Four signs it’s time for a landing page audit

Think of your landing page like a car. Just like you go to a mechanic for regular vehicle tune-ups and maintenance, you need to regularly audit your landing pages for optimal performance. Even the most effective landing pages can become outdated or ineffective over time.

Recognizing the signs that your landing page might need an audit is important for maintaining performance and ensuring you’re getting the most out of your marketing efforts. The digital landscape is always evolving, which means your landing pages should be too.

Here are four key signs to watch out for that indicate it’s time for a landing page audit.

Your landing page has high bounce rates

High bounce rates are a major red flag that it’s time for a landing page audit. Bounce rate is the percentage of website visitors who load a page but don’t click on anything while there. In general, high bounce rates indicate that your landing page isn’t engaging to visitors.

Landing Page Audit Tip: To get a clear picture of your landing page’s performance, implement a website analytics tool like Google Analytics to monitor how users are interacting with your page. This tool provides valuable data on user behavior, including bounce rates.

For example, if you notice your page gets a lot of traffic but also has a high bounce rate, it suggests that visitors are interested in your ads but quickly lose interest once they reach your landing page. So, the problem isn’t the ad creative – it’s something on the page.

There could be several reasons bounce rates are high: slow load times, unclear messaging, a weak call-to-action (CTA), or another issue yet to be discovered. While analytics won’t show you the answers, they indicate that a tune-up is needed.

Your landing page has low conversion rates

A landing page’s ultimate purpose is to convert visitors into leads or customers. If your conversion rates are low or stagnating, it’s probably time for an audit. There are dozens of reasons why this can be happening – long forms, poor CTA placement, or a disconnect in content and purpose of the page. How do you figure out where the disconnect is?

Landing Page Audit Tip: Use heatmaps to test visitor behavior. A website heatmap is a color-coded visual representation of user interaction data. Values are depicted by a range of colors from the most popular (red) to the least popular (blue) elements of a web page. Heatmaps show user interactions, including clicks, scrolls, and mouse movements.

For example, scroll maps show how far down on a page your users have scrolled to. If you discover most of your audience doesn’t scroll below the fold, put CTAs higher on the page so they aren’t missed. By analyzing user behavior through heatmaps, you can identify areas of high engagement and areas where users may be encountering friction. Look at this data to identify areas for improvement and create a more user-friendly experience.

For more tips on designing high converting landing pages, read our article here.

Your landing page is missing trust signals

The customer journey is different for everyone, but one thing remains consistent throughout – to get customers to convert, you have to earn their trust. If your landing page doesn’t look credible or is lacking visual signals to reassure visitors that you’re legit, you may be scaring them away.

Trust signals include anything from symbols, icons, testimonials, security certificates, messages, and design elements. These are used on landing pages to build credibility and reassure customers that you are the real deal.

Landing Page Audit Tip: Look at your landing page from the perspective of a visitor. Does it reflect your brand voice and style? This includes everything from fonts, colors, imagery, and messaging. If your branding on your page doesn’t mesh with your overall website or other marketing materials, this makes it harder for users to connect the page to your brand.

To further enhance trust, incorporate these subtle yet impactful trust signals throughout your website.

Social Proof: Showcase positive customer reviews and testimonials from platforms like Google My Business.
Certifications and Badges: Feature relevant industry certifications and security badges, such as those indicating secure payment processing.
Highlight Partnerships: Showcase partnerships with reputable organizations or brands. One of the most recognizable badges is the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Remember that moderation is key. Overloading your website with trust badges can appear overwhelming and have the opposite effect to what you’re looking for.

Your landing page is slow or not mobile friendly

Two common landing page conversion killers are poor mobile design and slow load times. In the era of short attention spans, a fast-loading landing page can be the difference between a sale and a bounce. 78% of landing pages have a load time or 5 seconds or less with website conversion rates reduce by 4.42% with each second of load time. A landing page that isn’t optimized for mobile also means you’re likely losing out on conversions from a large portion of your audience.

Landing Page Audit Tip: Test your landing page for load times and mobile design. To ensure your page is mobile friendly, open it on multiple mobile devices and browsers to ensure it’s easy to navigate, loads quickly, and offers a smooth experience. If anything is off, adjust the layout and design elements.

To test your site speed, use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to see how Google is ranking your landing page performance. The program analyzes load time, responsiveness, and visual stability and assigns your landing page a score. A higher score (90+) usually means your page is optimized for speed and efficiency, while a >50 score is considered poor. Improving site speed usually involves some technical knowledge, so be prepared to make changes to the back end of your webpage.

Is it time for a landing page audit?

Don’t let poor landing page performance hinder your marketing success. If you notice any of the signs mentioned above, it’s time to take a deep dive into your page’s performance and user experience. Regular landing page audits and optimization are key to maximizing conversions, improving user satisfaction, and ultimately driving business growth.