Recent data from over 57 million landing page conversions confirms that complex copy is hurting conversion rates 62% more than in 2020

• When it comes to landing page copy, difficult words are most likely to negatively impact conversion rates

• Landing pages written at a 5th to 7th-grade reading level convert nearly twice as much those written at a professional reading level

• Despite mobile driving nearly 5x more traffic than desktop, mobile visitors convert at a much lower rate

• Email campaigns found to typically drive higher conversion rates than paid search and paid social

Unbounce, the global leader in landing page creation and optimization software, released its 2024 Conversion Benchmark Report, an in-depth analysis of the very latest conversion trends. Analyzing proprietary Unbounce data from over 57 million conversions across multiple industries, the report provides critical insights for digital marketers and agencies that need simple but impactful ways to optimize landing page conversion rates and maximize ROI from paid media and email campaigns.

One of the most striking findings from the 2024 report is how complex landing page copy is driving down conversion rates. Culprits include difficult words, excessive reading time, word count, and reading level. Difficult words are most strongly linked to lower conversion rates, and it’s been getting worse. This year, the correlation between difficult words and declining conversions rates is 62% stronger than 2020. Research from The Science Survey reinforces that attention spans are declining, reporting that they have decreased from roughly 2.5 minutes in 2004 to just 47 seconds in 2024.

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Most industries also see big spikes in conversion rates when copy is written at a lower reading level. Copy written at a 5th to 7th-grade level converts best across most industries at 11.1%—a 56% better conversion rate than pages written at an 8th and 9th grade level (7.1%) and twice that of professional-level writing (5.3%). According to Flesch scores, writing for 5th to 6th-grade levels means your copy should be easier to read than Harry Potter.

Other key findings in the 2024 report include:

1. Mobile drives nearly 5x more visitors, but desktop converts 8% better

• • The data emphasizes how many conversions marketers could be losing by not optimizing landing pages for mobile devices.
  • There is an even greater divide for these industries:

      i.  Health and wellness, which converts 22% better on desktop but sees 7x more traffic from mobile devices.
      ii. Professional services, which converts 40% better on desktop but sees over 4x more traffic from mobile devices.

2. Email marketing is anything but dead

• • Traffic from email campaigns outperformed other channels in nearly all industries covered by the report, with the highest median conversion rate seen in ecommerce at a remarkable 28.6%.

3. Instagram emerges as a THE channel for financial services

• • Instagram has shown the highest conversion rates among social channels for financial services, with a median conversion rate of 15.5%.

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“The data in our 2024 report reveals remarkable insights including the importance of readability and shocking lack of investment in mobile-first landing pages relative to traffic volume, highlighting the importance of optimizing from all angles,” said Steve Oriola, CEO of Unbounce. “As consumer behavior continues to shift, these insights provide marketers with the data they need to take a strategic but simple approach to conversion rate optimization. This report offers a roadmap to help digital marketers strategize, budget, and execute small changes that will undoubtedly have a big impact on their company’s bottom line.”

The 2024 Conversion Benchmark Report offers a comprehensive look at conversion data across five key industries: Financial services, health and wellness, professional services, SaaS, and ecommerce. By analyzing the performance of different channels and the impact of factors like reading level and device type, the report seeks to go beyond simply presenting data and deliver actionable insights that marketers can leverage to get the most out of their marketing.