eCommerce Landing Page Checklist (Pt 1)

Ready to publish your landing page? Not so fast. ✋ No matter where you are in the process—from initial brainstorm to final pre-launch edits—this 10-part checklist will help you optimize your page to best convert site visitors into paying customers.

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Your landing page acts as the face of your brand, and a well-designed page is key to providing a strong first impression for your customers. Below, we share some of the most important components of an effective landing page, specifically those that boost conversion and build customer trust: two factors that distinguish a good landing page from a great one.

1. Effective copywriting
   Don’t underestimate the power of words. Every landing page should start and end with copy that is clear, compelling, and easy to understand. If users have any uncertainty about what you’re selling or how it benefits them, they're much less likely to continue browsing, let alone make a purchase. There will be opportunities to showcase your unique brand voice, but these moments should be balanced with clarity about what your product is and why it matters to your audience.
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2. Thoughtful design and UX
   Your landing page should be intuitive, easy to navigate, and visually compelling. Remember whose perspective is most important—your customer. Put yourself in their shoes every step of the way. Review your page and make sure every element has a clear purpose.
   
   Consider asking a random selection of customers for feedback. Be sure they can articulate who you are, what your products are, how to navigate your website, how to place an order, how to contact customer service, and anything else that’s important to you as a brand. For example, a company with an environmental angle might want to verify that their messaging clearly conveys a commitment to sustainability.
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3. Explanation of benefits
   For brands with small or single-item catalogs, it’s important to highlight the benefits and use cases of your products. Consider using a comparison chart to demonstrate how you stand out from the competition (these are more common in SaaS but still apply to eComm). By comparing your brand to the competition, customers can easily understand why you’re the better choice, reducing friction for conversion. For example, Seed designed a good comparison of their probiotic supplement compared to two types of competition: direct competitors and alternative solutions.
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4. Clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs)
   All CTAs should be clear and compelling in both copy and design. Consider including important information beside your CTA to encourage conversion. For example, you might highlight a limited-time offer to let buyers know the offer is temporary, creating a sense of urgency to purchase now.
   
   You can also employ UI techniques to make purchasing extra easy, such as using a cart drawer instead of a traditional cart page. The cart drawer functions as a streamlined single-page checkout, providing an elevated user experience and quicker time-to-purchase.
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5. Build trust with social proof and clear product descriptions
   Trust is uniquely difficult to build in eCommerce. In-person experiences can be helpful in many ways, whether it's helping you determine size & fit, reviewing specifications, feeling material, browsing, or communicating with sales reps. Without a physical point of reference, visitors can have a hard time assessing the suitability or quality of a product.
   
   When it comes to online shopping, customers rely on trust signals to guide their purchase decisions. Testimonials are critical in this context as they serve as real-life endorsements of a product or brand. They give buyers confidence and provide important education about why a product may or may not be a good fit. Trust breeds loyalty, and loyal customers are more likely to turn into repeat buyers and refer their friends.
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6. Customer support benefits
   It’s important to communicate all the ways you provide exceptional customer service so you can build a strong foundation of trust with your buyers. After all, consumers today are as invested in the company they're buying from as they are the product they're buying. Be sure to highlight important policies like money-back guarantees, free shipping & returns, payment options, and loyalty perks.
   
   Companies should also surface FAQs on relevant landing pages, like product and category pages. FAQs should answer important questions about products and policies, and effectively manage buyer expectations. They should also make it easy to contact customer support through all available channels.
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7. Speed and performance
   Site speed is a factor in Google's ranking algorithm so it plays a key role in SEO. It's also incredibly important for good UX. Did you know that the average website visitor sticks around for just 15 seconds before losing interest? The fewer of those precious 15 seconds they spend on loading screens, the better.
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8. Mobile optimization
   According to Statista, mobile eCommerce sales reached $2.2 trillion in 2023 and now make up 60% of all eCommerce sales worldwide. With consumers spending more time on their phones, and as online shopping becomes easier and more convenient, mobile commerce is poised to continue growing at a steady rate.
   
   Given this trend towards mobile, it’s important to prioritize responsive page designs and ensure your landing page looks good on all devices and browsers. Be sure to also test functionality, as interactive elements can operate way differently than expected on mobile (translate: they break).
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9. Analytics and conversion tracking
   Often an afterthought, we recommend setting up analytics before launching a new landing page. Analytics help you track web performance, understand user behavior, monitor conversion rates and goals, identify bugs and opportunities for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your page further. Here are a few tools we recommend: Google Search Console, Google Analytics, June, Heap, Hotjar, Freshpaint, Fathom
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10. Pre-launch testing and feedback
    A pre-launch audit is one of the most impactful things you can do to ensure optimal performance from day one. It's also one of the more deceptively difficult tasks to do. If you’re like us, you’re probably sprinting to the finish line, cutting scope to ensure all critical components are live and functioning for launch day. You and your team have been working on your project for what feels like forever and it's finally ready to release—let's call it a wrap and move on!
    
    Your pre-launch audit is feeling more and more challenging to squeeze in… 🤔
    
    If you can find the time and bandwidth to prioritize an audit, that’s great. We have a strong preference for thorough testing and feedback before you build your new landing page; not to mention it’s cheaper and more efficient to tweak designs before they’re implemented versus post-implementation. However, if this is not realistic, we recommend completing a post-implementation audit immediately following your launch.
    
    Consider using an auditing tool like Flourish Commerce to quickly review your website and identify important fixes. We'll even give you an ordered list of fixes that you can hand straight to a developer for easy implementation—with a task list that’s prioritized by effort and impact. Our audits uncover key areas for improvement as well as new opportunities to drive incremental ROI.
    
    In addition to a formal site audit, there are a few other things you can do for testing & feedback:

• Implement A/B testing with a tool like Splitbee, Optimizely, or VWO

• Ask for customer feedback at specific milestones (e.g. send an NPS survey 30 days after purchase)

• Regularly review customer feedback from testimonials, support queries, and social comments

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Well, the secret’s out…landing pages are complex. They are creative endeavors by nature, but that doesn't mean there aren't rules. And that's a good thing—rules give us tried and true guidelines to determine if our landing page is bad, good, or great before we start sending traffic to it.

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Ultimately, a landing page is meant to guide visitors through a specific journey to achieve a goal. The more confidence, excitement, and clarity you can provide during that journey, the more motivated users will be to complete it and take the “happy path” to paying customer.