A landing page has one job: help the right visitor understand the offer fast and take one action. Most design problems on landing pages come from forgetting that job. Here are fifteen best practices, ordered from the top of the page down, and a checklist to review your own.
Above the fold
1. Say what it is, for whom, in one line. "AI reference manager for designers" beats "Unleash your creativity". If a stranger cannot repeat what you do after five seconds, rewrite the headline.
2. Support it with one sentence of outcome. What changes for the user? "Find any reference by describing it."
3. One primary call to action. One button, one verb, repeated through the page. Secondary links are fine; competing primary buttons are not.
4. Show the real product. A real screenshot or short loop builds more trust than abstract illustration. Keep it legible on mobile.
5. Reduce risk next to the button. "Free plan, no card required" under the call to action answers the first objection where it appears.
The middle
6. Social proof near decisions. Logos, numbers, short quotes with names and photos. Put them near calls to action, not only at the bottom.
7. Features as benefits. Lead each section with what the user gets, then show how. "Never lose a screenshot" before "OCR and auto-tagging".
8. One idea per section. Each section answers one question. Scannable headings let visitors skip to what they care about.
9. Show, don't list. A small product visual per feature beats a grid of icons and adjectives.
10. Answer objections. Price, privacy, switching cost, time to set up. An FAQ near the end catches what the sections missed.
The decision
11. Show pricing, or at least a starting price. Hidden pricing makes many visitors leave rather than ask. See pricing page design best practices.
12. Repeat the call to action at the end. After the FAQ, restate the offer and the button.
Everywhere
13. Design mobile first. Most visitors are on phones. Check headline length, button visibility, image size and that nothing scrolls sideways.
14. Make it fast. Compress images, avoid heavy scripts, and load the hero first. Every second of delay costs visitors.
15. Keep the visual hierarchy obvious. Size, contrast and spacing should guide the eye from headline to button without effort.
A quick review checklist
- Can a stranger say what you do after five seconds?
- Is there exactly one primary action?
- Is the real product visible above the fold on mobile?
- Is proof close to the call to action?
- Are price, privacy and setup objections answered?
- Does the page load fast on a phone?
- Is there any horizontal scroll on a 375px screen?
Collect sections, not pages
When you browse landing page galleries, save the individual sections that solve something: a hero that explains a complex product in one line, a pricing toggle, a testimonial layout. Saved whole, a page is hard to reuse. Saved by section with a note, it becomes a library of answers.
GetRef reads the text in every screenshot, so "pricing toggle annual" or "hero with product loop" finds your saved examples. For where to look, see design inspiration websites and the best Mobbin alternatives, and for capturing whole pages, how to take a full page screenshot.
Common questions
- What makes a good landing page design?
- A clear headline that says what the product does and for whom, one primary call to action, a real product visual, social proof close to the call to action, answers to common objections, and a fast, mobile-friendly layout.
- How long should a landing page be?
- Long enough to answer the questions a visitor needs answered before acting. Simple, cheap or familiar offers can be short. Complex or expensive products usually need longer pages with proof, features, pricing and an FAQ.
- Where can I find landing page design inspiration?
- Galleries such as Land-book, Lapa Ninja, One Page Love, Godly and SaaS-specific collections. Save the sections you like with a note, rather than whole pages, so you can find a specific hero or pricing table later.
- How do I design a landing page for mobile?
- Design mobile first: a short headline, the call to action visible without scrolling, a single column, large tap targets, compressed images and no horizontal scroll. Most landing page traffic is on phones.
