So you’ve got a new product or service you want to promote, and you figure a landing page is the way to go. I get it—landing pages allow you to really highlight your offering and make that all-important call-to-action crystal clear. But way too often, businesses end up creating landing pages packed with content that doesn’t actually help drive conversions.
I see you nodding—you’ve stumbled on landing pages that seem to talk about everything under the sun except what would compel you to actually buy. That’s the issue irrelevant content creates. It basically sabotages your landing page goal of driving motivated visitors to take action.
Instead of zeroing in on selling your wares, irrelevant content bores people with too many tangents about your company history, over-complicated explanations of product features, or a blog-like exploration of loosely related topics. I know, you just want visitors to have lots of background before they buy, but unfortunately that often backfires.
So in this article, we’ll break down the common landing page content mistakes that turn laser-focused landing pages into muddled messes. We’ll also talk about how to create compelling, conversion-driving content tailored exactly for your target customers. Sounds good? Keep reading to learn more about the perils of irrelevant content and how we can work together to fix them.
You’re right to call out the effects of irrelevant content—that stuff can really undermine your landing page’s potential. I’ve seen it time and again, where companies are scratching their heads wondering why their beautifully designed, expensive landing page isn’t pulling its weight when it comes to conversions.
Previously, we talked about the common mistakes we make in designing landing page forms – today we discuss on irrelevant content on landing pages. Often, the problem lies in the actual written content. I know, after investing in top-notch designers and developers to create a visually stunning page, the last thing you want to hear is that the weak content is actually what’s failing you. But it’s true! That irrelevant, off-target copy is what’s leaving visitors confused, overwhelmed, and utterly disinterested.
Without a concise, engaging copy that speaks directly to your potential customer’s pressing needs and interests, you essentially have an empty shell—no matter how aesthetically pleasing it might be. Visitors land on pages like this and struggle to connect the dots about what your company even does for them. Or they’re presented with so much secondary information that they miss the main call-to-action altogether.
I don’t say this to point fingers—even veterans create landing pages with content that rambles or focuses too intently on unimportant details. It happens to large corporations and small businesses alike. The takeaway is that improper content significantly reduces conversions. When visitors fail to take action, you miss out on sales, leads and other important metrics.
So let’s talk about some of the specific ways irrelevant content hurts landing page performance, and how to course correct. Read on for more!
Creating content for yourself rather than your customers is a trap too many businesses fall into. Believe me, I get the temptation. Of course you find your own company, products and services totally fascinating—you founded or work for the organization after all! It makes sense to want to share all those intimate behind-the-scenes details, your rags-to-riches founding story, the inspiration that led you to launch that innovative new product line…I could go on and on.
Your potential customers don’t really care about all that. As interested as you are in giving them your full backstory, what they really want to know is what’s in it for them. They visit your landing page with their own hopes, dreams and problems in mind, not yours. They’ve arrived looking for solutions, not to read a treatise on how your startup journey unfolded.
I always encourage clients to flip perspectives whenever crafting landing page content. Forget your own enthusiasm for a moment and get firmly into your target customer’s headspace. Ask yourself: what would compel me to purchase this offering? What questions and concerns might I have that I’d want addressed upfront? Why should I continue reading instead of clicking away right now?
Approaching content creation from the ideal buyer’s frame of reference is key. It’s less about telling your company’s whole narrative and more about succinctly explaining how you can help customers succeed. More on shifting that mindset coming up!
When potential customers arrive at your landing page, you have just seconds to grab their attention and get across the value of your offering. That’s why clearly articulating your page’s core value proposition is so critical. Visitors need to instantly understand what problem you solve for them or how you make their lives markedly better.
Unfortunately, many businesses completely bury or outright omit this kind of benefit-driven messaging. Instead, you get vague corporate mission statements about “revolutionizing the industry” or technical feature lists only an engineer could love. That generic, self-centered language completely misses the mark in terms of spelling out the “what’s in it for me” value upfront.
Think about it this way—would a homepage headline like “We utilize innovative techniques to leverage cutting-edge technology and facilitate consumer actualization” convince you to stick around?
Probably not—it’s practically meaningless without specifics on how said technology enhancement actually helps you. Your eyes would likely glaze over as you navigated away in search of something clearer.
I always advise clients to lead with the core human need or burning problem their offering addresses. For example, kick things off by emphasizing how you help harried young parents quickly get fussy babies to sleep through the night. Or how you empower busy professionals to regain several hours of free time each week. When it’s crystal clear who specifically benefits and how early on, you stand a much better chance of capturing interest. We’ll get more concrete soon—onward!
It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing too much on what your company does versus how you help customers. But resist the urge to make your landing page all about generic capabilities, offerings and achievements. As impressive as you might be listing out awards won or capabilities mastered, that content generally does little to connect with visitors and drive conversions.
I see this issue come up often in B2B scenarios. Companies understandably want to showcase their scale, infrastructure, expertise, thought leadership and other elements that showcase them as credible partners. But then the page becomes more about chest-thumping—”look how great we are!“—instead of spelling out tangible customer perks.
Think carefully about what truly matters to prospective clients and leads—
Do they really care if you have 800 employees worldwide or that you present at major industry conferences?
Unless numbers like that directly translate to better service and results for them, probably not. I advise keeping braggy elements minimal and pulling out only company achievements that a customer might actually find impressive and confidence-building.
Additionally, long blocks of copy dedicated toward explaining company history, milestone moments, leadership bios and other internal matters distract from the core value prop. By all means, link to separate pages featuring that content to satisfy visitors who want to dig deeper. But don’t let it overwhelm the critical messaging and actions you want visitors focused on when they arrive.
Misidentifying who your target customer actually is remains one of the most common—and damaging—landing page content mistakes I encounter. Without properly understanding your ideal buyer personas on a granular level, you have little hope of resonating with them or compelling action.
This issue manifests in landing pages that speak to “anyone and everyone” interested in a product category rather than zeroing in on specific user needs. For example, an apparel company might generically extol the virtues of convenient online clothes shopping instead of calling out busy moms of toddlers scrambling to keep clothes in the current size. Or a CRM software provider may talk broadly about transforming sales workflows as opposed to addressing the specialized pain points of real estate agencies or healthcare groups.
When content stays too high-level and generic, it flies right over the heads of potential customers who don’t see their precise wants and needs reflected. They quickly bounce away in search of messaging that feels more personalized. After all, today’s consumers have high expectations of relevance thanks to widespread data collection and personalization across sites and apps.
Missing the mark tonally can also stem from not knowing exactly who comprises your audiences. For example, seasoned business leaders require a very different approach than entry-level users or budget-minded shoppers. Geographic and role variations matter too for global businesses targeting multiple areas and buyer types.
Using overly complex language likely stems from companies talking to themselves versus connecting with customers. But that jargon-laden copy only serves to confuse and alienate visitors. If readers need a business degree to decipher what you do or how you help them, your content has already failed.
Now I know it can be tempting to show off your sophisticated industry expertise with niche terminology. But resist the urge! Landing page copy should use simple, universally understandable language that clearly conveys concepts to the everyday person.
For example, explain how your supply chain optimization solutions help manufacturers save money and quickly adapt to market demands. Don’t just throw around inaccessible phrases like “leverage leading-edge heuristic algorithms to facilitate frictionless transformative acceleration.” Huh??? See how that sounds like gobbledygook to anyone outside your field?
It also helps to avoid overusing fancy-sounding but empty buzzwords that add more fluff than clarity. For instance, skip the constant references to “revolutionary AI-driven ecosystems” and such. Break down how you actually apply technology in realistic ways to solve problems for real humans.
Reading level assessment tools can help you gauge if your content skews too academically advanced. But simply reading a copy aloud as if explaining your offering to a friend works wonders too. If you find yourself getting tongue-tied, that’s your cue to simplify the messaging.
It’s easy to get carried away with visual elements when designing landing pages. After all, you want them to look polished, professional, and visually engaging. However, going overboard can inadvertently hide or distract from your core messaging and calls-to-action. Too many competing imagery, animations, videos, and text containers wind up overwhelming visitors rather than convincing them.
For example, I often see pages crammed with stock photos of random laughing people, conceptual illustrations that don’t actually relate to the products, and attention-grabbing but pointless visual gimmicks like parallax scrolling. Certainly, smart visual content choices can enhance pages when used judiciously. Illustrative charts demonstrating ROI potential, well-produced explainer videos, and clean infographics conveying statistics in easily digestible ways can bolster claims.
But too many flashy elements become distractions that actively work against page goals. When visitors constantly puzzle over puzzling images or navigate around intrusive animations, they fail to focus on what truly matters – understanding the value proposition and taking action. Additionally, overdesigned pages with hard-to-find calls-to-action buried under layers of “delightful” visuals completely defeat conversion objectives.
Carefully evaluate every visual asset before inclusion –
If graphics don’t distinctly showcase something important or convey an idea more effectively than words, leave them out! Streamlining pages to spotlight the most resonant imagery, explanatory videos, or convincing charts makes a real impact.
Keeping your landing page content updated is critical for maintaining relevance and trustworthiness. Nothing makes your business seem outdated—or worse, incompetent—faster than featuring expired promotions, obsolete product specs, or discontinued services. Prospective customers question why they’d buy from an organization that can’t even keep basic website details current.
I see this problem especially with smaller companies lacking strict oversight procedures to consistently refresh site content. For example, maybe founding members split and contact info grows outdated. Promotional pricing ends but lingers for months misleading visitors. New product lines launch while older generation models not clearly tagged as discontinued lead to confusion.
Limited resources make constant content audits tough, sure. But outdated details slowly erode perceived reliability and authority over time.
Visitors wonder “If basic info is so outdated, what else is incorrectly maintained here?” And with trust destroyed, they head off to more credibility-inspiring competitors.
Truthfully, even major corporations aren’t immune, especially regarding enormous sites. Broken links, leadership team pages featuring long-departed executives, event calendars still touting conferences from years ago…you get the drift. While minor oversights, those little inaccuracies similarly chip away at overall legitimacy when discovered.
Let’s talk about some straightforward organizational and workflow tips to help you keep landing pages mistake-free and fully up to date.
The most effective landing page copy directly ties your offering to concrete customer benefits. After all, visitors arrive looking to solve problems or achieve goals—not to be impressed by technical capabilities or wowed by innovative processes for their own sake. So why do so many businesses gloss over or outright neglect clear explanations of the “what’s in it for me” value?
Quite simply, they get excited sharing what makes their product or service uniquely awesome in their own eyes. And sure, proprietary algorithms, patented designs, groundbreaking production techniques or other elements powering the offering absolutely matter internally. But talking at length about the “how” before locking down the “why” in terms of relatable bonuses holds less appeal for visitors.
Savvy marketers flip the script to highlight meaningful perks first. For example, touting an advanced mattress using space-inspired technology means little on its own. Breaking down how said innovations create the most comfortable and supportive sleep ever helps connect the dots better regarding desirable outcomes for shoppers.
This principle holds true whether you operate in B2C or B2B realms. For the latter, get specific regarding productivity increases, faster operations, reduced risks, saved money…anything tied to positive business impact. Big, round numbers really shine here backed by reputable sources or customer testimonials wherever feasible.
Trying to sell too many different things muddies landing page messaging badly. I always coach clients to limit showcased offerings to the few most relevant, targeted options. This avoids choice overload paralyzing visitors while also strengthening persuasion regarding your best products or services.
For example, an email marketing platform landing page shouldn’t tout the merits of associated live chat tools, third-party app integrations, e-commerce bundles and other ancillary solutions all at once. Sure, sharing the full suite of capabilities showcases comprehensiveness for certain audiences.
But for most visitors, seeing a huge grid of pricing plans across multiple tools proves overwhelming. When confronted with such a wide array of options, they struggle to properly assess what fits their needs. Analysis paralysis often forces them to abandon pages altogether rather than sorting through everything logically.
We help clients analyze site traffic data, customer conversion paths and other insights to determine the one or two offerings most likely to compel action from a strategic landing page audience. We design the page’s entire user flow to progress visitors toward those core solutions.
For supplementary capabilities, we retain links to internal category and product pages for folks wanting to self-navigate and learn more. But keeping the spotlight solely on the star players, if you will, right on the landing page streamlines decision journeys dramatically.
Creating laser-focused landing page content that truly resonates with visitors and inspires action takes work. You need a strategic, customer-centric process supported by the right tools and insights. But the payoff makes it so worthwhile when you ultimately see increased conversions and revenue.
With clear personas and pathways informing content creation, develop messaging and assets tailored to visitor priorities. Write to align with voice, tone and lexical choices they respond to. Pop in relatable imagery and video reflective of their world. Finetune via a/b testing of page variations.
Quite simply, creating content “for us” instead of “for them” tanks landing page results every time. But the tips above help install customers at the creative helm to turn that around fast.
When crafting any piece of content, it’s smart to anticipate what questions your audience might have and directly address them upfront. Landing pages are no exception – weaving in succinct answers to frequent inquiries builds trust and reassures visitors you understand their needs.
Start by analyzing past customer conversations across support channels to spot recurring themes. If certain product compatibility issues get raised a lot pre-purchase, tackle them. Find clients keep asking about payment options or return policies? Cover those bases proactively.
Any perception of risk or lingering doubt gets diffused when you relay details like: “Yes, our coaching services prove so effective that we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.” Or “No need to worry – our apps integrate seamlessly with the top 5 CRM platforms including the one you use.”
I also love leveraging user-generated FAQs from reviews when possible. Pull out and respond to questions posed by past buyers evaluating your goods. It builds credibility when visitors see real customer commentary along with answers right on your page versus just marketing speak.
While calls-to-action urge visitors to buy now, savvy FAQs remove obstacles preemptively. And specific concerns often vary across landing pages and audiences, so customize accordingly! When you readily calm fears before they arise, you propel visitors further through the conversion funnel.
When wrapping up any piece of content, it’s key to drive core concepts home so they stick with your audience. An impactful conclusion for this article needs to recap the pivotal takeaways around creating conversion-focused landing pages. Let’s remind readers:
Ultimately, welcoming customers’ perspectives as the driving force behind your copy proves the surest path to landing page content success. Now off you go to start creating!
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