Why Your Landing Page Isn't Converting

You are driving traffic to your landing page. Your ads are getting clicks. Your SEO is pulling in visitors. But when you look at your conversion numbers, the results are painfully underwhelming. Sound familiar? You are not alone. The average landing page converts at just 2.35%, and most businesses are leaving significant money on the table because of fixable mistakes.

After auditing hundreds of landing pages for our clients at MarketingThreat, we have identified the six most common conversion killers. The good news is that each one has a clear, proven fix. Let us walk through them.

1. Slow Load Times Are Driving Visitors Away

The Problem

Every second of load time matters. Research consistently shows that a one-second delay in page load time reduces conversions by 7%. If your landing page takes four or five seconds to load, you have already lost a significant portion of your visitors before they even see your offer. Mobile users are especially impatient — 53% of mobile visitors abandon a page that takes longer than three seconds to load.

The Fix

Compress all images to WebP format and serve them at the exact dimensions they are displayed. Enable browser caching and GZIP compression on your server. Minimize JavaScript and CSS files, and defer loading of non-critical scripts. Use a content delivery network to serve assets from servers geographically close to your visitors. Test your page speed with Google PageSpeed Insights and aim for a score above 90 on both mobile and desktop.

2. Your Headline Is Not Doing Its Job

The Problem

Your headline is the first thing visitors see, and you have roughly five seconds to convince them to stay. Weak, vague, or generic headlines like “Welcome to Our Website” or “We Offer Quality Services” fail to communicate value and give visitors no reason to keep reading. If your headline does not immediately tell the visitor what is in it for them, they will bounce.

The Fix

Write headlines that are specific, benefit-driven, and aligned with the traffic source. If someone clicks an ad about Google Ads management, your landing page headline should reinforce that exact promise. Use the formula: “Get [specific result] without [common pain point].” For example, “Get More Qualified Leads Without Wasting Budget on Bad Clicks” is far more compelling than “Professional PPC Management Services.” Test multiple headline variations and measure which ones keep visitors engaged.

3. No Clear Call to Action

The Problem

If visitors have to think about what to do next, you have already lost them. Pages with multiple competing calls to action, buried submit buttons, or vague link text like “Learn More” create decision fatigue. When people are confused about what action to take, they take the easiest action available — they leave.

The Fix

Every landing page should have one primary call to action. Make it visually dominant with a contrasting color that stands out from the rest of the page. Use action-oriented button text that tells the visitor exactly what happens when they click: “Get My Free Proposal,” “Start My Free Trial,” or “Download the Guide.” Place the CTA above the fold, repeat it after major content sections, and ensure it is visible without scrolling on mobile devices.

4. Too Many Form Fields Are Killing Completions

The Problem

Every additional field in your form creates friction. Studies show that reducing form fields from four to three increases conversions by nearly 50%. Yet we routinely see landing pages asking for company size, job title, budget range, and detailed project descriptions before a visitor has even committed to a conversation. You are asking people to invest effort before they have received any value, and most will not bother.

The Fix

Ask for only the information you genuinely need at this stage of the relationship. For a lead generation page, name, email, and phone number are typically sufficient. You can always gather additional details during the follow-up conversation. If you need more information for qualification purposes, use a multi-step form that reveals fields progressively. The first step should ask for minimal commitment, and each subsequent step should feel like a natural continuation rather than a burden.

5. Missing Trust Signals Undermine Credibility

The Problem

Visitors arriving at your landing page often have no prior relationship with your brand. They are evaluating whether you are legitimate, capable, and trustworthy within seconds. Landing pages that lack social proof, testimonials, certifications, or any evidence of credibility force visitors to take a leap of faith that most are unwilling to take.

The Fix

Add trust elements throughout your landing page, not just at the bottom. Include client logos, testimonials with real names and companies, case study statistics, industry certifications, and partner badges near your call to action. Display review ratings from Google, Clutch, or other relevant platforms. If you offer a guarantee, make it prominent. Security badges matter for pages that collect sensitive information. The goal is to reduce perceived risk at every stage of the visitor's journey down the page.

6. Poor Mobile Experience Loses Half Your Traffic

The Problem

Over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices, yet many landing pages are still designed desktop-first with mobile as an afterthought. Tiny text, horizontal scrolling, buttons too small to tap, and forms that are painful to fill out on a phone screen all contribute to mobile conversion rates that are a fraction of desktop. If you are running paid ads, a significant portion of your clicks are coming from mobile — and a poor mobile experience means you are paying for visitors who have almost no chance of converting.

The Fix

Design your landing page mobile-first. Ensure all buttons are at least 48 pixels tall with adequate spacing between tappable elements. Use single-column layouts on mobile with large, readable text. Make phone numbers click-to-call. Simplify navigation and remove any elements that do not directly support the conversion goal. Test your landing page on actual mobile devices, not just browser simulators, and watch real user sessions through tools like Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity to identify friction points you might miss.

Small Changes, Big Results

The most encouraging thing about conversion rate optimization is that small, targeted changes often produce dramatic improvements. We have seen clients double their conversion rates by fixing just two or three of the issues described above. You do not need a complete redesign — you need a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating friction.

At MarketingThreat, landing page optimization is a core part of every campaign we manage. We do not just drive traffic — we make sure that traffic converts into real leads and revenue. If your landing pages are underperforming, our team can audit your pages and implement the changes that will move the needle. Get in touch for a free marketing review.