Client: a SaaS in the e-mail marketing space. Pretty landing page: animations, video background, nice typography. Trial conversion: 1.2%. Niche benchmark: 3-4%. They asked us to 'redesign'.
What we did before touching design
- Hotjar + Microsoft Clarity: 200 session recordings, heatmaps, scrollmaps.
- Interviews with 12 users who signed up and 8 who didn't.
- Analysis of search queries driving traffic.
- Funnel breakdown: view → CTA click → form → activation.
Findings that changed everything
- The hero video background was stealing attention from the headline — 73% of users didn't finish reading the H1.
- 'Try free' read like 'here's a trial', not 'solve your problem'. Swapping to 'Send your first campaign in 5 minutes' gave +28% clicks.
- The signup form had 6 fields — users expected 2. We removed 4. Form conversion +41%.
- Social proof was at the bottom. Moved under H1 — first-screen conversion +19%.
Main insight
Design accounts for maybe 20% of conversion. The real levers: offer wording, CTA copy, number of form fields, social-proof placement. All of this can change in days, not months. Before you 'redesign' — get someone to run a CRO audit.