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3 Fast Fixes for Underperforming Landing Pages (With Examples!) · Values-First Marketing

• 1:02
  Megan Loehr: Tell me, if this has happened to you too, you pour hours into crafting your landing page, finding just the right words, adding in those beautiful visuals, because especially after a year like 2024 you wanted to do it all yourself, and that is not a bad thing, But you make your landing page go live, then here you are refreshing your analytics dashboard and well, the conversion numbers aren't quite what you had hoped for. If your landing page isn't converting, you're not alone. It is frustrating, but here's the good news, sometimes small tweaks can make a massive difference. You don't necessarily need to start from scratch or hire an entire marketing team to fix the problem. Instead, I'm going to share three fast fixes that can turn your underperforming landing page into a high converting asset so much more easily. These are the things that you want to try first before you hire out the problem, to make sure it's even necessary to justify that investment. Also in this episode, I've included quick action steps for each of these three fixes that I'm going to tell you about. That way you'll know exactly what to tweak to maximize conversions without having to overhaul all of your copy. Trust me, these small things can make a huge difference. I see it all the time in my done for you work with multi, six and seven figure clients, as well as with my copy critique club members. So let's dive right in. First fix is to clarify your offer, because the hard truth is, confusion kills conversions. If your audience does not understand what you are offering, how it benefits them, or why they need it, they will not buy period when someone lands on your page, you have seconds, even maybe more. It's more like a millisecond to grab their attention, and that attention span is dwindling, your headline and main copy must make them feel like they are in the right place, if it is vague, overly clever or full of jargon that makes them bounce fast. So here is what you can do instead, and oftentimes, I know it like it makes sense to you, because it is your offer. So this is a great place to have an objective third party perspective. It can come in the form of a copywriter, but even just have someone else take a look at it and see if it is clear, because just because it is clear to you doesn't mean it is clear to someone else who is reading it for the first time. Okay, so three specific tips here to clarify your offer. One is to rewrite your headline. Always try this first. Your headline is the first thing that people see, so make it clear and benefit driven. Aim to be direct. Just tell people, right? So, for example, instead of saying, revolutionize your business. Try this, get three times more leads without spending $1 on ads. That is much more specific. It tells you what. It gives them a benefit of what they're looking for, more leads. It's specific, and there's a number there three times more leads. And it tells them, it addresses an objection, they don't have to spend $1 on ads. So even just changing the headline there makes it so much more powerful, so much more clear what they are getting. We also want to think, how does it benefit the reader? So we're not just talking about the features of your offer, which are nice and need to come later, but right up front, we want to focus on the benefits that your audience will experience. So instead of saying it includes, you know, 10 PDF downloads or whatever it is, you can say you'll gain 10 step by step guys to save you hours of work, right? So the benefit in there is the time savings. And that's just another pro tip in general, in general is that people want to save time and save money and save energy. Those are the top three things that everybody wants, regardless of niche, regardless of industry. So if you can speak to those three things, then that is a good thing for your copy. And we also want to talk about getting specific here. So use numbers results or tangible outcomes wherever possible. So like we said, 10 step by step guides, we said, three times more leads.
• 5:30
  Megan Loehr: Put a number in there where it makes sense. Another example could be increase your sales by 25% in 30 days. That is far more compelling than like, boost your sales quickly. That just sounds like a chat. GPT, you know, vomited that out. So quick action. Step here and pause this podcast right now if you need to, if you're by your computer or jot this down as a voice note into your phone if you're out and about, but do this test your headline with the five second rule. Can someone understand what your offer is and why they need it within five seconds of landing on your page? If not, you need to tweak it until they can, because this is important, right? Like, if this doesn't catch them, they're not going to scroll down and read the rest of your page. And no matter how great their copy is down there, right? They're never going to see it. The what we call above the fold, or what they see before they have to start scrolling, is so important to make them feel known, to make them feel like this is right where they're meant to be. That is not information that they should have to go digging for.
• 6:35
  Megan Loehr: You need to serve it to them on a silver platter. Okay? Fix number two, let's jump into this one. Add social proof. Your audience wants to know one thing before they buy. Can I trust you? That is it? Social proof, like testimonials, case studies and reviews, this is your secret weapon for building that trust.
• 6:59
  Megan Loehr: If someone sees glowing testimonials from others who have had success with your offer, they are far more likely to believe it will work for them. On the flip side, if your landing page is missing social proof, it's easy for potential buyers, buyers to feel skeptical or unsure. They want to know that this works for people just like them, and that gives them confidence that'll work for them too. So here's what that could look like. One is testimonials.
• 7:23
  Megan Loehr: And specifically, we want these to be specific, measurable results. And this SOP, it into your workflow, your offboarding workflow. We don't want to just say, like this course was great, you know, that's wonderful, but we want to aim some for something more specific, like, after taking this course, I doubled my revenue in 60 days, you know, or whatever the specific result was. Get numbers, get quantitative. I mean, what? Get qualitative as well. We want both. We want anecdotal stories, because that is powerful too. But statistically speaking, numbers hold a lot of power when you are writing these in your copy.
• 8:10
  Megan Loehr: Okay? Other things you can do case studies or success stories, so share detailed examples of how your offer has helped others walk them through this transformation. Where did the client start? What challenges did they face? What results did they achieve? All of these things help your reader, your audience, start to see themselves in the success story, making them feel like, Oh, more likely that. Yes, this is going to work for me too. You have to overcome so much doubt, so much skepticism, and these are some of the most powerful ways to do it, the best, highest converting landing pages that I have seen in my six plus years of doing this, all like the powerful social proof tends to make the biggest difference. Tweak the headline first to clarify the offer then, I mean, these are going in order then make sure the social proof is there.
• 9:06
  Megan Loehr: Another great way to add social proof is to create a brag bar.
• 9:10
  Megan Loehr: So maybe that's logos of a company that you've worked with in that little strip, like horizontally across the page, so that they can see kind of who else you've worked with, and if they're in the same kind of vein or industry, then that might be a good fit for you. Or you could also do a featured in strip with logos of podcast stages and media that you've received. Both are great. And then if you can get permission to use photos of your clients share their words on the page or even video testimonials, those are super powerful as well. All of these elements make your social proof feel even more credible. So your action step here, having social proof is good, so go gather all of your social proof. But where you place it also matters. So if you are doing testimonials, I like to put those near the call to action button. If you are doing a brag bar, I like to have that typically higher up on the page, maybe in the hero section, or just kind of write like first thing as you scroll down kind of higher up on the page, because that is like an instant credibility booster, right there.
• 10:29
  Megan Loehr: Okay, so then fix number three is optimize for scanability. Oh, my goodness. I have done a couple of guest expert copy reviews in a couple of paid masterminds recently, and this is the thing that always comes up. It always comes up in copy critique club two is that, like, you can have really great copy written, but no one is going to read it word for word. If it just looks like this big block chunk or like wall of text, no one is going to read it deeply enough to absorb your message.
• 11:03
  Megan Loehr: Because, think about it, the majority of people are browsing on their mobile phone. They're scrolling through no one is reading your landing page, word for word, right? This is not like an they're not reading it like academically. So you need to make your page skimmable so that your audience can very quickly grasp the key points, even if they're in a hurry, even if they're distracted, even if they're looking at it while, like in the pickup line at school, you know. So here are a few key ways you can do that.
• 11:33
  Megan Loehr: One is to use shorter paragraphs. Keep it to two to three sentences. Maximum white space is a good thing. It makes your copy, copy easier on the eyes, and encourages them to read down the page. You can use icons, bullets or images to highlight key benefits and features. For example, if you have like a quick checklist of what's included that can be far more engaging than a dense paragraph, and even in those bullet points, I would maybe highlight bold or underline that first benefit right away in like the first half of the sentence, and then make normal text the second half of the sentence that is more feature based, because you want the bold to pop at them. You want it to catch their eye. You want the best pieces of copy to stand out to them to make sure that they read it, catch their eye, encourage them to keep reading on another way, great way to do this, of course, is the headings and subheadings.
• 12:29
  Megan Loehr: A common mistake I see is that you say this, you That's your head headline. Okay, I know that is like, templated and so many templates that are being sold out there and like, yes, you do need to address that. But I would not necessarily make that your headline. Your headline should be, should tell a benefit, should tell a piece of the story that you're trying to tell on this page without having to them to read the actual like text underneath. So ideally, go through your page and read just the headlines. Does that give you the gist of what you are trying to communicate on this page? That is a great test of if your headlines are good or not.
• 13:19
  Megan Loehr: And then with strong headlines that with like that and with the proper formatting, then that is going to encourage them to read some of the smaller text beneath the heading. So think of these headings and subheadings as signposts that lead them through your message. You really want to tell them something with that headline, not just use it as a transition, and then we kind of talked about this one, but like formatting to emphasize key points, so use that bold or italics, italics to in the text to draw attention to the most important phrases or benefits. I mean, you obviously don't want to overdo it, because too much emphasis. Can feel chaotic, but take a step back, look at the page just visually and see like, does this make me want to read it? Check on mobile too. I cannot stress that enough. I know we tend to edit these things on our computer, but once you have your first draft down, view it on your phone, because that is the way most people are going to be viewing it, make sure it makes sense on mobile.
• 14:22
  Megan Loehr: So your action step here is to take even just 10 minutes, scan through your landing page and identify areas where text feels dense or overwhelming, and just break it up. Add headings. Make your key benefits stand out.
• 14:39
  Megan Loehr: Throw a little underline on the stuff that we're like, Oh, I really want people to know this bold it italicize those is such a small thing that can make such a big difference. Okay, so why do these fixes work? They work because they tackle the most common reasons why landing pages under perform. So first is lack of clarity. If they're confused, if they don't understand your offer, they're not going to buy.
• 15:05
  Megan Loehr: So fix number one that we talked about makes your offer crystal clear. That often comes in rewriting your headlines, focusing on the benefits and including specifics in there Another common reason why landing pages underperform is because skepticism is high, especially in this day and age right now, where we stand early, 2025 skepticism is at still at an all time high and without social proof. Visitors might not trust you if they don't know who you are well enough yet. So fix number two, builds trust by showing proof that your offer delivers results. And then lastly, the last I want to say, most common reason why pages underperform is the overwhelm a cluttered, hard to read, non mobile optimized page drives visitors away, even if the copy is great, if the formatting is not there, they're not going to read it. So we want to make the landing page easy to navigate and digest, make it super clear.
• 16:08
  Megan Loehr: Okay, so this is not just improving your landing page, but it's also creating a better experience for your audience, which ultimately and inevitably leads to more conversions. And remember that for the sales page specifically, it's not just a page that is the final step in your funnel, the place where all of your hard work and marketing and content creation pays off, literally. But even the best ads, emails, webinars, however they get there, cannot save a poorly optimized landing page.
• 16:39
  Megan Loehr: So investing even just 15 to 30 minutes by focusing on these fast fixes can absolutely transform your landing pages to get the conversion rates that you deserve. So try it, test the results and build from there if the results improve, but it's still not what you're looking for, or if you're just like, I'm not sure how the heck to do this. I want you know more guidance, then I have a few resources for you. So if you love these fixes, think that this makes sense. Curious, how else you can optimize quickly and easily. I have two free resources for you. One is a blog post. It's actually one of my earlier podcasts on how to maximize conversions with these four effective copywriting strategies. And then I also have a blog post on the 10 essential elements of landing pages for coaches with examples. And that goes a lot deeper into walking you step by step, all the elements of a landing page that you need. It's use it as a checklist to make sure that your landing page is gonna work for you before you send traffic there, or before you increase your amount of traffic. Okay, so those two resources absolutely free, linked free in the show notes. And let's conclude here.
• 18:01
  Megan Loehr: So your landing page has the potential to be an absolute powerhouse for your business. By clarifying your offer, adding social proof and optimizing for scanability, you can create a page that resonates with your audience and drives real results. And if you're stuck or feeling overwhelmed, don't go it alone. Join my copy critique Club, where we'll dive into your landing page and everything else to identify the tweaks that will make the biggest impact and ensure your copy is ready to convert. Let's make your words and your messaging work for you, because your offer deserves nothing less. So if you are ready to take your landing page to the next level, you can also start with my free DIY messaging audit so you know exactly what tweaks to make to maximize those conversions without having to overhaul all of your copy grab those in the show notes, and I'll see you next week. You.