Many marketers admit they could be doing a better job optimizing their landing pages.

Only 27 percent of marketers surveyed by Ascend2 said they were very successful at landing page optimization, while 54 percent said they were somewhat successful.

About 45 percent said that their biggest obstacle is a lack of internal resources, although 41 percent said limited conversion-worthy content is the top issue, 40 percent cited a lack of an effective strategy, and over a quarter (26 percent) named inadequate testing skills. Only 14 percent outsource the job to a specialist, while 23 percent primarily on in-house resources. Most (63 percent) use a combination of outsourced and in-house resources to create optimized landing pages.

An Art and a Science

“Landing page optimization is a combination of art and science – creative and methodical,” stated the report’s authors. “Many companies are challenged by limited internal resources capable of providing this skill set.”

Increasing conversion rates is the most important objective, cited by 93 percent of survey participants. Improving lead quality (58 percent) and segmentation (30 percent) were also priorities.

A/B testing is a favorite technique for improving landing page optimization. Chart courtesy of Ascend2

Conversion rate was by far the favorite metric, named one of the useful metric by 75 percent of marketers. Next were cost of conversion, cited by 40 percent; and revenue per conversion named by 33 percent.

“In real estate, they say it’s all about location, location, location! In landing page optimization, it’s all about conversion, conversion, conversion!” the report stated.

A/B testing was ranked as the most effective way to boost conversions by over half, and was ranked by just 18 percent as the most difficult tactic.

How to Build a Landing Page that Converts

A study by QuickSprout confirms that landing pages in general have room for improvement. QuickSprout cites common blunders as well as their solutions:

Multiple offers. About 48 percent of landing pages contain multiple offers. That confuses customers and reduces conversion rates. Landing pages with multiple offers obtain 226 percent fewer leads than ones with a single offer. A single offer is ideal.

Too much text. The consumer might not understand the offer and leave the page. Marketers have about five seconds to capture attention of a webpage reader. The solution is to use bullet points, bold crucial words, and highlight key points.

A boring or no headline. Only 77 percent of marketers who test their pages test their headlines. The best headlines are specific and reflect the content of the page. They’re concise but long enough to convey the message.

Slow load times. Research shows that 40 percent of consumers abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load, and shoppers who are dissatisfied with the website performance are less likely to purchase from it. To reduce load times, eliminate superfluous text and graphics.

Lack of testing. Testing landing pages against each other improves conversion rates, especially for large companies with many pages. Marian University increased conversion rates by 264 percent by testing different landing pages against each other. Best practices call for testing marketing ideas, page layouts and working, and changing anything that’s not increasing the conversion rate.

Little credibility. Generic reviews, round numbers, and overstated product results fail to build credibility. Consumers trust reviews when they can see both good and bad scores, and tend to trust precise numbers more that round numbers because they imply greater accuracy.

Bottom Line: Although landing pages are among the most popular marketing tools, many marketers remain dissatisfied with their landing page optimization efforts. Building a landing page that converts well is not easy. It requires a combination of creativity and methodical skills, an understanding of best practices, and relentless testing.

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William Comcowich

William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.