55-point CRO checklist
The CRO audit checklist: 55 points every high-converting page passes
Product page · 6 of 55
- Headline says what it is and for whom
- Main CTA is the strongest element
- Price and delivery above the fold
- Reviews near the price
- Form asks only what it needs
- Mobile shows what desktop shows
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How to use this conversion rate optimization checklist
Take one page, not the whole site. Pick the page that carries the most revenue or the most leads, usually a product page, a pricing page or a campaign landing page, and go through the 55 points below on a phone first, then on a laptop. Mark each item as pass, fail or not applicable. Failures in the first three sections cost the most and are the cheapest to fix, so start there. When you have your list, ship the top three, measure, and come back.
For the method around the list (which page to pick, which numbers to pull and how to rank what you find), read how to run a CRO audit. If you would rather not do it by hand, EyeCaptain runs this checklist for you: it reads the page on desktop and mobile, measures attention and CTA salience, and returns the failed items ranked by impact with a before and after example for each.
1. First screen: clarity in five seconds
Most visitors decide whether to stay before they scroll. If the first screen does not say what this is, for whom, and what to do next, nothing below it gets read.
- The headline states the outcome for the visitor, not the name of the product
- A subheadline says who it is for and how it works in one sentence
- One primary call to action, visible without scrolling on mobile and desktop
- The primary CTA has the highest visual weight on the screen; nothing competes with it
- A visual that shows the product or the result, not a stock photo of people smiling
- No popup, cookie banner or announcement bar covers the headline or the CTA on a phone
- Load under 2.5 seconds on mobile (Largest Contentful Paint)
2. Value proposition and copy
Visitors read about 20% of the words on a page. The copy has to survive skimming and answer the objection the visitor arrived with.
- Benefits before features; every feature is tied to what it does for the visitor
- Specific numbers where you have them (minutes, percent, count), no "best-in-class" filler
- Headings and bullets carry the message on their own when the paragraphs are skipped
- Objections answered where they arise: price near the CTA, delivery near Add to cart, cancellation near the signup
- The language matches how customers describe the problem, not internal jargon
- One idea per section; sections in the order a sceptical visitor asks questions
3. Calls to action
The CTA is the whole point of the page. Its wording, contrast, position and repetition decide whether attention turns into action.
- Button text says what happens next ("Start free audit"), not "Submit" or "Learn more"
- Contrast ratio of button text on button background passes WCAG AA (4.5:1)
- The CTA repeats after each major section on long pages, and a sticky version appears on mobile
- Secondary CTAs are visually secondary (outline or text link), not a second orange button
- Micro-copy under the button removes the last fear: "No card", "Cancel anytime", "Takes 2 minutes"
- Clicking the CTA leads to the promised step, not to a homepage or a generic contact form
4. Trust and social proof
Trust is not a section at the bottom of the page. It has to be present at the exact moment the visitor hesitates.
- Reviews or testimonials with a name, a face or a company, and a specific result
- Logos of customers, press or certifications placed near the first CTA
- Guarantee, returns or refund policy stated in one line next to the price
- Security and payment badges visible in checkout and near payment fields
- Real contact details (address, phone or email) reachable from every page
- No fake urgency: countdowns that reset, "only 3 left" that never changes, invented visitor counters
5. Forms and friction
Every field is a small tax. Every unclear label, surprise requirement or lost error message is a reason to leave.
- Ask only for what you need now; everything else can come after the conversion
- Labels visible at all times (not placeholder-only), with helper text where the format matters
- Correct input types on mobile: email, tel, numeric keyboards; autocomplete enabled
- Inline validation with a clear message next to the field, never only at the top after submit
- Progress indicator on multi-step forms and checkouts
- Guest checkout available; account creation offered after the purchase
- Shipping cost and delivery time shown before payment details are requested
- Express payment options (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Shop Pay) at the top of checkout
6. Visual hierarchy and attention
Design decides what gets seen. A predictive heatmap shows where the first fixations land; the page has to earn attention for the elements that matter.
- The first fixation lands on the headline or the hero visual, the second on the CTA
- Decorative elements (illustrations, gradients, animation) do not outrank the CTA in visual weight
- Faces in imagery look toward the content or CTA, not off the page
- Whitespace separates sections; the eye has one place to go at each scroll position
- Important information is not hidden in tabs, accordions or carousels that most visitors never open
- The mobile layout was checked separately; what is prominent on desktop is often below the fold on a phone
7. Mobile
More than half of visits are on a phone, and mobile conversion rates run at roughly half of desktop. The gap is where the money is.
- Tap targets at least 44 by 44 pixels with spacing between them
- Primary CTA reachable with the thumb; sticky CTA when the button scrolls away
- No horizontal scrolling, no text below 16 pixels, no layout shift as images and widgets load
- Forms usable one-handed; autofill works for name, address, email and card
- Menus and filters do not trap the visitor; closing them is obvious
8. Persuasion and psychology
Decisions are made emotionally and justified rationally. The page should use the levers honestly and in the right order.
- Anchoring: the reference price or plan is shown before the one you want chosen
- Social proof: numbers of customers, ratings, or usage stated with specifics
- Loss aversion: what the visitor loses by not acting, stated once and truthfully
- Authority: credentials, method or data behind the claim
- Reciprocity: something useful given before something is asked (a free audit, a guide, a sample)
- Choice architecture: three options at most, one recommended, differences explained in one line each
9. Measurement and iteration
A checklist tells you what to look for. Only measurement tells you what worked.
- Conversion events tracked for the primary and secondary actions, verified end to end
- A baseline conversion rate recorded per page type before changes ship
- Changes shipped one hypothesis at a time, or A/B tested when traffic allows
- A re-audit scheduled after each release to confirm the fix landed and did not break something else
- Heatmap and CTA salience re-checked after design changes, not just after copy changes
What to do with the failures
Do not fix them in the order you found them. Rank by two questions: how many visitors see this, and how close is it to the money. A weak headline on the page every visitor lands on beats a missing badge in the footer. A confusing shipping cost in checkout beats an off-brand colour on a category page. Three well-chosen fixes shipped this week will outperform thirty scheduled for a redesign that never comes.
For the strategy behind each section, read what CRO is and how it works, the e-commerce CRO guide for stores, and the A/B testing guide for measuring what you changed.
Q FAQ
CRO checklist: common questions
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