The landing page checklist I actually use

Conversion rate is the cheapest lever in paid media. Double it and you've halved your effective CPA on every channel simultaneously, without buying anything.

Here's what I check, in the order I check it.

Above the fold

1. Does the headline match the ad? The most common failure. Someone clicks an ad about emergency plumbing and lands on "Welcome to our website". Message match is the highest-impact fix available and it costs nothing.

2. Is it obvious what this is within three seconds? Show the page to someone unfamiliar for three seconds, then ask what the business does. If they can't say, nothing below matters.

3. Is there one clear action? One primary call to action. Multiple competing CTAs above the fold split attention and reduce all of them.

4. Does it load fast on mobile? Test on an actual phone on mobile data, not desktop Chrome on fibre.

The offer

5. Is the value proposition specific? "Save time and money" is noise. "Most repairs completed same day" is a claim.

6. Is there a reason to act now? Not fake urgency. A genuine reason: availability, seasonality, a real deadline.

7. Is pricing addressed? Hiding pricing entirely increases friction. If you can't publish exact prices, publish a range or a starting point. Unanswered price questions cause exits.

Trust

8. Is there proof, and is it specific? "Great service!" from "A.B." is worse than nothing. Named testimonials with detail, real numbers, actual client names where permitted.

9. Are there real photos? Stock photography of a generic office reduces trust. Real premises, real people, real work.

10. Is contact information visible? A physical address and phone number materially increase trust, especially for South African audiences wary of scams.

The form

11. Is it as short as it can be? Every field costs conversions. Name, email, one qualifying question. Ask the rest on the call.

12. Is it visible without scrolling on mobile? Or is there an obvious anchor link to it?

13. Does it explain what happens next? "We'll respond within one business day" reduces hesitation.

14. Does it work? Submit it yourself, from a phone, and confirm the notification actually arrives. Broken forms are more common than anyone admits, and they fail silently — see webhooks explained for marketers for why a success message doesn't prove delivery.

What to test first

If you can only test one thing: the headline, matched to the ad.

Then, roughly in order of impact: 1. Headline and message match 2. Form length 3. The primary CTA — position and wording 4. Proof placement — move it higher 5. Page speed

What rarely matters as much as people think

Button colour. Hero image choice. Font. Adding a video. These get tested endlessly because they're easy to change, and they move conversion rate far less than clarity of offer and message match.

Fix what the page says before fixing how it looks.