A site that browses isn't a site that converts. Across 50+ launches, the same 22 details show up over and over. Here's the full checklist.
The hero (above the fold)
- Headline answers: what is this, who is it for, why now
- One primary CTA, one secondary — never more
- Social proof within 1 second (logo strip, rating, count)
- No carousels. They reduce engagement 30%+.
The body
- Sections in F-pattern (left-anchored content, right images)
- Specific numbers over adjectives ('1,200 customers' beats 'lots of customers')
- One CTA per section — give them a way to act everywhere
- Real testimonials with names, photos, and companies
Performance
- LCP under 2.5s on 3G — non-negotiable
- Total CSS < 30KB on initial paint
- No JS framework on the marketing pages unless needed
- Image: WebP or AVIF, never PNG for photos
The site that ships in 6 weeks and gets refined in production beats the site that ships in 6 months. Always.