost all our core frameworks from Ship 30 and put them into this free eBook for writers. People thought online courses were "dead" 10 years ago. The truth is: this industry is just getting started. So many smart, talented people are launching courses. But their landing pages are costing them 6 figures+ in revenue. Don't make these mistakes!!! --- Looking to start writing online? Here’s a FREE 13,000-word Ultimate Guide + email course with everything you need to: • Build a daily writing habit • Generate hundreds of ideas • Start going viral with ease Download it here: https://lnkd.in/eGyGayyD

Good sales pages don’t push. They pull buyers in Let’s be honest—most sales pages? They’re either: → Too aggressive (“BUY NOW OR ELSE!”) → Too boring (“Here’s a list of features…”) → Too confusing (What are you even selling?) A high-converting sales page isn’t about throwing a million words at the wall and hoping something sticks. It’s about strategy. 𝗛𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 Your headline is everything. If it doesn’t grab attention in five seconds, you’ve lost them. Make it clear, benefit-driven, and curiosity-inducing. 𝘉𝘢𝘥: “Introducing Our New Productivity App” 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 “Get 10 Extra Hours a Week—Without Working Harder” 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗶𝗻 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀) Nobody buys because of features. They buy because of problems they want solved and goals they want achieved. Show them you get them. → “𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦? 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦.” → “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴?” 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗜𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗹𝘆 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗬𝗘𝗦 Ever read a sales page and thought, “Sounds cool, but… meh”? That’s because it lacked: → 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 – “5,000+ happy customers” beats “We’re great.” → 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 – No mystery math. Tell them what they get. → 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗹 – Money-back guarantees make buying feel safe. 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗸 Nobody clicks a button that says “Submit” or “Learn More." Give them an action-packed, benefit-driven CTA instead. 𝘉𝘢𝘥: “Sign Up” 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳: “Start Your Free Trial—No Credit Card Needed” 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗹𝘂𝗳𝗳 & 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 If your sales page sounds like a corporate boardroom wrote it, people will leave. Write like you talk. Be clear. Be real. And remember—people don’t read. They skim. Keep paragraphs short, use bullet points, and break up walls of text. The best sales pages don’t sell—they make the buying decision obvious. --- Follow Jeff Gapinski for more content like this. ♻️ Share this to help someone else out with their sales pages today #marketing #sales #copywriting

1,700 clicks to the landing page. Only 250 downloads. What happened? A client recently shared the results of their survey-based research report with me: 📊 1,700 visitors to the landing page from social media 📥 250 downloads of the gated report This was one of their highest-performing assets across all channels—but they were disappointed in the conversion rate of their landing page. I didn’t write the landing page or social posts, just led the research behind the report, but I still wanted to understand what might have impacted conversions. So, I asked a dozen B2B marketers what they thought. Here’s what I learned: ✅ 14% conversion from social is actually ABOVE average. 🔹 Social traffic = low intent (people are browsing, not actively searching). 🔹 Anything above 10% for gated content from social is considered strong. But—there was still room for improvement. Here’s what the experts suggested: 🔹 Optimize for mobile – The form was too long & the pop-up was intrusive. 🔹 Align messaging – One LinkedIn post focused on data around one topic from the report, but the landing page emphasized other data and topics (possibly causing confusion). 🔹 Make the form shorter – Six fields? Too many. Only ask for what’s necessary. 🔹 Allow personal emails – Some people don’t have business email autofill set up on mobile. 🔹 Move the form above the fold – Less friction = more conversions. 🔹 Improve landing page content – If visitors don’t see immediate value, they’ll leave. 💡 The takeaway? Even when a campaign performs well, small tweaks can drive even better results. A huge thank you to everyone who shared their expertise: Tatiana Morand Anton Rius Zeeshan Yaseen Tanyo Gochev Anthony Blatner Linda Leung Joe M.Beth Colman Brendan Hufford and Jen Dewar. ❓ What’s the best (or worst) landing page experience you’ve had? Drop your thoughts below! #B2BMarketing #LeadGeneration #ContentStrategy #MarketingTips #DigitalMarketing

In 2 years, Olly & Wilson built a $400k SaaS biz. The crazy thing? They’ve acquired ~70% of their customers by “building in public” on Twitter. However, they recently started experimenting with lead magnets & newsletter ads... And this got me curious. So I spent 10 hours studying their lead magnet funnel. And I found 4 landing page mistakes that could be costing them hundreds of subscribers. Here's how I'd fix them: MISTAKE #1: No Outcome Promise The first rule of copywriting? Sell benefits, not features. Everyone has heard that. But, it’s the first rule most people break when they start writing copy. So, the first thing I did when I started rewriting this landing page? Changing the headline. The original headline: “Free download: teardowns of 10 creator landing pages.” My new version: “Get More Sales & Email Signups From Your Landing Pages (without hiring expensive copywriters).” People don't care about the "flight." People only care about the "vacation." So, focus on the vacation. MISTAKE #2: No Lead Magnet Name People value tangible things more than they value intangible things. Which is why you want to make your lead magnet feel as *tangible* as possible. Now, how do you do that? The first step is to *name* it something. So that's exactly what I did. I broke down the value prop of the lead magnet & came up with a name based on that (using ChatGPT). Then, I swapped out the "Free download" header & replaced it with the new lead magnet name: “The Creator Conversion Playbook.” See the difference? Giving the lead magnet a name makes it feel like a product—instead of just another "free download." MISTAKE #3: Blocky Sub-Headline The sub-headline section had one main issue: It was too "blocky" and not easy to skim at all. To fix this, I: • Simplified the copy • Turned both paragraphs into a bullet list • Bolded the most important parts of the copy That way, people can instantly "get" what's in it for them. Another subtle upgrade I made? I name-dropped 2 big creators who're featured in the lead magnet to inject social proof into the copy. MISTAKE #4: No Objection Handling Remember the new headline I wrote? Well, there's one subtle thing I did there (which I didn't talk about earlier): I added an "objection handler" at the end: "without hiring expensive copywriters." Now, why did I do that? Because when someone lands on your landing page, they instantly come up with a bunch of reasons to NOT sign up for your lead magnet. (This usually happens subconsciously, btw.) So to maximize your opt-in rates, you need to address your readers’ biggest objection somewhere in your copy. And that's it! Now it's your turn: Which of these upgrades are you going to implement on your own landing page? Let me know below 👇 P.S. Want a copy of the ChatGPT prompt I used to come up with their lead magnet name? Drop a 🤖 emoji & I'll send it over!

Watch me do a landing page breakdown for RugsUSA TLDW; Here’s what I think could level up their homepage, category page, product pages, and cart: 𝟭. 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗲𝘀 • Reduce the sensitivity on the sticky nav bar. It pops up too quickly, frustrating users. • The large hero section hides content below. Shrink the hero so users see what’s next and are tempted to keep exploring. • Instead of vague tags like “washable,” use room types (e.g., “Living Room,” “Bedroom”) to help users find what they need faster. 𝟮. 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗧𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 • Replace endless pagination with a “load more” button to limit overwhelming customers. • Pin selected filters at the top, so users don’t lose their place while scrolling (Helps with focus and saves them from backtracking) 𝟯. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 (𝗣𝗗𝗣) 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 • Show “Only 8 left in stock—ready to ship!” for items with fewer than 10 units. • Break down the timer or change its placement to make it more noticeable. • Save Klarna or other payment options for the cart. PDP is about deciding on the product. Payment plans are for checkout. 𝟰. 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 • Place free Shipping & returns message below the “Add to Cart” button. Reassures customers and nudges them toward checkout. • Highlight user reviews and allow filtering by “most recent” or “highest rated.” Small changes I would make that would lead to a higher-converting experience. See the full review here: https://lnkd.in/ebNMmghe

Ever see those Meta ads with insane CTRs but zero conversions? I see this pattern all the time when auditing accounts: ✨ 2.5%+ CTR ❌ 0.2% conversion rate 🚨 Skyrocketing CPAs Here's what's actually happening: Your ad creative is pulling people in, but the landing page experience is letting them down. Common reasons I see: 1. Message mismatch - Ad promises one thing - Landing page talks about something else - Trust breaks instantly 2. Value proposition disconnect - Ad shows an exciting solution - Landing page doesn't reinforce the same benefits - Visitors get confused and bounce 3. Visual inconsistency - Ad uses engaging creative - Landing page looks completely different - People think they clicked the wrong thing How to fix this: → Align your ad messaging with landing page copy → Test your full journey as a customer would → Keep the same tone of voice throughout → Use similar visuals and design elements → Maintain consistent pricing and offers Remember: A high CTR just means your ad is clickable. But conversion happens when your entire funnel tells the same story. Focus less on clever hooks, more on message consistency. That's how you turn those clicks into customers.