A landing page is a website that a link points to. This means that any page can be a landing page, but this article is going to cover the landing pages of adverts. These are the pages that are linked to online adverts.

An online advert may run on another website or even on a search engine. The user clicks the advert and they are taken to the landing page. Many advertisers’ will not really build customized landing pages for their adverts. Many will just link to a product page or a home page. This is the first mistake that many people make–and here are a few more.

1 – Not building a landing page around the advert

The advert or the link that sent the person to your landing page is the only thing that is going to keep them on your page. You are not going to be able to add a reason to stick around once they arrive on your page. You need to build your landing page around the advert or link that brought the viewer to your site. You need to understand that if the viewer is going to stick around then you need to pander to the motivation that brought them there in the first place.

2 – Not answering the question from the advert

The question posed in the advert or the link is the basis of the users’ curiosity. And, it is that curiosity that brought them to you. The advert/link may have an obvious question, such as if it is an offer, then the question is, “is this offer true and am I interested in it?” The question your link/advert creates may not even be that luminal. It may just be “I wonder what this is.” Whatever questions that you advert or link evokes, you must answer them within your landing page, or your viewer will bounce from the page.

3 – Creating an un-engaging lead into the page

The landing page needs to be engaging enough for the viewer to want to read it. Some webmasters will save their very best points until the very end of the landing page, in order to act as a sort of deal clincher. But, this technique does not work, as people simply do not reach the end of your landing page in order to see the clincher.

4 – Putting your affiliate adverts at the top of the page

This is just silly, as people have not decided to visit your website in order to look at your adverts, so why would you make that the first thing that they see. It is like being the host of an art gallery, but putting your old fridge for sale at the front door.

5 – Having an auto-start video

This is basically going to make every single visitor bounce from your page. People may find the idea of landing on your page and finding adverts repulsive, but they will find auto start videos appalling. Plus, people do not like auto start music as they often have their own music playing in the background.

6 – Trying to sell more than one product, service or idea

This happens when the webmaster becomes greedy and wants to exploit the traffic to the maximum. If you try to sell more than one product, or service or idea, then you are going to fail. Your traffic did not attend you site to find out all the offers you are going to force at them. Your traffic attended your site for one reason, and that is the reason you must address. Keep things simple for your viewers, and remember the story of the dog with two bones.

7 – Not paying attention to your headline

Your headline is the big selling point of your landing page. It is the first thing that your viewer is going to see and it is probably the only thing they are going to see. Your ability to retain and then convert your traffic will rest upon your title. Your title (or headline) needs to be engaging but also descriptive. You cannot toy with a person’s curiosity at this stage. You need to give them a good incentive to stay, as you have already used up any curiosity value they clicked on your link or advert.

Kate Funk is passionate about different technology topics. She coaches individuals in writing and networking skills at tutortop.com.