What Makes a Good Landing Page? 7 Elements That Convert

Most Landing Pages Fail for the Same Reasons

A landing page has one job: get the visitor to take a specific action. Sign up, buy, book a call, download, subscribe — whatever the goal is, every element on the page should push toward that single outcome.

Most landing pages fail not because the product is bad or the traffic is wrong, but because the page itself breaks fundamental principles. It tries to do too many things. The headline is vague. The call-to-action is buried. The page loads slowly. The design looks untrustworthy on mobile. These are fixable problems, and fixing them can double or triple your conversion rate without changing anything about your product or your marketing spend.

Here are the seven elements that separate landing pages that convert from landing pages that bounce.

1. A Clear, Specific Headline

Your headline is the first thing visitors read, and for most of them, it is the last thing too. Research from Nielsen Norman Group shows that the average visitor spends less than 15 seconds on a page before deciding whether to stay or leave. Your headline has to earn those next 15 seconds.

A good headline does three things: it tells the visitor what you offer, who it is for, and what outcome they can expect. It should be specific, not clever. "We Build Custom Websites That Load in Under One Second" is better than "Crafting Digital Experiences for the Modern Era." The first one tells you exactly what you are getting. The second one tells you nothing.

Test your headline by reading it to someone who knows nothing about your business and asking them what they think you sell. If they cannot answer clearly, rewrite it. Avoid jargon, buzzwords, and vague claims. Be direct. Be specific. Say what you do and who benefits.

Subheadline Support

Pair your headline with a one- or two-sentence subheadline that adds context. The headline grabs attention; the subheadline provides the detail that makes them keep reading. If your headline is "Automate Your Expense Approvals in Google Sheets," your subheadline might be "A pre-built spreadsheet system with Apps Script automation. Submit, approve, and report on expenses without leaving Sheets."

2. A Single, Focused Call-to-Action

The most common mistake on landing pages is offering too many choices. A navigation bar with six links, a hero section with two different buttons, a sidebar with a newsletter signup, and a footer with social media links. Every additional option is a leak in your conversion funnel. Each extra link gives the visitor a reason to click somewhere other than your primary call-to-action.

A high-converting landing page has one CTA. One button, repeated in multiple places on the page, all leading to the same action. If the goal is to get someone to start a free trial, every button on the page says "Start Free Trial." Not "Learn More" in one place and "Get Started" in another and "See Pricing" in a third.

The CTA button itself should be visually dominant — high contrast with the background, large enough to tap easily on mobile, and positioned where the eye naturally falls. The text should describe what happens when they click, not just say "Submit." Use action-oriented language: "Get Your Free Template," "Start Building Today," "Book a Free Consultation."

3. Social Proof That Feels Real

People trust other people more than they trust you. Social proof — testimonials, case studies, client logos, review scores, and user counts — bridges the trust gap between a stranger and a buyer. But only if it feels authentic.

Generic testimonials like "Great product! Highly recommend!" do nothing. They could be from anyone, about anything. Effective testimonials are specific: "We cut our monthly reporting time from 8 hours to 20 minutes using their automated Google Sheets system." They include the person's full name, role, and company. If possible, include a photo. The more specific and verifiable the testimonial, the more persuasive it is.

If you do not have testimonials yet, use other forms of social proof: the number of users or customers ("Trusted by 200+ small businesses"), logos of recognizable companies you have worked with, ratings from third-party review sites, or screenshots of positive feedback from real conversations (with permission). Even "Featured in" logos from publications or podcasts add credibility.

Place social proof immediately after your first CTA. The visitor has just read what you offer and seen the action you want them to take. Social proof at this point answers the unspoken question: "But can I trust these people?"

4. Page Speed That Does Not Punish Visitors

A page that takes three seconds to load loses over half its visitors. Google's own research shows that as page load time increases from one second to three seconds, the probability of bounce increases by 32 percent. At five seconds, it increases by 90 percent. Speed is not a nice-to-have. It is the foundation everything else depends on.

The most common speed killers on landing pages are unoptimized images, heavy JavaScript frameworks, render-blocking CSS, and slow hosting. Here is how to address each one:

Images: Use modern formats (WebP or AVIF), compress aggressively, and use lazy loading for anything below the fold. A hero image should be under 100KB. If it is over 500KB, it is too large.
JavaScript: Minimize third-party scripts. Every analytics tool, chat widget, and tracking pixel adds load time. Audit your scripts and remove anything that is not directly contributing to conversions.
CSS: Inline critical CSS for above-the-fold content and defer the rest. Avoid large CSS frameworks if you are only using a fraction of their classes.
Hosting: Use a CDN. Deploy your landing page to Vercel, Netlify, or Cloudflare Pages. These platforms serve your site from edge servers worldwide, reducing latency to near zero for most visitors. There is no reason for a landing page to be on a slow shared hosting plan in 2026.

Test your page speed with Google PageSpeed Insights and aim for a performance score of 90 or above on both mobile and desktop. Treat anything below 80 as a conversion problem, not just a technical one.

5. Mobile-First Design

More than 60 percent of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your landing page does not look good and function well on a phone, you are losing the majority of your potential customers before they even read your headline.

Mobile-first design is not just about making things fit on a smaller screen. It is about designing for the constraints of mobile interaction: smaller tap targets, shorter attention spans, slower connections, and vertical scrolling. Specific things to get right:

Tap targets: Buttons should be at least 44 by 44 pixels. Fingers are not mouse cursors — small buttons cause frustration and missed taps.
Text size: Body text should be at least 16 pixels on mobile. Anything smaller forces visitors to pinch-to-zoom, which is an instant trust killer.
Form fields: If your CTA involves a form, keep it short. Every additional field reduces completion rates. On mobile, ask for the absolute minimum — name and email is ideal; anything beyond that needs strong justification.
Sticky CTA: Consider a sticky button that stays visible as the visitor scrolls. On mobile, the CTA can scroll out of view quickly. A persistent button at the bottom of the screen ensures the action is always one tap away.
No horizontal scrolling: If any content forces horizontal scrolling on mobile, it is broken. Test on real devices, not just browser dev tools.

6. Above-the-Fold Value Proposition

"Above the fold" refers to the content visible on screen before the visitor scrolls. This is the most valuable real estate on your landing page. It needs to communicate three things instantly: what you offer, why it matters, and what to do next.

A strong above-the-fold section contains your headline, subheadline, primary CTA button, and one supporting visual or element (a product screenshot, a demo video thumbnail, or a key statistic). That is it. No navigation menu with seven links. No animated carousel that takes ten seconds to convey anything useful. No wall of text that requires scrolling to parse.

The goal is not to close the sale above the fold. It is to give the visitor enough reason to keep scrolling. Think of it as the movie trailer for the rest of the page. If the trailer is confusing or boring, nobody watches the movie.

One effective technique is to include a specific, quantified benefit in the above-the-fold area. Not "Save time with our tool" but "Reduce report generation from 4 hours to 5 minutes." Numbers are concrete and credible in a way that adjectives are not.

7. Trust Signals That Reduce Risk

Even after a visitor is interested, there is a gap between interest and action. That gap is filled with objections — "What if it does not work? What if I waste my money? What if their support is terrible? Is this company even real?" Trust signals directly address these objections.

Common trust signals that work:

Money-back guarantee: Removes the financial risk. "30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked" is one of the most effective conversion boosters available.
Free trial or freemium tier: Let them try before they buy. If your product is good, the trial sells itself.
Security badges: If you handle payments, show SSL and payment processor logos (Stripe, PayPal). If you handle sensitive data, mention compliance certifications.
Real contact information: A physical address, a phone number, or a named person (not just "support@company.com") signals that your business is real and accountable.
Transparent pricing: Hidden pricing makes people suspicious. If you cannot show exact prices, at least show starting prices or a range. "Starting at $29/month" is better than "Contact us for pricing" for most audiences.
Case studies or results: Concrete outcomes from real customers. "Company X increased their conversion rate by 40% after switching to our platform" is more persuasive than any feature list.

Place trust signals near your CTA buttons. The moment someone is about to click is the moment their objections are loudest. A money-back guarantee or a security badge right next to the button can be the nudge that tips them from "maybe" to "yes."

Putting It All Together

A landing page that converts is not complicated. It is focused. One message, one audience, one action. Strip away everything that does not directly support the conversion goal. Test your headline, test your CTA text, test your page speed, and test on real mobile devices.

At Refitted, we build landing pages and marketing sites that follow these principles by default. Every site we deliver is fast, mobile-optimized, and designed around a clear conversion goal. If your current landing page is not performing the way you need it to, sometimes a fresh build with the right foundations is faster and more effective than trying to patch what is already there.