Landing page audit: know what is wrong before you pay for the traffic

Why landing pages fail

Most landing pages do not fail because of design. They fail because the visitor cannot answer three questions fast enough: what is this, is it for me, and what do I do next. Everything else — colours, animations, the length of the page — matters far less than those three answers appearing in the first screen.

The second most common failure is a mismatch between the promise that brought the visitor (an ad, a search result, a post) and what the page says. A visitor who clicked "free website audit" and lands on a page about "enterprise digital experience platforms" leaves in under three seconds. That bounce is invisible in most reports and expensive in every one of them.

What the landing page audit checks

Message

• Is the headline a promise the visitor cares about, in their words?
• Does the sub-headline explain how, without repeating the headline?
• Is there one idea per section, in the order a sceptical visitor would ask about it?

Offer

• Is it clear what you get, what it costs (or that it is free) and what happens next?
• Are the obvious objections — price, time, risk, "will it work for me" — answered near the CTA?
• Is any urgency real? Fake countdowns lower trust more than they raise conversions.

Proof

• Is there at least one specific piece of evidence within the first screen?
• Are testimonials specific (a name, a result, a context) or generic praise?
• Do numbers have a source?

Call to action

• One primary action, visually dominant, phrased as the outcome.
• Repeated at natural decision points, not every 300 pixels.
• Form fields limited to what this step needs. Every extra field costs completions.

Speed and mobile

• Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds on a mid-range phone.
• No layout shift as fonts, images and embeds load.
• Tap targets large enough, text readable without zooming.

Search visibility

Even paid landing pages get organic traffic if they are indexable. The audit checks the title tag, meta description, canonical, Open Graph tags (for when the link is shared) and whether the page is accidentally set to noindex. Use the free Open Graph checker if you only want to check the share preview.

How the audit is scored

SiteScoper renders the page, captures a screenshot, reads the copy and evaluates it against the checks above. Each area receives a 0–100 score and the findings are ranked into an action plan. Where the fix is copy, the report proposes a rewrite. Where the fix is structural — move the proof up, remove the second CTA — it explains why.

Because the audit uses the real page rather than a template, it works on any builder: Webflow, Framer, Unbounce, WordPress, Shopify, custom code. If it renders in a browser, it can be audited.

Landing page audit checklist (short version)

1. The headline states the outcome, not the feature.
2. A stranger can explain the offer after five seconds.
3. One primary CTA above the fold, phrased as the outcome.
4. One specific proof point in the first screen.
5. Objections answered next to the CTA, not in a footer FAQ.
6. Form asks for the minimum.
7. Loads in under 2.5 seconds on mobile.
8. Title, description and Open Graph tags are set and match the page.

For the full version see our landing page checklist and the CRO audit guide.