5 UX mistakes I see on almost every startup landing page

I look at a lot of startup landing pages. Part of my job is tearing them down and pointing out what is quietly costing people signups. After enough of them, the same handful of mistakes show up again and again. None of them are hard to fix. Most founders just cannot see them anymore because they have stared at the page for months. Here are the five I run into most.

1. The headline says what it is, not what it does for me

The most common mistake is a headline that describes the product instead of the outcome. "An AI powered workflow platform for teams" tells me the category. It does not tell me what changes in my life if I sign up. Compare that to something like "Ship your team's work in half the time." One is a label, the other is a promise. Visitors decide in a couple of seconds whether to keep reading, and they decide based on what they get, not what you built. Lead with the result.

2. Two or three buttons fighting for the same click

A lot of pages give you "Start free trial," "Book a demo," and "Watch video" all sitting next to each other with the same weight. When everything is equally important, nothing is. The visitor has to stop and choose, and stopping to choose is often the same as leaving. Pick the one action you most want people to take and make it the loudest thing on the page. Let the others be smaller or lower down. One clear path beats three competing ones.

3. Proof shows up too late, or not at all

Founders tend to save the logos, testimonials, and numbers for halfway down the page. But trust is what makes the top of the page believable. If you claim you save teams hours a week, a real quote or a recognizable logo right there is what makes me believe it. Empty proof counts against you too. A "trusted by" row with three faded logos nobody recognizes reads as weakness. If your proof is thin, use one strong specific result instead of a wall of vague ones.

4. Asking for too much, too soon

Signup forms that want your name, company, team size, and phone number before you have seen anything are asking for a commitment the visitor has not agreed to yet. Every extra field is another reason to close the tab. The same goes for pages that hide pricing behind "contact sales" when the buyer just wants a number. Give people a low friction way in and earn the bigger ask later. The first step should feel almost free.

5. The page never tells you what to do next

Plenty of landing pages are pretty and still leave you unsure what happens if you click. Is it a trial? A demo? Do I need a credit card? How long does it take? Vague buttons like "Get started" or "Learn more" make people hesitate because hesitation is the safe choice. Say exactly what happens next. "Start your free trial, no card needed" removes the guesswork, and removing guesswork removes reasons to leave.

None of these require a redesign. They are small, specific, and fixable this week. If you want a second set of eyes, this is basically what I do when I tear down a page. Send me your landing page and I will point out the two or three things I would change first and why. No pitch attached, just the notes.