15 Conversion-Killer Landing Page Mistakes (And How to Fix Them)

Mistakes can be made but not when designing landing pages. Landing pages play a vital role in the conversion process. They serve as the gateway to a website, connecting your online business with your target audience and converting visitors into leads or customers.

Get your landing page wrong and you will experience:

We have some good news, though. As CRO experts who have helped with creating thousands of high-converting landing pages for our clients, we’ve seen marketers make grievous landing page design mistakes that cost them valuable opportunities. In this blog post, we’ll explore 15 of them and teach you how to fix them before they hinder your online success.

But before that:

A bad landing page confuses or frustrates visitors instead of guiding them to take action. It often suffers from cluttered design, slow load times, unclear messaging, or an overload of information.

A bad landing page has poor navigation, lack of a clear call-to-action, and irrelevant content which can drive users away.

Furthermore, the page doesn't match the visitor's expectations or fails to build trust, leading to high bounce rates and lost opportunities.

Here’s a good example of a bad landing page:

If you visited this page, you’re probably trying to find a credit card that suits your needs, which they have listed as you scroll down. However, at the far right as shown in the arrow above, there is a “Lean more” button directing users to their newest offers.

The page seems to have more than one goal—to provide a list of different credit cards and also introduce new offers. This can be overwhelming to users.

A bad landing page can have many issues, including:

That said, let’s explore the conversion-killing landing mistakes and how to avoid them.

Here are the landing page mistakes that your website visitors won’t forgive you if you’re making them on your website.

1. Not Personalizing Based on Audience

Modern consumers want brands to personalize their online shopping experiences. In fact, 72% of brands say they will buy from brands that provide them with personalized experiences.

See it for yourself:

Source

As such, using a one-size-fits-all approach can make your landing page feel generic and irrelevant, leading to lower engagement and conversions. Visitors are more likely to respond positively when your content resonates with their specific needs, preferences, or behaviors.

Here is how to avoid this landing page mistake:

Personalization creates a more engaging and relevant experience for your visitors, increasing the likelihood of conversions and building stronger relationships with your audience.

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2. Using only One Type of Landing Page

Relying on just one type of landing page is one of the common landing page mistakes that most marketers make but this limits your marketing success. Many businesses believe that a single landing page can address all their goals—whether it's lead generation, sales, or engagement.

This “one-size-fits-all” approach overlooks the diverse needs of visitors and the varied objectives of marketing campaigns.

For example, a generic landing page might not effectively persuade visitors to sign up for a newsletter, purchase a product, or download a resource. Each objective requires a tailored approach. Using only one type of page can dilute your message, confuse users, and lower conversion rates.

Here's how to fix this landing page mistake:

To avoid this mistake, you need to recognize that different types of landing pages serve different purposes. Here are a few examples of landing pages as well as their respective purposes:

Ideally, you can use as many types of landing pages as you can on your website provided they all have a specific purpose. According to HubSpot, businesses with 31 to 40 landing pages got 7 times more leads than those with only 1 to 5 landing pages.

3. Using Generic Images on the Landing Page

After working hard to drive traffic to your landing page, you wouldn’t want to see visitors bouncing back or not taking any action. But with generic images, you’re going to experience disappointments.

Relying on generic stock images can undermine your landing page's effectiveness. These visuals often fail to connect emotionally with visitors or convey your unique value, resulting in missed conversion opportunities. Additionally, poorly chosen images—whether too small, irrelevant, or overly distracting—can dilute your message and reduce audience engagement.

Here is how to avoid this mistake

Enhance your landing page by using authentic, purpose-driven visuals that resonate with your audience. Here’s how:

Wistia features a video showcasing how their video marketing platform works on their landing page as shown in the image below:

Remember, images should complement your message—not compete with it. For better results, use real visuals. Marketing Experiments conducted an A/B test on a client website with a real image vs another with a stock photo The web page with the real photo had a nearly 35% higher conversion rate than the page with the stock photo.

4. Cluttered Design and Layout

This is one of the killer landing page design mistakes that can hurt user experience and kill website conversions.

A cluttered landing page design and layout overwhelms visitors, making it difficult for them to focus on your message or take the desired action. Including excessive text, competing visuals, or poorly organized elements can create confusion and frustration, leading potential customers to abandon your page.

Here are tips to fix landing page design mistakes:

A landing page with a clean, well-structured design enhances readability and user experience so visitors can quickly understand your value proposition and navigate your page effortlessly.

Remember, a clean and simple landing page design not only improves usability but also builds trust and encourages conversions.

5. Including too Many CTAs Without a Clear Goal

Overloading your landing page with multiple calls-to-action (CTAs) can confuse visitors and dilute your primary objective. When faced with too many choices, users may feel overwhelmed or uncertain, which often results in higher bounce rates and reduced conversion.

Use these tips to fix this mistake:

Every landing page should guide users toward a single, well-defined goal. A single, clear CTA simplifies the user journey, reduces friction, and boosts conversion rates.

Onto the next item in our list of landing page mistakes to avoid…

6. Vague USP and Misleading Headlines

Your landing page must immediately convey its Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and maintain credibility through clear, honest headlines. A vague USP can fail to differentiate your offering, leaving visitors unsure why they should engage.

Misleading headlines, on the other hand, may grab attention initially but erode trust when the content doesn’t match expectations. This can lead to higher bounce rates. You don’t want this to happen.

Here is how to avoid this landing page mistake

A clear USP and truthful, impactful headlines can build trust, grab attention, and increase the likelihood of conversion.

7. Not Having a Thank You Page

A simple thank you message can establish a strong relationship with your visitor.

After a visitor takes action on your landing page—whether it’s signing up, making a purchase, or downloading a resource—it’s crucial to acknowledge their effort with a "Thank You" page.

Like this:

Failing to include this page can leave users feeling unappreciated or uncertain about what happens next, which may lead to a loss of engagement or trust.

Here is how to thank your visitors:

8. Ignoring User Experience (UX)

A poor user experience is one of the landing page design mistakes that can significantly hinder your landing page's success. Factors like slow page load times, difficult navigation, and non-responsive designs can frustrate visitors and drive them away before engaging with your content. Whether they are on desktop or mobile, provide a smooth, intuitive experience.

Here is how to fix this mistake:

Compress images, minimize scripts, and leverage browser caching to speed up page loading times.

9. Not Including Social Proof

If you were driving by the road looking for a hotel to eat in and you see two hotels, one with people eating while another one with empty seats, which hotel would you eat from? You know the answer.
That’s how social proof works.

It is a powerful tool for building trust and credibility on your landing page. It helps people see how others have benefited by using your product or service, encouraging them to take the next step confidently. Without it, visitors may hesitate to take action, unsure if your product or service is reliable.

10. Including too Many External Links

Including too many external links on your landing page can distract visitors and lead them away from your primary goal. When users are constantly pulled in different directions, they may lose focus on your core message or call-to-action (CTA). This reduces conversion rates.

Here is how to avoid this mistake:

Reducing the number of external links on your landing pages helps to keep your visitors engaged and focused on completing the desired action.

11. Boring Landing Page Copy

There is a reason why salespeople are required to be charismatic, fun, empathetic, and human. Would you buy something from a store with a boring salesperson?

Landing page copy that lacks energy or fails to engage can quickly cause visitors to lose interest.

If your messaging is dry, unclear, or uninspiring, it won’t capture attention or encourage users to take the next step. The tone, clarity, and relevance of your copy are crucial in driving conversions.

How to fix this mistake?

Like the way ePIPE for water repairs landing page:

Engaging, well-crafted copy not only captures attention but also drives visitors to take action, ultimately boosting your conversion rates.

12. Too Many Distracting Animations

It’s a known fact: Animations can enhance user engagement. However, using too many of them can quickly overwhelm visitors, distracting them from your main message or call-to-action (CTA).

For instance, excessive movement can cause confusion, reduce focus, and even slow down page load times, negatively affecting user experience and conversion rates.

Here is how to avoid this mistake on your landing pages:

Ideally, you should use animations purposefully and keep them minimal to enhance the user experience without detracting from your page’s conversion goals.

13. Not A/B Testing Regularly

How do you enhance the performance of your landing pages without testing to see what’s working and what’s not?

Neglecting A/B testing on your landing pages means you're missing out on opportunities to optimize and improve performance.

Without testing different variations of elements like headlines, CTAs, or images, you can’t know for sure what resonates best with your audience. This can result in missed conversions and an underperforming page.

A/B testing allows you to continually optimize your landing page for higher conversions by making data-driven decisions, ensuring you're always improving the user experience.

14. Asking too Much Information from Top-of-funnel Customers

Requesting extensive personal details or excessive form fields from top-of-funnel customers can drive them away. These prospects are typically in the awareness or interest phase and aren’t ready to make a significant commitment. Overwhelming them with too many questions creates friction and reduces your chances of capturing their information.

15. Not Matching Ad Campaigns with Landing Pages

A mismatch between your ad copy and landing page copy can confuse visitors and erode trust, ultimately leading to higher bounce rates and wasted ad spending. When the messaging, design, or promise in your ad doesn’t align with the landing page, visitors may feel misled and fail to convert.

How to fix this landing page mistake

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