The landing pages that convert share six traits. The ones that don’t, don’t.
1. One promise, above the fold, in plain English
Clever headlines kill. “Supercharge your workflow” means nothing. “Close invoices in 30 seconds” means something. The test: if you covered the logo, could a visitor tell what the product does in under three seconds?
2. A sub-headline that answers “for who?”
“Close invoices in 30 seconds. Built for freelancers tracking under 50 clients a month.” Now the reader knows whether to bounce or stay.
3. A visual that shows the product doing its job
Not a hero illustration. Not a generic dashboard mockup from a template kit. A real screenshot — annotated if needed — of the user’s actual win. Loom videos beat static images almost every time.
4. Social proof within the first scroll
Logos, testimonials, user counts — something. A landing page with zero social proof on the first screen is asking the visitor to take a leap you haven’t earned yet.
5. A single, unambiguous primary CTA
Every page that needs a redesign has the same problem: four CTAs competing for attention. “Get started”, “Book demo”, “See pricing”, “Watch video” — pick one. The secondary options can live further down.
6. Loading speed as a design decision
A page that loads in 4 seconds loses 40% of its traffic before they read the headline. This is not a “nice to have” — it is the design. Aggressive image compression, one font family, no unnecessary JavaScript. Performance is a conversion feature.
Notice what’s not on this list: animations, gradient backgrounds, 3D hero scenes, scroll-jacking, custom cursors. Those are all taste, not leverage. Nail the six above and you can afford some fun on top. Skip them and no animation will save you.