Here’s the mistake: asking for too much, too soon.
Most landing pages pile on friction. A form with seven fields. Multiple competing buttons. Links to your blog, your about page, your socials. Every extra choice bleeds conversions — because every choice is a chance to hesitate, and a hesitating visitor is a gone visitor.
A landing page has one job: get the visitor to take one action. That’s it. Not “learn about the company.” Not “explore the site.” One action.
The fix is subtraction. Open your page and start cutting.
- Cut the navigation menu. It’s a row of exit doors at the top of your page. Keep zero doors except the one you’re pointing at.
- Cut every link that isn’t your call to action.
- Cut form fields to the minimum — usually just name and email. Every field you remove lifts conversions measurably. You can always ask for more once they’re a lead instead of a stranger.
Picture a seven-field “request a quote” form — name, email, phone, company, budget, timeline, message. Trim it to name and email with “we’ll follow up for the details,” and the same traffic produces noticeably more leads. Same offer, less friction.
Then make the value trade obvious. Nobody hands over an email for a “newsletter.” They’ll trade it for a clear payoff — a checklist, a template, a free audit. “Get our newsletter” loses. “Get the 12-point checklist we use to audit landing pages” wins.
And match the message. If your ad promised “free local SEO audit,” the headline had better say free local SEO audit — not “Welcome to our website.” When the promise and the page match, conversions climb. When they don’t, people bounce before they read a word.
Open your landing page right now and count the possible actions a visitor can take. If the answer is more than one, you found your leak. Fix it this afternoon.