A landing page that converts does one job for one kind of visitor. The headline says what you offer and who it is for. Real proof backs it up, the page answers the doubts that stop people, and a single button asks for one action. Everything else either helps that action or gets in its way.
AI can draft every section in minutes. What it cannot supply is your proof, and proof is what turns interest into a click. This guide gives you the structure, a prompt for each section, the speed rules and a simple way to test.
- One page, one visitor, one goal, one button.
- The order that works: headline, subhead, button, proof, benefits, how it works, FAQ, final button.
- Use AI for drafts and variations. Proof must come from real customers.
- Fake reviews and testimonials are banned in the US and the UK, AI-written ones included.
- Make it fast on a phone, then test one change at a time.
What makes a landing page convert?
A landing page is a page built for one goal, usually reached from an ad, an email or a social post. Your homepage has to serve everyone. A landing page can ignore everyone except the person it was made for. It usually sits inside a bigger push, and our AI for marketing playbook covers the campaign around it.
Three things decide whether it works. The page must match the promise that brought the visitor there, so the ad and the headline say the same thing. The offer must be clear within a few seconds. And the visitor must believe it, which is the job of proof. If the page also has to rank in search, read our guide to SEO in the age of AI as well.
The structure of a landing page that converts
This order works for most offers, from a free download to a paid service. Read it top to bottom, the way a visitor scrolls.
Headline: what you offer, for whom
State the outcome in plain words, ideally under ten. A visitor who reads nothing else should still know what this is.
Subhead: how, and why believe it
One or two sentences that add the “how” and answer the first doubt.
One button, near the top
One verb and one outcome: “Book a free call”, not “Submit”. Repeat the same button further down.
Proof, right under it
Named testimonials, numbers you can back up, client logos you have permission to use, or a short demo.
Benefits, not features
Three to five short blocks. Each starts with what the visitor gets, then names the feature that delivers it.
How it works
Three steps that show what happens after the click. This removes the fear of the unknown.
FAQ and a final button
Answer the real objections: price, time, risk and “will this work for me?” Then show the button once more.
Copy formulas that still work
Formulas are starting points, not scripts. Each one forces you to name a specific outcome, which is where most weak pages fail.
| Formula | Shape | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Outcome without pain | Get the result without the thing they dread | Tax-ready books without losing your weekends |
| Problem, agitate, solve | Name the problem, show what it costs, offer the fix | Late invoices drain your cash. Chasing them drains your week. We chase them for you. |
| Before, after, bridge | Life now, life after, how you get there | From a shoebox of receipts to a clean ledger in one afternoon |
| Specific and true | A concrete number you can prove | Edited photos back within 24 hours |
Run every line through the “so what?” test. If a visitor could shrug at it, rewrite it until the benefit is obvious.
Prompts for each section
Give the AI real inputs: who the page is for, their problem, your outcome and your actual proof. Without them you get polished filler. Paste these into any assistant and adapt the brackets.
I am building a landing page for [product or service]. It is for [who], who struggle with [problem]. The main result they get is [outcome]. Our real proof: [numbers, testimonials, clients]. Write 10 headlines under 10 words using three formulas: outcome without pain, a specific number, and before and after. For the 3 strongest, write a subhead of one or two sentences. Use only the proof I gave you.
Here are the features of [product]: [list]. For each one, ask "so what?" twice and write the benefit a [customer] cares about, in one plain sentence that starts with a verb. Rank them by how much they matter to someone deciding today.
Here are the doubts people raise before buying, taken from emails and sales calls: [paste]. Group them into 5 to 7 questions. Write a short, honest answer to each using only these facts: [price, refunds, timing]. Mark anything the facts do not cover with [CHECK].
Act as a busy, skeptical visitor who sees this landing page for five seconds: [paste the page text or a screenshot]. Tell me what is offered, who it is for and what I am supposed to do next. Then list every vague claim, missing proof or distraction that would make you leave, most serious first.
Why fake social proof backfires
Social proof is evidence that other people trust you: reviews, testimonials, client logos and customer counts. AI makes it trivial to invent. Doing so is now a legal risk as well as a trust risk.
In the US, the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials took effect on October 21, 2024. It bans fake reviews and testimonials, including ones that claim to come from someone who does not exist, such as AI-generated fakes. It covers testimonials on your own website, and the FTC can seek civil penalties from knowing violators.
In the UK, fake reviews became a banned practice in April 2025 under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. The Competition and Markets Authority can now fine a company up to 10% of its global turnover for breaking consumer law.
If you are new and have little proof, use what is true: a demo or screenshots of the real thing, a named quote from a pilot customer, your own face and name, and a guarantee you will honor. Then ask happy customers for more.
Write a short, friendly email asking a past customer for a testimonial. Ask three questions: what problem they had before, what changed after working with us, and what they would tell a friend who is unsure. Ask permission to use their name, role and photo on our website, and make it easy to say no.
Design and speed rules
Good design here means fewer choices, not more decoration. For the fuller visual workflow, from brief to a polished interface, see our guide to designing interfaces with AI.
One column, one goal. Remove links that compete with the button, including your main menu if you can.
Buttons that say what happens. “Get my quote” beats “Learn more”.
Show the real thing. Screenshots, your work and your team prove more than stock photos.
Design for the phone first. Short paragraphs, big tap targets, a button within thumb reach.
Look like yourself. A consistent logo and colors build trust. See how to make a logo and brand assets with AI.
Speed is part of the first impression. Google’s Core Web Vitals give three targets, measured on real visits. Three out of four visits (the 75th percentile) should hit them:
Compress your images, give them fixed sizes so nothing jumps, and be strict about extra scripts such as chat widgets and trackers. Test on a real phone over mobile data, not only on your office Wi-Fi.
How to test a landing page
Start testing before launch. Show the page to five people from your audience for five seconds, then ask what it offers and what they would do next. If they cannot say, fix the headline first. Then watch a few people use it while they think out loud.
After launch, track one number: the conversion you care about, split by where visitors came from.
With modest traffic, test big changes, such as a new headline or offer, not button colors. Change one thing at a time, and run each test for at least one full week so weekdays and weekends both count.
FAQ
What is a good landing page conversion rate?
It depends on your industry, offer and traffic. As a reference, Unbounce’s analysis of 41,000 landing pages found a median of 6.6% across industries, using late 2024 data. Your own trend matters more: beat last month’s page, not someone else’s average.
How long should a landing page be?
As long as the decision needs. A free sign-up can work with a headline, three benefits and a button. An expensive service needs more proof, more detail and a longer FAQ.
Can AI build my whole landing page?
It can draft the copy, lay out the design and write the code, and some tools publish it too. You still supply the facts and the proof, and you check every claim. Our guide to building a website with AI walks through it.
Should a landing page have a navigation menu?
Keep it minimal. Every link that leaves the page competes with your button. A logo and a contact link are usually enough.
Ready to launch? Learn how to put a website online and connect a custom domain.
- What is the average landing page conversion rate? (Q4 2024 data), Unbounce, March 2025
- Web Vitals, web.dev, Google, October 2024
- FTC announces final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials, Federal Trade Commission, August 2024
- The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: questions and answers, Federal Trade Commission, November 2024
- CMA to boost consumer and business confidence as new consumer protection regime comes into force, Competition and Markets Authority, April 2025
