“Click here!” said Link 1.

“No, click me,” said Link 2.

“No, look over here! Click me!” said Link 3.

“Click me first. Now!” said Link 4.

“Over here. Look! Just one click!” said Link 5.

“Me, me, me!” said Link 6.

Laugh you may, but having more than a few simple choices on your landing page is like having twenty people vying for your attention and talking to you at once. It’s a distraction, frustrating, and not productive. And the more distractions you have on your landing pages, the less likely people will be to convert.

When people click on an ad, they are in split second mode. They want to get to your offer in the fastest, easiest, most linear path possible. Random navigation takes your visitors off their desired path.

For the most part, the number of links that are on a landing page is inversely correlated to your conversion rate: the more links you have, the lower your conversion rate.

Take a look at this landing page below. It has over 20 different links, even though the main call-to-action of the landing page is to download the virtual reality white paper. (Unfortunately, the form is below the fold, so I was unable to take a screenshot on my laptop).

The demo video and virtualization offers on the right are better suited for the thank you page, and the random navigation at the top is unnecessary — same goes for the resources on the left.

If you offer a white paper, give them the white paper and nothing else. We all have short attention spans. Make it easy for your visitors to find what they are looking for. You can give them choices, but make them simple choices to make about who they are and what they’re looking for, like in the conversion path below.

Post-click marketing is at the top of your online marketing funnel. It’s like the beginning of a new romance. Your visitor doesn’t have to know everything about you after only one click — just enough to get them intrigued. And then, once they convert, you can give them all the links your heart desires.

Remember, random navigation is the enemy of conversion.