I review landing pages for a living, and the same problems come up again and again. Here is how to find which ones are costing you, and what to change.
First, check you have a conversion problem
Before changing anything, look at the numbers in GA4 or your analytics for the last 30 days:
- Visitors to the page and conversions (form sends, bookings, calls). If you don’t track conversions, fix that first, or you’ll never know whether a change helped.
- Mobile versus desktop. If desktop converts and mobile doesn’t, the problem is almost always layout or speed on phones.
- Traffic source. If one ad or keyword converts and another doesn’t, the page may be fine and the traffic mismatched.
Conversion rates vary a lot by industry and offer, so compare the page against itself over time rather than against a number from a blog post.
1. The headline doesn’t say what they get
Visitors decide within seconds whether they’re in the right place. “Innovative solutions for modern businesses” tells them nothing. “Bookable websites for dental clinics, live in three weeks” tells them who it’s for, what they get and a reason to believe it.
Fix: Rewrite the headline to name the outcome and the audience. Use the subheading to add the how or the proof. If you run ads, reuse the ad’s promise in the headline.
2. No single action above the fold on mobile
Most landing page traffic is on phones, and on a phone “above the fold” is about one headline, two lines of text and one button. Pages that open with a slider, a big image or three competing buttons push the action out of sight.
Fix: Pick one primary action: book a call, get a quote, start a trial. Make it the only filled button, put it on the first screen on mobile, and repeat it after each major section. Other links can stay, but as quieter text links.
3. The proof is in the wrong place
People hesitate at the moment of clicking. That’s exactly where proof works: a rating, a short quote, client logos or a number like “215 reviews” right next to the button. Most pages put testimonials at the bottom, where few visitors ever scroll.
Fix: Move your strongest single piece of proof directly beside or below the primary button. Use specific proof: a named client and a result beat five anonymous stars.
4. It’s slow on phones
Every second of loading loses visitors, and landing pages are often the heaviest pages on a site because of large hero images, sliders, chat widgets and tracking scripts.
Fix: Test the page on PageSpeed Insights with the mobile setting. Aim for the largest element to load in under 2.5 seconds. Compress and resize the hero image, remove sliders and animations above the fold, and delay scripts that aren’t needed immediately. If you’re on Elementor, my guide on Elementor landing page speed walks through it.
5. The page doesn’t match what brought them
Someone clicks an ad for “free teardown of your landing page” and lands on a homepage about everything you do. The promise is broken, and they leave. The same happens with search: a page ranking for “emergency plumber” that opens with the company history.
Fix: Give each major ad campaign or search intent its own page, and repeat the exact promise in the headline. This single change often does more than anything else on the list.
Smaller leaks worth checking
- Long forms. Ask for what you need to reply and nothing more. Name, email and one question is often enough.
- Unanswered objections. Price, timing and “what if it goes wrong” are on every buyer’s mind. Answer them in a short FAQ near the bottom.
- Vague buttons. “Submit” and “Learn more” convert worse than a button that says what happens next: “Book my 15-minute call”.
- Distractions. A full site menu, social icons and pop-ups all offer ways to leave.
How to fix it without guessing
Work through the list in order and change one big thing at a time, so you can see what moved the numbers. Give each change enough traffic to judge it, usually at least a couple of weeks, before moving on.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes, run my free 8-point landing page leak check. It scores your page and tells you the first three things to fix. Or send me the link and I’ll mark it up for you.