Landing Doctor
Methodology

12 dimensions. One diagnostic. Built from frameworks senior CRO consultants use on Fortune 500 landing pages.

Most page graders give you a number. We give you a structured diagnosis: what’s broken, why it’s costing you conversions, and the exact words to use instead.

Why a framework, not a hunch

Conversion isn’t subjective. The same problems show up in landing page after landing page — weak value prop, vague CTAs, missing proof, mobile friction. Our framework catalogues them.

Every score is reasoned. We don’t return ‘72/100’. We return ‘Hero clarity: 5/10 — your H1 names the product but not the outcome. Try: [example]’.

Built on patterns from thousands of landing pages — analyzed across SaaS, ecommerce, services, coaching, and infoproducts.

The 12 dimensions

What we evaluate — and why each dimension matters

equal weighting · overall = mean of 12 × 10

Hero Clarity

01 / 12

Is the H1 specific enough that a visitor knows the outcome within 5 seconds? Does the subhead reinforce it or repeat it?

H1 names the product category instead of the result: ‘AI-Powered Marketing Platform’.

AI-Powered Marketing PlatformGet 3x more demo bookings without hiring another SDR

Value Proposition

02 / 12

Does the page articulate a clear, differentiated benefit? Can a visitor explain what makes this different from alternatives?

Value prop is generic or missing entirely: ‘The best solution for your business’.

The best solution for your businessCut invoice processing from 4 hours to 12 minutes — no integrations needed

CTA Effectiveness

03 / 12

Is the primary CTA action-specific and benefit-oriented? Is there a single clear next step, not three competing buttons?

CTA is vague or passive: ‘Submit’ or ‘Learn More’.

SubmitStart my free audit →

Trust Signals

04 / 12

Are there visible trust markers — logos, certifications, security badges? Are they placed near decision points?

Trust signals are buried in the footer or absent entirely.

(no trust signals near CTA)Place three client logos and one named customer result directly below the pricing CTA

Social Proof

05 / 12

Does the page include testimonials, case studies, or usage stats? Are they specific (names, numbers, outcomes) rather than generic?

Testimonial is unattributed or vague: ‘Great product!’ — J.

‘Great product!’ — J.‘We increased demo bookings by 40% in the first month.’ — Sarah Chen, Head of Growth at Acme

Objection Handling

06 / 12

Does the page anticipate and address the top 2–3 objections? Is there an FAQ or comparison that reduces purchase anxiety?

No FAQ, no pricing clarity, no mention of contracts or cancellation.

(pricing page with no FAQ)Add ‘No long-term contract. Cancel anytime.’ below pricing table

Form Friction

07 / 12

How many fields does the form have? Are optional fields marked? Is the form above the fold on mobile?

Lead form asks for phone number, company size, and budget before the visitor has seen any value.

8-field form: name, email, phone, company, size, budget, timeline, message2-field form: email + URL. Collect the rest after they see value.

Mobile Optimization

08 / 12

Is the CTA thumb-reachable? Does the hero text fit without horizontal scroll? Are tap targets at least 44px?

CTA button is below three screens of text on mobile; hero image pushes H1 below the fold.

Hero image (600px tall) above H1 on mobileHide hero image on mobile; lead with H1 + CTA within first viewport

Offer Specificity

09 / 12

Is the offer concrete — what exactly does the visitor get, by when, for how much? Or is it abstract and open-ended?

Offer is vague: ‘Get started today’ with no indication of what happens next.

Get started todayGet your 12-dimension audit report in about a minute — free

Urgency / Scarcity

10 / 12

Is there a legitimate reason to act now? Or is the page using fake countdown timers and manufactured scarcity?

Fake countdown timer that resets on page refresh.

LIMITED TIME OFFER — expires in 02:34:17 (resets on refresh)50 audits available this week — 37 claimed (real inventory, updated live)

Proof of Outcomes

11 / 12

Does the page show measurable results — before/after, ROI, time saved? Are claims backed by data or case studies?

Claims results but shows no evidence: ‘10x your revenue’ with no case study.

10x your revenue with our platform‘Average customer sees 2.4x pipeline increase within 90 days’ (based on 127 accounts)

Page Speed

12 / 12

Are there obvious speed killers — uncompressed images, render-blocking scripts, excessive third-party tags?

Hero image is a 4MB uncompressed PNG; 14 third-party scripts load before first paint.

4MB hero.png + 14 render-blocking scriptsWebP hero (90KB) + defer non-critical scripts below the fold
How we score

Scoring rubric: 0–10 per dimension

0–3: Critical
Start here: review the findings and prioritise these changes.
4–6: Weak
A clear area to improve after the most urgent findings.
7–8: Acceptable
Minor refinement needed. Not a priority unless everything else is strong.
9–10: Strong
Model this. Use it as a reference for weaker dimensions.

The overall score (0–100) reads on the same bands, × 10:

  • 0–39 Critical
  • 40–69 Weak
  • 70–89 Acceptable
  • 90–100 Strong
Every check

67 checks our code runs on your page

Besides the twelve scored areas, our code reads the page’s own HTML and text and applies these rules. Each one prints in the paid report with what it found, in these words. A rule that does not apply to a page (no form, no pricing) is left out of its report.

Hero Clarity (9)
  • Headline length — A headline of 6–12 words.
  • Hero reading grade (Flesch-Kincaid) — Grade 9 or lower.
  • Jargon in the headline — The headline uses no jargon.
  • Headings that are bare labels — Most section headings state a benefit, not a bare label such as “Features”
  • Longest text without a heading — A heading at least every 350 words of running text
  • Sentences over 25 words — Under 30% of the sentences run past 25 words
  • Most repeated word — No single word above 5% of the words
  • Declared page language — The page’s lang attribute names the language its text is written in
  • Summary near the top — A comparison page sums up the difference near the top
Value Proposition (3)
  • Headline opens with the brand — The headline leads with what the visitor gets, not with the brand name.
  • Buzzwords — At most 1 buzzword per 100 words.
  • Intensifiers such as “truly” — At most 2 intensifiers per 100 words
CTA Effectiveness (1)
  • Generic call-to-action labels — A call to action names what the visitor gets, not just “Submit” or “Learn more”.
Trust Signals (7)
  • Legal page links — A link to a privacy policy is on the page.
  • Reply time — A demo or contact form says when or how the team replies
  • Business phone and address on the page — The phone and street address in the page’s business markup also appear on the page.
  • Garbled characters — No mis-encoded characters such as “’” in the text
  • Formatting marks shown as text — Formatting such as **bold** is rendered, not shown as text
  • Rows won by one option alone — Not every marked row goes to one option alone
  • Fancy Unicode letters — Text is written in plain letters, not Unicode look-alikes
Social Proof (2)
  • Named testimonials — At least half of the testimonials name the person
  • Markup rating shown on the page — A rating in the structured data also appears on the page
Objection Handling (14)
  • Reassurance at the main call to action — A reassurance line sits next to the main call to action (no card needed, cancel anytime, free trial, no contract, no spam).
  • Answers that say “see above” — Each answer stands on its own.
  • Question comparing alternatives — A visible FAQ question addresses how this compares with other options.
  • Question about who is behind it — A visible FAQ question addresses who is behind the offer and what qualifies them.
  • Question about cancelling — A visible FAQ question addresses cancelling.
  • Question about limits — A visible FAQ question addresses limits or quotas.
  • Question about changing plans — A visible FAQ question addresses changing plans.
  • Question about price — A visible FAQ question addresses price.
  • Question about data and security — A visible FAQ question addresses data, privacy or security.
  • Question about why act now — A visible FAQ question addresses why the visitor needs this now rather than carrying on as before.
  • Question about timing — A visible FAQ question addresses how long it takes.
  • Question about trying it first — A visible FAQ question addresses a trial, a demo or a sample.
  • Who each option is for — A comparison says who each option is for
  • How to switch over — A comparison page shows how to switch
Form Friction (11)
  • Extra required fields — At most 1 required field beyond what the form’s type needs (an email for a newsletter; name, email and message for a contact form).
  • Fields with only a placeholder — Every field keeps a visible label while the visitor types.
  • Reassurance at the submit button — A line next to the submit button answers the last doubt (no spam, details not shared, reply time, no card needed).
  • Form fields for the free resource — A free resource asks for at most 2 fields
  • Email fields without the email keyboard — Email fields use the email type and email autofill (type=email, autocomplete=email).
  • Opt-ins ticked in advance — A marketing or newsletter opt-in starts unticked.
  • Fields that block pasting — Email and password fields accept pasted text.
  • Reason given for a required phone number — A required phone field has a reason, a privacy line or a no-spam line next to it.
  • Longest dropdown — A dropdown has at most 5 options, or the visitor can search it.
  • Steps on a long form — A form with more than 6 fields shows the visitor where they are (steps or a progress bar).
  • Required fields marked — A form that mixes required and optional fields marks which is which.
Offer Specificity (13)
  • Prices written as text — Prices are written as text, not only inside images or scripts.
  • Recommended plan in this group — One plan in this group is marked as the recommended choice (for example with a “Most popular” badge).
  • Name of the offer — The offer has a name
  • Plans with buttons in this group — Every plan in this group has its own button or link.
  • Time to the result — The offer says how soon the result comes
  • Plans with audience in this group — Every plan in this group says who it is for.
  • Work taken off the buyer — The offer says how it saves the buyer work
  • Discount format (rule of 100) — Below 100, a discount is stated as a percentage; from 100, as an amount.
  • Table rows with marks only — At least one compared row in four says the difference in words or numbers
  • Preview of the free resource — A lead-magnet page shows what the resource looks like
  • Date on the compared prices — Compared prices carry the date they were checked
  • What the free resource contains — A lead-magnet page lists what the resource contains
  • Bonus value against the price — The stated bonus value is at most twice the price
Urgency / Scarcity (3)
  • Countdown to a fixed deadline — A countdown runs to a fixed, stated deadline
  • Stock or seat counts — A stock or seat count comes from a live source
  • Live viewer counts — A viewer count comes from a live source
Proof of Outcomes (2)
  • Superlatives without a source — Every superlative (“the best”, “number one”, “leading”) names its source.
  • Statistics without a source — Every statistic names its source.
Page Speed (2)
  • Autoplay videos muted — An autoplaying video is muted
  • Poster image on autoplay or hero videos — An autoplaying or hero video names a poster image
Who built this

Built on CRO frameworks used in SaaS landing page optimization. The methodology, scoring rubric, and recommendation templates are proprietary to Landing Doctor.

What people say

“The advice was straightforward and easy to implement without redesigning everything. Big fan of the prioritized fix list — knew exactly where to start.”
Mia Clarke
Photographer · Mia Studio
“Landing Doctors helped us understand why our expensive traffic wasn't converting. The audit was direct, practical, and surprisingly detailed. We rewrote the hero section, simplified the messaging, and improved trust…”
Oliver Bennett
Founder · Northstack AI
Run the diagnostic on your page →

Our system uses industry-standard language models as part of applying this proprietary scoring methodology at scale. The framework, dimension rubric, scoring rubric, and rewrite templates are our own work — not generic model output.