The conversion-led design checklist: 27 fixes that lift signups, sales, and bookings
Most teams think they have a conversion problem because of strategy. They blame positioning, pricing, market fit. Then they spend six months "rebranding" without touching the actual interface where conversions happen. (For the technical companion to this design-led post, read why your website is losing 70% of mobile traffic.)
In our experience auditing hundreds of sites, conversion problems are almost always interface problems. Tiny, fixable, deeply boring problems. 27 of the most common ones — and how to fix them — are in this checklist.
Above the fold (where most damage is done)
1. The headline does not name the outcome
Visitors give your headline 3 seconds. If it does not state a specific outcome they care about ("Cut your bookkeeping time in half" beats "Smart accounting software"), they leave.
2. The subheadline does not earn the headline
The subhead’s job is to support the headline with proof — a stat, a specific mechanism, a credible name. "Used by 8,000+ small businesses" beats "Powerful tools for modern teams."
3. The CTA is generic
"Get started" is everywhere and nowhere. Test specific outcome-led CTAs: "Start saving 5 hours a week", "Book a free strategy session." Outcome-led CTAs typically lift click-through 20-40%.
4. The hero image is decorative, not illustrative
A stock photo of a laptop helps nobody. A product screenshot, a before-and-after, a customer photo — these earn the space.
5. No social proof in the first viewport
Logos, ratings, customer counts, or a single testimonial in the hero increase trust before scroll. A 4.9★ rating with a number ("from 2,143 reviews") works harder than a five-star badge.
Trust and credibility signals
6. The About page is a graveyard
For high-consideration purchases, the About page is one of the most-visited pages. If it is generic ("founded in 2015 with a passion for...") you are bleeding trust. Show real faces, real stories, real metrics.
7. Testimonials lack specificity
"Great service!" — Anonymous. Skip it. "Cut our onboarding from 14 days to 3 — Maya, Head of Ops, Brightline." That works. Specificity equals credibility.
8. No case studies, only quotes
For B2B and high-ticket services, full case studies (challenge → approach → result) convert better than quote walls. One detailed case study beats ten short quotes.
9. Pricing is hidden
For most categories, hiding pricing kills 30-60% of inbound at the form stage. Even ranges work. Buyers reward transparency with conversion.
10. No risk reversal
Refund guarantees, free trials, cancel-anytime promises, money-back periods — pick one and make it loud. Risk reversal can lift conversion 10-30% on hesitant categories.
Forms and friction
11. Too many form fields
Every field cuts completion by ~10%. Audit ruthlessly: do you need it for next-step value, or just CRM dreams? Move non-essential fields to post-signup.
12. Required fields hidden in optional language
Mark required fields clearly. Surprise required fields at submit time tank completion rates.
13. No autocomplete or autofill
Use proper `autocomplete` attributes. Address fields, name, email, phone — let the browser do the work. Mobile users especially benefit.
14. Errors only appear at submit
Inline validation as users type catches errors early and avoids the "submit, fail, scroll up, fix" spiral that drops 25% of users.
15. The CTA button changes text on submit, but nothing else
A spinning loader, a disabled state, a clear "Submitting..." label — without these, users double-tap and create duplicate records or assume the page broke.
Pricing pages
16. No recommended tier
Default-recommended tiers reduce decision paralysis. Highlight one. Decision-fatigued buyers click "Recommended" more often than "Best Value."
17. Feature comparisons are walls of checkmarks
Group features into 4-5 categories with collapsible sections. Buyers scan, then dive in. Comprehensive comparisons that look intimidating get skimmed.
18. Annual savings are not highlighted
If you offer annual pricing, show the monthly equivalent and the savings amount in dollars (not just percent). "$348/year — save $144" lands harder than "20% off."
19. No money-back or trial reassurance near the CTA
The CTA is where doubt peaks. Repeat your risk-reversal promise directly under or beside it.
Navigation and information scent
20. Top-nav has 8+ items
Crowded navigation forces the eye to work. Audit ruthlessly: 5-6 top-level items, group the rest into mega-menus or move them to the footer.
21. The most important page is two clicks away
Pricing, demo, case studies — these should be one click from anywhere on the site. Bury them and conversion suffers.
22. Internal links never appear in body content
Inline links inside paragraphs guide users deeper, build SEO, and increase time-on-site. Most teams under-link by 80%.
Performance and patience
23. Pages load slowly on mobile
Anything above 2.5 seconds LCP costs conversion. Compress images, lazy-load below-fold content, defer non-critical scripts.
24. Layout shifts on load
Reserve space for images, ads, and fonts before they load. Layout shifts mid-tap kill mobile conversions.
25. Modals trigger immediately
A popup on page load before users have seen anything is the fastest way to bounce. Delay modals until at least 30 seconds or 50% scroll.
Post-conversion
26. The thank-you page is a dead end
New signups and leads are at peak engagement on the thank-you page. Use it: surface a calendar booking, a relevant case study, a discount on the next product, a referral prompt.
27. No follow-up within 5 minutes
Lead response speed is one of the most underrated conversion levers. Leads responded to within 5 minutes are 21x more likely to qualify than those responded to within 30 minutes. Automate it.
How to use this checklist
Do not try to fix 27 things at once. Audit your top three pages — homepage, pricing, and your highest-volume landing page — against this list. Pick the five highest-impact fixes for each. Ship them in a week. Measure for two weeks. Repeat. (For landing pages specifically, follow our 6-section landing page anatomy before you start cutting.)
Conversion-led design is not glamorous. But shipped, measured, and iterated, it is the highest-leverage marketing work most teams never do. We run this discipline through our UI/UX and web development services on every site we ship.