12 landing page fixes that lift conversions fast – the Three Piece Marketing checklist

Your landing pages are usually the initial (and only) time you’ll be able to turn a visitor into a customer.  

The easiest way to spot a bad landing page is directly proportional to how much it forces someone to think in a short amount of time. In 5 seconds, can they tell the what the offer is? How this affects them? Why should they care? If they can’t do any of these, users tend to guess. And that is not going to support the goals you have for the page. 

Landing pages that convert well (irrespective of whether they are for B2B or B2C businesses) all share some key elements that have been demonstrated through research, user experience studies or through data to increase conversions on a landing page.  

Below we cover the top 12 methods that you can use to improve your landing page to significantly raise the number of conversions and/or the value of each customer.

 

 1. Clarify Your Value Proposition (Above the Fold) 

The moment a person lands on your landing page, your visitor has one job really: to almost instantly recognise what you are selling and how it is relevant to him/her.  

And for them to succeed, you similarly have one job; to compel them that their time on your site is worth their investment, and ultimately a share of their wallet.  

So how do you do this? Well first and foremost, your headline and hero section become your primary best advertising real estate. Using these areas well is of paramount importance.  

Clearly state the value proposition of your product/service in basic terms; highlight a key pain-point or desire and do this within view (above the fold) as explained in our Above the Fold – Tips for Design” article. The visitor should never have to scroll past the top of your page to determine who you are and what you can do for them. 

 

A subtle but important detail: make sure your above-the-fold content is prioritised in your HTML/CSS so it loads first — it’s one of those “small fixes” (like speed and mobile performance) that can make a big difference to whether someone stays or bounces. 

 
Not only is clarity nice, it is a core component in helping convert and generate leads. A clear and bold headline helps establish trust with a visitor from the beginning. Remember you have around 10 seconds or less to stop a visitor from hitting the back button. Use those seconds wisely.

David Ogilvy, who’s often called the father of advertising, has said: 

“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have wasted 90 percent of your money. The headlines which work best are those which promise the reader a benefit.” 

 

2. Speak to your Visitor 

Conversion landing pages have an honest, conversational tone. Users can’t stand “marketese”, which is overly promotional and hyped copy that doesn’t say much.

Write to a human being; focus on what they need and use language. What are they trying to resolve? How does your product/service help make their lives easier? Provide clear, concise answers to those questions. Emphasise the value of your product/service (“save 5 hours a week”) versus its feature (“our software utilises AI”). 

Use simple language, too. Make sure your copy is appropriate for the reader’s age and familiarity with your brand. A 22-year-old scrolling through their phone and a 62-year-old comparing products using a laptop will likely interpret copy in different ways, so be sure that the voice and vocabulary of your copy is both appropriate to the target audience and familiar to them, rather than too trendy or slangy unless you can make it work. 

The Nielsen Norman Group has documented that writing web content in a concise manner, that’s easy to scan, and written objectively, improved usability by 124%.

Takeaway: Remove the fluff. Treat your readers with respect for their intellect and time, by conveying your message in a way that sounds like you’re speaking directly to them. That will be more genuine sounding — and way more believable. 

 

3. Hook your visitors with a story  

 

4. Align with Your Audience’s Intent  

 

Before creating your landing page, take some time to think about who your visitors are and what they’re expecting. They probably clicked on an advertisement that resonated (EG “Get 20 percent off running shoes”) so now your landing page needs to mention that exact promotion and display pictures of those running shoes. A consistent message builds credibility.  

Inconsistent messages (“Click here to try it free!” Ad -> Landing Page says “Schedule a Demo”) will cause confusion and crush your conversion rate. Your headline, image, and call to action need to match exactly what drove the visitor to your website, whether it was an advertisement, email, social media post, or search query. 

While matching the intent of your visitor is important, segmentation of landing pages by different audiences can also be very effective. For example, if you are using a Pay-Per-Click Campaign that targets small businesses then create a landing page that talks to “small business owners.” 

If you’re trying to sell to enterprise-level companies, then create a landing page that addresses “enterprise solutions.” Another tactic is to use dynamic content such as showing returning customers a completely different experience than first-time customers. 

While personalisation shouldn’t be a complicated process, what’s vital is that you maintain relevancy at all times. When people think to themselves “This is for me,” they’ll be much more likely to stay, convert and even recommend you. According to “Think With Google”, top marketers utilise personalisation to greatly increase their marketing results.

Therefore, use everything you’ve learned about your visitors (the ad they clicked, the email they were sent, which segment or persona they belong to) to personalise the content based upon what they provided. It’s a way to show your appreciation for their time and quietly drive up your conversions. 

 

5. Cut the Clutter and Format for Scanners 

The majority of people are scanning your website.  If your landing page appears as a solid block of text or is seen as an information maze, you’ll lose users. To combat this, use simple design and concise language in your design and copy. 

A great way to utilise “breathing room” for your readers’ eyes is using white space (don’t confuse empty space with breathing room). Breaking up blocks of text into shorter paragraphs (1-3 sentences per paragraph) and using descriptive subheading to give each section of the article a clear heading will allow users to simply scan your article and know what the major point is of the section. 

Bullet points and numbered lists will help you convey the benefits or features of your product quickly (see how this list of fixes was easily skimmable?). Make sure you keep each section of your landing page to one topic to prevent overwhelming or confusing the user. 

Make your text easy to understand. Readable fonts (no 8-point grey font, please), high contrast to the background colour, and no technical jargon. Each sentence should have a reason to exist. If a word or phrase does not provide any value, eliminate it. 

The Nielsen Norman Group found that when they re-wrote web content to be concise and scannable, their site’s usability increased dramatically . Users were able to find the information they needed and understand it better, which is the first step to converting them.

Do a “squint test” on your landing page. Squint your eyes to check if the overall layout and headlines clearly convey the main ideas of the article. If not, revise. 

 6. Speed It Up… Time is Money 

No one wants to wait for a website to load. By 2026, this is not negotiable. Your landing page needs to be fast. Why? Users are very impatient. Research from “Think With Google” states that even a one second delay in loading time on mobile phones can drop conversion rates as much as 20%. 

Additionally, when it comes to mobile, more than half of visitors will leave a site if the site does not load within 3 seconds. Conversely, small improvements in speed can result in big increases in revenue. 

For example, a Deloitte study reported that an improvement of only 0.1 second in mobile phone load time resulted in an average increase of 8% in retail conversion rates, according to their report, “Milliseconds Make Millions”. Thus, speed is not only a technical measurement; it is also money. 

So, what can you do? To begin, minimise the weight of your page. Compress and resize your images (there’s no reason for a giant 5 megabyte image to be on a landing page). 

Remove scripts or widgets that are slowing down your site. Use modern image formats (WebP and AVIF) and implement browser caching. If there are videos on your site, either host them on a high-speed server (A content Delivery Network) or create them as click-to-play. 

Also, consider your hosting and infrastructure – a low-cost, slow server can ruin all of your other optimisation efforts. You can use tools such as Google’s Page Speed Insights and WebDev’s Performance Audits to locate specific areas of your site that require attention and provide you with a list of recommendations for optimising your site, including compressing files, delaying the loading of off-screen images, etc.  

An additional suggestion is to order your above-the-fold content in your HTML/CSS so that it loads first and gives the visitor something useful to view before the remainder of the content loads in the background. 

Finally, always test your landing page using a mobile phone and a mobile network (4G) – this will likely be your slowest and most difficult to navigate connection and the place where you’ll want to excel. 

Overall, a fast landing page provides both a better user experience and an improved search engine ranking (Traditional and AI search favors sites that are easy to use and load quickly) and it will also improve your chances of converting visitors into customers. Optimising your site for speed is well worth the effort. 

 

7. Mobile-First (Responsive & Finger-Friendly) 

You undoubtedly have a lot of traffic coming from mobile phones by now. If your landing pages aren’t mobile-optimised you’re missing out on many potential conversions. 

Mobile-friendliness goes far beyond layout, though – it’s all about the total experience on a small screen with a touch interface. Ensure your pages are built using Responsive Web Design so they adjust their layout to fit whatever type of device they are being viewed on.

Do a quick test on your own phone: Is the text easily readable without having to pinch/zoom in? Can you tap on buttons with a thumb? (A good rule of thumb: All interactive elements need to be at least ~44px wide/tall – Nobody likes trying to tap on a tiny checkbox like they’re doing surgery). Are key pieces of information easy to find when scrolling vertically? 

Also, mobile users behave slightly different than desktop users. They generally scroll more and tap more loosely. Give links/buttons plenty of space between each other. Pop-ups on mobile can be very difficult to close (in fact, Google will actually penalise sites that use too many pop-ups on mobile in search results). 

Also, keep in mind the page load time on mobile networks, as we discussed earlier in the Speed Fix section. Again, Performance is a part of mobile-friendliness. Research compiled by the Baymard Institute has shown that mobile users are 5x more likely to leave a website if the site is not optimized for mobile . That’s a big number. Don’t give them a reason to leave. 

One last item: Be sure to test your forms on mobile devices (If you have a form on your landing page). A form that is simple on desktop may be a nightmare on a mobile phone if not designed well. 

Remember, Google now uses Mobile-First Indexing which means Google primarily looks at the mobile version of your site when determining your Search Rankings. A poorly designed mobile page could hurt your visibility and user engagement. 

So, design for the smallest screen first, then build upon that. If it works superbly on a phone, it’ll probably work just as well on a desktop; but do not assume the opposite is true. The goal is to create a seamless and enjoyable experience regardless of what size screen your visitor is using, whether it be a 27″ Monitor or an iPhone. 

 

8. Use High-Quality Visuals  

Visuals play a large part of establishing how people perceive the page in general. The average user will look at a landing page’s images much sooner than they will review the text on the page. Therefore, the image(s) on the page will communicate some form of information about your product/service, hopefully the right one.  

For instance, a professional and relevant hero image can clearly communicate what type of product/service you are offering and how high-quality it is. Inversely, a cheesy stock photo, or a poorly produced/low-resolution graphic will likely send the wrong signal and immediately reduce the level of trust between you and the visitor. 

Choose images that reflect your message. If you’re selling a tangible item, display it being used or highlighting the item’s best features. If you’re selling a software-based solution, you may want to display an illustrated graphic showing the software addressing the visitor’s problem. Additionally, images can also create an emotional response from the visitor and allow them to envision the benefits of your offer. 

Do not overcomplicate things. Be careful of  

• Adding too many flash or pop-up items that divert the viewer’s focus away from the CTA.  

• Adding auto-play videos or carousels that viewers cannot control.  

• Maintaining basic design principles. Utilise images that are consistent with your brand identity (colours, tone), to further develop recognition of your brand. 

To summarise, use images to demonstrate, not just tell – an image of a satisfied customer or a graph of results will be more persuasive than a paragraph of text. Ensure you use high-resolution images that are on-brand and directly tie into your messaging. When combined with good copywriting, well-designed images will assist in creating that positive impression immediately (the polish of your design is typically associated with the quality of your product in a visitor’s perception).  

 

9. Build Trust with Social Proof and Transparency 

 

Trust online is all about giving visitors confidence in your company, and your products  or else they will leave without taking your desired actions. Therefore, your landing page needs to give answers to the visitor’s question, “What makes me believe you?”  

A very effective way to build trust is through Social Proof demonstrating to visitors that other real people, or businesses, have purchased your products and achieved results. There are numerous ways to display Social Proof.  

Testimonials 

A classic way is through testimonials, short quotes from happy customers, ideally with a picture of the customer and/or specific details of the services you provided (“XYZ Co. helped us increase lead quality by 50% in 3 months”).  

Case Studies 

Success Stories/Case Studies (mini or full) are very effective for B2B and High-Cost Offerings.  

Logo Carousel  

Using logos of well-known clients/partners as Trust Badges (“You’re in good company, our software is used by teams at Spotify, Nike, and Intel”) is also effective. 

Industry Awards 

Industry awards/certifications (prizes, security seals, compliance badges) also build credibility when relevant. 

Instead of making a bold statement like “We are the Best,” demonstrate the value you bring through statistics and/or a quote. 

The importance of Trust Signals 

People trust what other people say about you far more than what you say about yourself.  If you have excellent reviews, feature a few of them; if your product has a 5-Star Rating on a platform, let visitors know; and if you have been featured in notable media outlets (“As seen in TechCrunch”), those may be helpful too. 

 

Transparency 

Pricing + Next Steps 

Be clear about pricing when you need to be (and if you do). 

Be clear on what happens next once the user completes the call to action. 

 

 Reassure Your Audience (Remove Anxiety Immediately) 

When it comes to capturing an email address / getting someone to sign-up, add phrases like: 

• “No Credit Card Required” 

• “Cancel Anytime” 

When it comes to downloading, let people know what they can expect: 

• “Instant PDF download – no waiting around” 

 

Make The Business Seem Legitimate 

You should be able to easily find contact information and company information (even if that means just finding it at the bottom of the page with the footer). 

Having an address and being transparent with your support options creates subconscious trust. 

 

Add Copy To Ease Concerns Of FUDS 

If there are common fears (i.e. privacy, contract lock-in), create copy or add trust badges to help alleviate these concerns (such as): 

“Your data will be safe – we’re GDPR compliant and use 256-bit SSL encryption.” 

“We have a 14-day money back guarantee so you can try us out risk free!” 

 

A Clean Page Is A Professional Page 

Typos, bad layouts, and outdated information create distrust in a very short time frame. 

A clean, error-free page shows professionalism. 

A fast loading page also indicates reliability. 

All of these little clues contribute to: “Yeah, this seems legit.” 

 

Side Note: Reputation Management 

While a good landing page can’t completely combat a poor reputation (because you can’t control how other people feel about your business), having great products/services and providing great customer service helps keep positive word-of-mouth strong. 

 

10. Have One Clear Call-To-Action (and Limit Exits) 

Ever scrolled onto a landing page and had to choose between two, three or even four things to do? It’s confusing, it doesn’t work, and it shouldn’t happen. The very best landing pages contain one clear call to action (CTA), and it’s clearly visible. It could say “Sign up now,” “Download free ebook,” “Set up a demo,” or “Purchase Product X.”  

Decide what one goal is, then build your entire page around it. Place your CTA button front and center and again at natural stops as visitors scroll down the page. The background color of the CTA button should contrast enough with the rest of the design to stand out (not the time to use a soft pastel link that gets lost).  

The button copy should be action-based and concise (“Free report” is better than “Submit”). Talk about benefits or outcomes when possible (“Join 500+ marketers – try free”) or (“Reserve my seat”). Also, don’t be shy about making the button fairly large; it should be the most obvious next step, not some obscure Easter egg. 

 

What you should steer clear of  

• Do not give visitors multiple “equal” options.
  Do not have CTAs like “Buy Now”, “Learn More,” and “contact sales” at equal weight. This confuses people and creates friction. Most people will default to the safe option (usually “Learn More”) which may not be your conversion goal. 

 

• Include secondary options but de-emphasize them visually.
  You can include links for visitors who are not ready (example: a “Learn More” link or a link back to the main site if absolutely necessary) but they should never compete with the primary cta. The layout, copy, and design should guide attention toward the main action. 

 

• Remove distractions like full navigation and extra links. 

A good rule of thumb is to remove your primary site navigation and limit additional links on landing pages; every additional link provides an additional opportunity for visitors to exit. Most visitors have arrived at a landing page after clicking an advertisement/campaign and are looking to complete a single task – stay focused. 

 

• Maintain “scent” from ad → landing page → action. 

“Scent” is a common term used by many conversion experts, it is the process of creating a continuous cue from the ad through the landing page to the desired action. The less you can distract the visitor from this continuous cue, the better. When feasible: 

• Remove the Top Menu 

• Remove Unnecessary Content 

• Minimize Extraneous Links (e.g., Home Link, Privacy Policy Link) 

 

• Every CTA should represent a single action.
  A single CTA does not equate to a single call-to-action button. You can place the same CTA in each section as users scroll through the content, especially when dealing with long-form content. This is actually encouraged; the critical factor here is that the CTA represents the same type of action. 

• Each component must provide assistance in supporting the main action.
  Each component of the page should either support the primary conversion goal directly or indirectly via: 

• raising awareness 

• raising interest 

• establishing trust (as with the suggested fixes above) 

 

• The clarity in each component must be able to help determine the user’s next course of action. 
  When there is a clear primary goal for a page, both design and copy decisions are made easier. The process will help remove all non-essential elements and provide a clear focus on what will produce results. There should be no question about what the user’s next action should be — the primary “big shiny door” should be clearly visible to the user. 

 

11. Eliminate Friction (Simplify Forms and Steps) 

Friction is anything that slows the user down or prevents them from completing their goal in the final step. Friction has been shown to kill conversions by causing users to give up at the end of the process. When using a landing page with a form or a checkout process, the fields asked, the number of steps and how complex the process is – are all potential sources of friction. Ask, “do we really need this?” If the answer is no, eliminate it. The phrase in Conversion Optimisation is “each additional form field costs conversions.” This is based on real-world usability research. The Nielsen Norman Group conducted a study that showed that users who used forms that followed best practice (short and simple) completed submissions successfully about two times as much as users who did not use forms that followed best practice. In one case, they reduced an overlong form from six fields down to two, and the completion rate increased significantly. The bottom line is this: ask for less, and you will get more. 

If you are using a signup form, eliminate any unnecessary fields. Typically, all you need is an email address, possibly a name and password if creating an account is the ultimate goal. If you are gateing a content download, you may only need an email address. If you have a longer form (for example, to capture detailed information for a lead generation) break the form into sections or group the fields to keep the form from appearing to be an overwhelming blank slate. Be sure to explain why you are collecting sensitive information (“phone number (so we can send your demo reminder via SMS)”) to help reassure users. Do not create unnecessary friction such as having a “reset form” button (a common UX mistake – fortunately not as common today – that would often result in the loss of all entered information). Do not require users to complete email verification before they receive the initial benefit. Collect the rest of the information or verify later after the user becomes engaged. 

If your landing page is attempting to sell a product, streamline the checkout process. Permit guest checkout if possible – requiring users to create an account can cause a significant drop-off (Baymard Institute’s research has repeatedly shown that users dropping off due to forced sign-up is one of the leading reasons for cart abandonment). Utilise auto-fill and/or address lookup tools to reduce the amount of time users spend entering data.  

Clearly label which fields are optional vs required fields (the fewer required fields, the better). Each second spent entering data could be the second users decide against continuing with the purchase. 

Another type of friction: presenting users with choices that they may not be prepared to make. For instance, if you include a price selection on your landing page (“choose between free vs premium”), that may increase the user’s cognitive load. Sometimes it is better to provide users with a single, clear call-to-action (“start a free trial”) and then allow users to choose a plan later in the flow or start all users on a default plan that can be easily modified. The idea behind this is to minimize the number of decision points and obstacles on the page itself. 

Lastly, perform a self-test (better still, record a new user or colleague doing it). Are there any confusing or frustrating parts of the process? Does the button take too long to respond? Was the confirmation unclear? Eliminate the imperfections. A great converting experience feels effortless. It is similar to sliding down a frictionless funnel from interest to conversion. This is what you want to accomplish. 

As the saying goes, “don’t make me think.” Users should only encounter a limited number of barriers after they have said “yes,” I am interested.” Reduce the number of obstacles along the way and you will see a corresponding improvement in your conversion metrics. 

 

12. Test, Learn, and Iterate (Continuous Improvement) 

Your landing page is merely the starting point; it’s after launch that the true process of optimization and improvement begins. The most successful marketers view their landing pages as evolving and growing — always monitoring and refining to increase conversion rates. There doesn’t necessarily need to be perfection in all aspects of the landing page on day one, but rather to create a feedback loop.  

To begin this process, start with collecting data. Set up analytics to track how visitors interact with your landing page. Track metrics such as the bounce rate, the scroll depth, and where visitors click. Tools that allow you to test different elements of your landing page through A/B testing will provide you with an opportunity to compare variations of certain elements — i.e., two headlines, a green versus an orange CTA button, or two different images, and determine which version generates the highest number of conversions. Test large elements (i.e., offer, layout) and smaller elements (i.e., button text, testimonial placement) alike. It may be a small change that increases conversions, while at other times it may require making drastic changes to the design. However, you’ll never know which is the case without experimenting. 

Heatmaps are particularly useful for tracking engagement with landing pages — providing insight into how users’ eyes move across a given page. They essentially serve as an “MRI” for your marketing efforts, allowing you to visualize where users focus their attention. This is why we called heatmaps “the MRI of the Marketing World,” as they help to identify areas of your page that may be underperforming. Analysing a heatmap may reveal issues related to usability, such as an image appearing clickable, when it is not (you may want to add a link or a call-to-action within that area), or that the majority of users are only viewing the first portion of the page (this means that the information contained within the lower sections of the page may be going unseen; consider condensing or rearranging the content of the page). 

Session recordings (anonymously watching replays of user sessions) may also illustrate specific points of friction for users. For instance, you may notice that a user has repeatedly clicked on a disabled button or become frustrated and abandoned the form early in the process. 

You can also gather quality feedback (as a follow up) from your users and/or customers based upon their experience with your landing page. From these quality-based assessments you will likely gather ideas that are in the form of: “I couldn’t find the price information,” “I didn’t know what to do after I got to the landing page” and other similar types of feedback that provide you with specific areas where the landing page needs improvement. 

When establishing a continuous improvement cycle, attempt to implement one change at a time (when feasible) and measure the impact. If you’ve changed everything at once and experienced either a rise or decline in conversion rates, it becomes difficult to pinpoint the reason behind the shift. Controlling A/B or multivariate tests will provide you with clearer answers. Over time, these incremental improvements can compound themselves; i.e., a 5% lift in conversion rate in one test and a 10% lift in another test, resulting in your landing page potentially doubling its original conversion rate. 

It is essential to keep in mind that user behavior can change over time. What works in 2024 or 2025 may no longer be effective in 2026 due to changing trends, user expectations, or shifts in your target audience. Seasonal factors and external events can also have impacts. As a result, maintaining a mindset of continuous testing allows you to remain flexible and adapt to these changes. Treat your landing page as a dynamic asset that you continually refine based upon the insights you obtain. 

If you need help with fixing your landing page, contact us.