CRO Audit Template
The 30-point conversion audit Xpand runs before any CRO engagement. Find every leak in 60 minutes.
Why this exists
Most landing pages lose conversion on 5 to 8 specific things, not on the design as a whole. The 30-point audit catches all of them in 60 minutes. Operators who skip this and jump straight to A/B testing usually find no significant lift because they are testing on a broken page. The audit ranks issues by Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort so you fix the ones that move the needle, not the ones that are visible.
Most landing pages lose conversions on 5-8 specific things, not on the design as a whole. This audit walks 30 checks across hero hierarchy, CTA design, form length, social proof, mobile UX, page speed, and accessibility. Score each as Pass / Warning / Fail. Anything in Warning or Fail is a candidate for the next test.
Hero (5 checks)
-
✓
Headline names the outcome the user wants in under 10 words
-
✓
Subhead names who it's for and what they get in 12-20 words
-
✓
Primary CTA is visible above the fold on mobile
-
✓
Hero image / video shows the actual product or outcome
Stock photos of laptops are a tell. Use a real product screenshot or customer-facing scene.
-
✓
Brand identity is clear in the first 3 seconds. logo, color, voice all consistent
Primary CTA design (5 checks)
-
✓
CTA button uses an action verb naming the outcome (Book a strategy call, Start a free trial)
-
✓
CTA color contrasts strongly against background
-
✓
CTA is repeated 3-5 times down the page in the same color and language
-
✓
There is no second CTA competing for the same click
If you have a 'Watch demo' next to 'Start trial,' one should be a tertiary link, not a button.
-
✓
CTA leads to a frictionless next step (calendar, signup form, not 'contact us' email)
Form / signup flow (5 checks)
-
✓
Form has 3 or fewer fields above the fold
-
✓
Required fields are explicitly marked, not implicit
-
✓
Email field auto-completes on mobile (correct input type)
-
✓
Submit button text is specific (not 'Submit')
'Get my audit,' 'Book my call,' 'Send me the playbook.' Match the offer.
-
✓
After submit: clear next-step screen, not a generic thank-you
If they booked a call, show the calendar link directly. If they signed up, show what to do first inside the product.
Social proof density (5 checks)
-
✓
Logo bar within the first viewport. at least 5 recognizable customer logos
-
✓
At least one customer quote with photo, name, title, company in the first scroll
-
✓
Quantified result somewhere on the page (X%, Y customers, Z deals)
-
✓
Case study link or named outcome present
-
✓
Testimonials are specific, not generic ('they're great' = useless)
Look for testimonials that name the metric, the timeframe, and the outcome.
Mobile UX (5 checks)
-
✓
Page renders cleanly on iPhone 13 mini (375px wide) without horizontal scroll
-
✓
Text is at least 16px on mobile
-
✓
Buttons are at least 44px tall (Apple HIG minimum touch target)
-
✓
Hero image scales without overflowing or cropping the headline
-
✓
All forms use mobile-appropriate input types (tel, email, number, date)
Page speed and Core Web Vitals (3 checks)
-
✓
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) under 2.5 seconds on 4G mobile
-
✓
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) under 0.1
-
✓
First Input Delay (FID) under 100ms (or Interaction to Next Paint under 200ms in 2026)
Accessibility (2 checks)
-
✓
All images have descriptive alt text (decorative images use alt='')
-
✓
Color contrast meets WCAG AA (4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large text)
If a page has 6+ Warning or Fail items, do not run an A/B test yet. Fix the foundation first. Most teams test on broken pages and conclude 'CRO doesn't work'. the page was the problem.
How to use it well
Run the audit before any redesign or A/B test. Finding 6+ issues with ICE > 7 means the page needs a rebuild, not a test. Take screenshots of every flagged section so the dev team gets unambiguous fix briefs. Re-audit 30 days after shipping fixes. The score should jump from baseline to 85%+ pass rate.
What good looks like
Top 5 issues from a real CRO audit on a SaaS pricing page (CVR 0.8%).
1. Hero hierarchy. H1 is brand-name not value prop. Impact 9, Conf 9, Effort 1, ICE 81
FIX: 'Cut MQL→SQL latency by 40% in 30 days' replaces 'Welcome to ClientName'
2. CTA color. primary CTA blends into background. Impact 8, Conf 9, Effort 1, ICE 72
FIX: switch CTA from #2563eb to brand-accent #f59e0b
3. Form length. 11 fields, 6 unnecessary. Impact 9, Conf 8, Effort 2, ICE 36
FIX: drop company size, role, country, source, phone, comments
4. Social proof position. testimonials below fold on mobile. Impact 7, Conf 8, Effort 2, ICE 28
FIX: move logo bar above the fold on viewports under 768px
5. Mobile CTA tap target. 32px height, below 44px iOS minimum. Impact 7, Conf 9, Effort 1, ICE 63
FIX: increase to 56px height on mobile breakpoint
Predicted CVR after fixes: 0.8% → 2.1 to 2.6% (4 to 5 weeks of traffic to confirm).FAQ
Where do I start if my page fails 15+ checks?
Hero, primary CTA, and form. Those three sections drive 70% of conversion variance. Fix them first, re-run the audit, then move to social proof and mobile UX. Page speed and accessibility matter but rarely move the needle on initial conversion as much as the first three.
How often should I re-audit?
Quarterly for primary landing pages. Anytime you redesign or change the hero. Every time you launch a new campaign that drives significant paid traffic to the page. old audit assumptions may not apply to the new audience.
What conversion rate is realistic for B2B SaaS landing pages?
Cold traffic to email signup: 2-5%. Cold traffic to demo request: 1-3%. Warm traffic (retargeting, branded search) to demo request: 5-12%. If you are below the cold-traffic floor, the page has structural issues, not a testing problem.
Can I run an audit on a page I cannot edit?
Yes. Fill out the audit, share the results with the page owner, and prioritize the top 3 fixes. Most teams ship 5-8 audit-driven changes per month when the audit is documented clearly with screenshots and severity ratings.