Here's my monster 96-point landing page optimization checklist created after analyzing 100+ SaaS LPs

[jonms]

Over the last couple of years, I've analyzed 100+ SaaS websites helping their teams understand why their sites are not converting.

All too often, they repeat the same mistakes over and over again. And these mistakes should be avoided at the stage of creating the landing page.

Based on that, I put together a 96-point optimization checklist so that more companies can create higher-converting landing pages for themselves or their clients.

I believe that if you follow these guidelines, you can easily take your landing page to the top 10% of the highest-converting pages on the Internet.

Let's go.

General​

These are the key items your landing page should check off. Don't move further without making sure these guidelines are met.

1. You’re actually using a landing page customized to the offer you're promoting (and not driving traffic to the homepage).
2. The page has one, main conversion goal.
   
   Two CTAs are fine (e.g. signup and demo lead to the same end goal), as long as the end goal is the signup.
3. The page has a familiar layout that users are used to seeing on other websites.
   
   Jacob’s Law says that “users spend most of their time on other sites”. This means that users prefer your site to look and work the same way as all the other sites they already know.
4. Page length is appropriate for the offer type.
   
   The more complex the offer (and the lower the users’ awareness), the more content should be used to explain it and convince users to take action.
   
   As a rule of thumb, your page should contain at least as many words as you’d use when selling your product face-to-face. That’s because you don’t have the luxury of being able to ask for objections, so your page needs to address all of the most common objections. [per Conversion Rate Experts]

Hero section​

Hero section is the most important part of the whole page as it's seen by 100% of visitors. If you fail to grab visitors' attention at this point, they won't scroll down to learn more about your product.

1. The message and design match what users saw in the ad that made them visit your site.
2. The hero section passes a 5-second test.
   
   Within 5 seconds after landing on the page, users are able to answer the following questions:
   
   • Where am I? (the company or product name is present)
   
   • What can I do here? (it’s clear what the product’s purpose is)
   
   • Why should I do it? (the value proposition is compelling enough to make users want to scroll down and learn more)
3. The value proposition in the headline is attention-grabbing, easy to understand, and based on what your happiest customers value your product the most.
4. The subheadline expands on the headline’s promise by briefly explaining how the product makes it possible.
5. The text font is large enough and contrasts with the background.
6. There is a prominent CTA button over the fold that’s contrasting with the background.
7. CTA copy is specific and conveys a benefit.
8. If you’re using an image or video in the hero section, it adds extra context to the copy and isn’t just a placeholder.
9. There is microcopy near CTA reducing friction and FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt).
10. If there is a secondary CTA, it‘s clearly less dominating (either ghost button or link).
11. Trust elements are present (badges, ratings, stats, etc).

Body​

After successfully grabbing users' attention with your hero section, you should use the body section to show them how your product works, how it solves their problems, and how it is a better choice than their existing solution.

1. Body messaging targets one persona at a time (together with how your solution answers their pain points) and copy uses their language.
2. Copy is focused on your users and how your product will make their lives better (and not about how great your company or product is).
   
   Rule of thumb: use as many ‘you’ and as few ‘we’ as possible.
3. Copy speaks directly to your prospective users.
   
   The more direct the copy, the more users will care about your message.
4. It’s clear how your product solves users’ problem better than the solution they’re currently using.
   
   The alternative solution very often isn’t your direct competitor. It can be Excel or a piece of paper. It’s crucial to know what your prospective users compare your product to in their minds so you can use a relevant comparison.
5. Product features are explained with the help of screenshots or GIFs of the app UI. No stock photos or generic illustrations are used.
6. Product screenshots are readable and it’s easy to understand what they show.
7. All common objections are proactively handled.
   
   Your prospects always have certain doubts and uncertainties when researching the right solution for their needs. Being upfront about them makes users confident your product can handle them.
8. Any bold claims are immediately backed with relevant proof.
   
   For example, ‘best landing page builder’ backed by G2 rating and/or badge. ‘Easy to use’ backed by a customer testimonial mentioning this specific benefit.
9. Features and benefits are as specific as possible.
   
   For example, instead of saying ‘grow your business’, say ‘close 30% more leads’.
10. Credibility and social proof elements are displayed to establish your brand’s trustworthiness.
    
    Examples: customer testimonials and their results, number of users, awards, certifications, press mentions, ratings from app stores and review sites like Capterra and G2.
11. Customer testimonials are optimized for credibility:
    
    • Testimonials mention specific benefits, and not just generic stuff like ‘highly recommended.'
    
    • Reviewers’ profile pictures, names, job roles, and company names are displayed for maximum credibility.
    
    • No stock photos are ever used instead of reviewers’ real pictures.
12. After reading the page content it’s clear how the product works and how the user will benefit from it.
13. Page content is optimized for scanning:
    
    • Headings communicate information, acting as summaries rather than intros.
    
    • Descriptions are concise and expand on what the heading teased.
14. The page is logically organized and has a natural flow of content - all sections are well connected to each other and don’t seem like separate entities.
15. There are no outbound links on the page (e.g. social media links, customer websites in testimonials and logos).
    
    Clicking away from your landing page can result in users getting distracted by content on external websites and not coming back and converting.
16. There is a CTA at the bottom of the page that reiterates the main value proposition.

Signup​

Your landing page was convincing enough to make users reach the signup screen. Now, let's make sure the UX of your signup flow doesn't cause them to drop off before seeing your product.

1. It’s clear what will happen after a user fills out the form. This is done with either the form heading or CTA copy (or both).
2. The form only asks for information that’s necessary to create a user account or that will be used to improve user experience.
   
   If you need some information and won’t be able to return the favor (e.g. when you’re required by law to collect it), you should explicitly say why you’re required to ask for it.
3. Email verification is not required (unless necessary for security reasons). If it is required, it’s moved as far back in the flow as possible (ideally right before the sensitive action).
   
   Making users leave the signup flow before finishing it can result in them getting distracted e.g. by finding other unread emails in their inbox and engaging with them. When (and if) they return to complete the signup, their motivation will most likely be lower than when they started it.
4. Multistep forms are used to break down long forms into smaller steps that lower the cognitive load.
5. For multistep forms, a progress bar is displayed.
   
   Make sure to mark the bar in a way that the first step is already partially complete. Humans are more motivated to complete a task when they feel they have already made some progress towards it (endowed progress effect).
6. Highest-friction steps are placed at the end of the flow to improve completion rates.
   
   The further in the flow users are, the less likely they are to abandon the process as they don’t want their effort to go to waste.
7. For long and multistep forms, form tracking is implemented to analyze which steps and fields are causing users to abandon the flow.
   
   Hotjar or Inspectlet will let you set this up easily.
8. When making a high-friction ask (e.g. sharing sensitive information, integrating with another tool), users are given a clear explanation of how providing this information will improve their experience with your product.
9. When asking users to answer questions they aren’t sure about (e.g. naming projects or workspaces), it is made clear that this action is reversible to lower FUD.
10. Field labels are top-aligned and visible at all times of filling out the form.
11. If there are 4 or fewer options, radio buttons are used. Dropdowns when above that.
12. Large lists are sorted alphabetically or from smallest to largest and have a search feature inside the dropdown (e.g. for industry or country).
    
    For certain data types (e.g. countries or currencies), the most popular values can be placed at the top for quicker access.
13. Wherever possible, forms don’t look like regular forms but are made more interactive for higher engagement.
14. There is no password confirmation field. A ‘show password’ feature is used instead.
15. If there are specific password requirements, they’re displayed before users start to fill out the field. Don’t go overboard with the requirements though.
16. Clear feedback about the error type is provided next to relevant fields if they weren’t filled out correctly.
17. Error messages are not displayed until the user clicks away from the field containing the error.
18. Error messages disappear after the input is corrected.
19. If any field is filled incorrectly, submitting the form doesn't clear the field, just highlights it and displays an error message.
20. For non-obvious fields, a description or tooltip is added with a clear explanation of what input is expected from the user.
21. Auto-fill is used wherever possible to make the process easier for users.
    
    For example, the country field can be filled out based on the user’s IP, the website field based on the email domain, and B2B data like job role, company type, and size can be filled out using Clearbit API.
22. Fields are formatted based on expected input (credit card, phone number, date of birth, etc.) for convenience and to avoid errors.
23. On mobile, all fields have relevant keypads (email, numeric, date etc.) so that users don’t need to switch between them.
24. Single sign-on is implemented (and optional) to make signing up more convenient.

Other​

1. Page design is on-brand and attractive to your target audience.
   
   If you’re unsure how your target audience perceives your page, run a test on UsabilityHub to get users’ feedback about it.
2. Long paragraphs are broken down for legibility.
3. Content style is consistent across the page:
   
   • Font types, colors, sizes, button styles are consistent
   
   • Font size of main content is above 16 px
   
   • Line height is above 1.5
   
   • Text contrasts well with the background making it easy to read
   
   • Headlines are written in sentence case (only the first word in the sentence is capitalized)
4. Language is simple and used by your target audience. No generic phrases or buzzwords are used.
   
   Read the section copy and ask yourself: ‘would my customer say that?’
5. Page loads in under 4 seconds on desktop devices.
   
   Use TTI - time to interactive metric. TTI is the time a page needs to load all content and become fully usable. Use Google PageSpeed Insights to check your page load time.
6. Page looks good on all (main) devices and screen resolutions.
   
   Use a cross-browser testing tool like LambdaTest to check it easily.
7. There is an attractive exit-intent offer to capture the traffic leaving the page without signing up.
   
   I’ve tried A TON of different popup tools and can honestly recommend Getsitecontrol.
8. It’s easy to contact you in case of questions (via live chat, email, phone, or any other channel).
9. NO SCROLL JACKING IS EVER USED.
10. Scroll bar is visible at all times.
11. There are no grammar or spelling errors.
    
    Always check your copy for correctness using Grammarly or QuillBot before publishing.
12. If videos are used, they’re optimized for engagement:
    
    • The thumbnail image is enticing and teases what’s inside the video.
    
    • The hook is in the first couple of seconds.
    
    • The essential information is shown in the first part of the video, followed by supporting details.
    
    • Captions are included for users who prefer to watch the video muted.
    
    • There is a clear call to action at the end of the video.
    
    • Videos are hosted using a tool that lets you identify the most common drop-off points (e.g. Wistia).

Bonus: Pricing Page​

1. Your subscription prices are publicly displayed.
   
   If you don’t disclose your prices at all, visitors will not only get the impression that your pricing is too expensive for them but it also makes your brand seem untrustworthy, and hard to deal with in general. If your competitors display their prices, you’ll lose business to them.
   
   In the case of complex pricing structures that don’t let you display fixed pricing plans, either say 'starting from $x' or use an instant quote calculator.
2. The headline highlights either your product’s value proposition or the benefits of your pricing structure.
3. There are between 2 and 5 pricing plans per pricing table.
   
   When users see a single plan, they make a decision whether to subscribe or not. When they see multiple options, they skip this consideration and jump straight into figuring out which option is best for them.
   
   In most cases though, a 3-plan ‘good-better-best’ pricing is the best solution.
   
   For more complex products (e.g. HubSpot), multiple pricing tables should be used.
4. It’s easy for users to quickly tell the difference between your pricing plans:
   
   • There’s a summary of the key features at the top of the page and a more detailed comparison after the scroll.
   
   • Features are lined up side by side and on the same level.
   
   • The table is not overloaded with text - feature names are moved to the left-hand side and features are marked with checkmarks for more convenient comparison.
5. Any non-obvious features are explained using tooltips (or even better - tooltips with GIFs).
6. There are multiple subscription duration options and discounts incentivizing users to pick longer plans.
7. Prices are displayed in local currency based on the visitor’s IP but visitors can switch to a different one too.
8. There is an FAQ section answering all common objections users may have at this point.
9. It’s easy to quickly get in contact with you in case of questions (via live chat and/or phone).
10. There are relevant credibility indicators displayed (reviews/badges/certificates/number of customers and their logos).

Useful tools to help you with optimizing landing pages​

• Hemingway App - free app to help make your copy clearer and easier to read.
• Wynter - B2B message testing tool to get feedback on your copy from relevant audiences.
• UsabilityHub and Conversion Crimes - user and usability testing platforms to get feedback on any aspect of your page.
• Hotjar and Inspectlet - for session recordings, heatmaps, and form analytics.
• And of course, an A/B testing tool like Google Optimize or VWO to test new optimization ideas.

Here's the checklist as an editable Notion doc with screenshots of good and bad examples of most guidelines so you can collaborate on it with your team.

Hope this helps!

 

[dadabtnjems]

@jonms Thank thought about a redesign and I will definetly pay attention to the points on the list

 

[nickblessed]

@jonms Great list

 

[xxxemmabubblepopxxx]

@jonms Love the effort, thanks for sharing this.

 

[jonms]

@xxxemmabubblepopxxx I'm glad you like it!

 

[biblicalastronomy]

@jonms Nice list