Landing page design
Landing page design means giving one page one job: a headline that repeats the ad's promise, proof beside a single button, and a short form that loads quickly on a phone. Below are the parts, eight rules, three examples and a free way to build one.
Guide reviewed on 13 October 2026 · Mobirise team
The anatomy of a landing page
A landing page is where someone arrives from one particular ad, email, post or QR code, and it exists to get one action from them. The same six parts carry it, usually in this order.
A headline that repeats the promise
Reuse the words of the ad or message that sent the visitor. If the ad offers a free roof repair quote, the headline says exactly that, not your company motto.
One line on who it's for
A subheading of one or two sentences: who the offer suits, what they receive and how soon. Nouns and numbers do more than adjectives; "a fixed price by tomorrow" tells the reader more than "fast, friendly service".
A picture of the real thing
The product, the room, the team or the result. Posed stock photos add weight, not information. Check how the image crops on a narrow screen.
One call to action
A single button with a verb and an outcome, in the only strong colour on the page. Repeat it further down for people who read to the end, but never add a second, competing goal.
Proof beside the decision
Reviews with names, ratings with their count, client logos you may use, certificates. Put them next to the button, where doubt shows up, rather than in a pile at the bottom.
Answers, then the form
How it works, what it costs and what happens after the click. Then the form: only the fields the next step needs, and one sentence saying what the visitor gets and when.
Landing page design rules that hold up
Each one can be checked on the finished page in a minute or two. Where a rule has a number, it comes from a named public standard.
Remove the exits
Drop the main menu, blog links and social icons. Each extra link is a way out before the action. A logo, a contact line and legal links in the footer are enough.
Match the source
Keep the ad's wording, offer and visual style. Google Ads counts landing page experience, meaning how relevant and useful the page is to people who clicked, as one of three parts of Quality Score.
Fit the essentials on one screen
On a phone, the headline, subheading and button should show before any scrolling. If the image pushes the button down, make the image smaller, not the text.
Name the result on the button
"Get my quote", "Book a visit", "Send me the price list". Labels like "Submit" or "Learn more" describe the click instead of what the visitor receives.
Ask for less
For a first contact, a name plus an email or phone number is usually enough. Every further field needs a reason you could explain; qualifying questions can wait for the call.
Meet Google's speed thresholds
Core Web Vitals rate a page as good when its largest element renders within 2.5 seconds, input gets a response within 200 ms and layout shift stays at 0.1 or below, at the 75th percentile of visits.
Pass the accessibility basics
WCAG 2.2 sets text contrast of at least 4.5:1 (3:1 for large text) and tap targets of at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels at level AA. Give each form field a visible label, not only placeholder text.
Test one change at a time
An A/B test compares two versions that differ in one thing, and it needs enough visits and conversions per version to rule out chance. On a small campaign, watching a few people use the page often teaches more.
Landing page design examples from three Mobirise themes
The three desktop screenshots under this guide's heading are the opening screens of Mobirise theme demos: a volunteer organization (HumanityM5), a dietary supplement brand (EvolveM5) and a medical clinic (SpecialtyM5). They are demos, not campaign pages, so here is what each first screen does well and what to change before paying for traffic.
Volunteer organization
Everything is centred: one large headline, one sentence about the cause and one dark button, over a faded photo of reaching hands that leaves the words legible. For a recruitment campaign, change "About Organization" to "Sign up to volunteer" and name the next event.
Dietary supplement brand
A full-width close-up of green leaves sets the mood before anyone reads a word. The product name runs in very large white type, with a short description lower left and an "About supplement" button lower right. For an ad, put the benefit in the headline instead of the category and add a rating or certificate near the button.
Medical clinic
A split hero: a serif headline and three lines about experienced doctors, diagnostics and patient-centred care on the left, a photo of a bright clinic interior on the right. A real room earns more trust than an illustration. For a booking campaign, the main button should read "Book an appointment", with the phone number beside it.
What all three would change
Each demo keeps a full menu (Home, About, Events or Pricing), as a normal website should. For a campaign you would delete it, keep one action, and add proof and a short form lower down. Since each page is a stack of blocks, that is an edit, not a redesign.
How to build a landing page in Mobirise
One editor builds landing pages and full sites, in a browser or in the downloaded app. Four steps take a page to a live address.
Get a first draft
Tell the AI what you offer and whom it serves in one or two lines, in your own language, or hand it a drawn sketch or a screenshot instead. The AI generator returns four designs, each with copy and pictures, usually in under a minute; Regenerate offers more variants without using an attempt. Or open a theme and add blocks by hand.
Cut it to one goal
Drag blocks into order, delete the ones that don't serve the action and leave the menu out. Use Clone Block to repeat the call to action lower down, and choose the H tag of each title so the page has a single H1. Text and images are edited in place; each block's parameters set spacing, background, columns and visible elements.
Add the form and extras
Form Builder creates the lead form, Popup Builder adds a popup and Chat Button opens a conversation in WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger and other apps. All three are part of KIT, BASE and GROW, the paid plans.
Check on a phone, then publish
Preview it at phone, tablet and desktop widths; images become WebP automatically. Publish to a mobirisesite.com address with HTTPS or to a custom domain (BASE and GROW plans). On any plan, FREE included, the desktop app can also upload it by FTP or FTPES, publish it on GitHub Pages or write it to a local folder.
Mobirise has no built-in A/B testing. To compare two versions, publish each at its own address, send half of your ads to each and compare the results in your ad account or analytics. Editing also works without a connection in the offline desktop app; publishing and AI need internet.
Which landing page builder fits the job
Dedicated landing page platforms are built around testing and ad traffic. General site builders cost less and let one page grow into a site. Our picks, including where we would not choose ourselves:
- Many variants on paid traffic
- Unbounce or Instapage. Both put A/B testing on their middle plans; Instapage tests server-side and adds personalisation.
- A/B tests on a smaller budget
- Leadpages, where testing starts on the Grow plan.
- One simple page for very little
- Carrd: a free plan and paid plans priced per year.
- A free page you keep as files
- Mobirise: the desktop app costs nothing, exports HTML and publishes to any host.
- An AI design before you pay
- 8B AI: it costs nothing to design, and going live needs the Pro plan.
- A page that becomes a full site
- Mobirise, or another site builder, since later pages live in the same project.
- Where Mobirise falls short
- No built-in A/B testing; forms and popups come with paid extensions; no separate phone layout; free sites carry Mobirise branding.
Six landing page builders compared
Mobirise loses the A/B testing row; the dedicated platforms lose on keeping your files and on offline work. Note the billing basis in the price row: monthly or yearly.
| Mobirise | Unbounce | Leadpages | 8B AI | Carrd | Instapage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Landing pages and whole sites from responsive blocks, with files you keep | Marketers and agencies running campaign pages | Small businesses publishing landing pages, sites and blogs | Trying a complete AI site design at no cost, publishing later | Simple one-page sites and profiles | Ad campaigns at scale, with personalisation |
| A/B testing | No, not built in | Yes, unlimited, from the Experiment plan | Yes, from the Grow plan | Not listed | Not listed | Yes, server-side, from the Optimize plan |
| Forms | Form Builder extension, in KIT, BASE and GROW | Lead gen forms on every plan; multi-step forms from Build | Forms and webhooks on every plan | Contact and lead forms, free and Pro | From Pro Standard; advanced forms on Pro Plus | Form builder on every plan; multi-step forms from Optimize |
| AI help | Four designs per generation, starting from typed text, a sketch or a screenshot; 3 free generations monthly | AI copywriting from Build; AI traffic optimisation on Optimize | AI page creation on every plan | Generates a whole design from a single sentence; chat-based AI edits on Pro | Not listed | AI text for headlines, paragraphs and buttons |
| Free plan | Yes: the desktop app and its 200+ blocks, unlimited sites on any server, plus 3 free online sites on a Mobirise subdomain; free sites carry branding | No; a 14-day trial without a card, no custom domain during it | No; a 7-day trial, card required | Designing only; no publishing | Yes, up to 3 sites with "Made with Carrd" branding | No; a 14-day trial, card required |
| Cheapest paid plan | $149 a year for KIT: desktop app, all extensions, no branding. $199 a year for BASE, which adds custom domains on Mobirise hosting | Starter, $22 a month billed yearly ($29 monthly): 5 pages, traffic up to 500 | Pro, $29 a month; yearly billing saves 20% | $9 a month for Pro, paid annually, with hosting and a custom domain | $9 a year for Pro Lite (Carrd address only); $19 a year for Pro Standard, which adds custom domains and forms | Create, $79 a month billed yearly ($99 monthly): 15,000 unique visitors a month |
| Export the code | Yes: plain HTML, CSS and JS files, free from the desktop app; browser builder export needs BASE or GROW | No; pages download only as .unbounce files for Unbounce | Classic Builder: an HTML file that loads the page from Leadpages; a static copy is unsupported | Full HTML export on Pro | Pro Plus ($49 a year): HTML, CSS and JS in a zip; forms stop working | Not listed |
| Works offline | Yes, in the desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) | No, browser only | No, browser only | No, browser only | No, browser only | No, browser only |
Read on 13 October 2026 from every provider's pricing page and support articles. Prices in US dollars; "billed yearly" is the monthly equivalent of one annual payment, while Mobirise and Carrd quote a yearly price. Leadpages' dollar figures come from the FAQ on its pricing page. Older reviews often quote earlier plans, and prices change, so confirm on each site before you buy.
Pre-launch checklist for a landing page
Go through this list on a phone, on mobile data rather than office Wi-Fi, before the first paid click arrives, and send a test entry through the form yourself.
Fix any failed item before spending on traffic: paid clicks on a broken form are the costliest mistake here. For a one-page website rather than a campaign page, skip the first item and the single goal.
- Source match. The headline uses the words of the ad, email or post.
- First screen. Headline, subheading and button are visible on a phone without scrolling.
- One goal. The menu and unrelated links are gone; any repeated button leads to the same action.
- Button text. It names what the visitor gets.
- Proof. It sits near the button, and every quote has a name.
- Form. Only the fields the next step needs, each with a visible label.
- Test entry. It reaches the right inbox, and the thank-you message says what happens next.
- Contrast and tap size. Text meets 4.5:1 and buttons are easy to hit with a thumb.
- Speed. The page passes Core Web Vitals in PageSpeed Insights.
- Search basics. The page title and description describe the offer, and there is one H1.
- Footer. Privacy policy and contact links work.
- Tracking. A conversion is counted in your analytics or ad account.
Landing page design FAQ
What is landing page design?
It means planning one page around one action for visitors from a specific source: an ad, an email, a post or a QR code. It covers the headline, layout, proof, form and speed, and the result is judged by one number, the share of visitors who act.
What makes a good landing page?
A promise that matches where the visitor came from, one action, proof next to that action and a short form. It also has to load quickly and read well on a phone, since campaign traffic often arrives on one.
How do I design a landing page step by step?
Write down the single action you want and where the traffic comes from. Draft the headline from the source's own words, collect the proof you can show, and sketch the order of the six parts. Then build it from blocks or an AI draft and try it on a phone before launch.
Is a one-page website the same as a landing page?
Not quite. A one-page website fits a whole small site onto one scrolling page, usually with a menu that jumps to its sections, and serves several purposes. A landing page has a single goal, is usually made for one campaign, and can sit inside a larger site.
Should a landing page have a navigation menu?
Usually not: each menu link is a way to leave before acting. Keep the logo, a contact line and legal links; on a long page, a button that jumps to the form replaces the menu.
How long should a landing page be?
As long as the visitor's questions. A free download needs a screen or two; an expensive service needs prices, process, proof and answers, so it runs longer. Repeat the same button at natural stopping points.
What is the best landing page builder?
It depends on the job. For constant A/B testing on paid traffic, Unbounce, Instapage and Leadpages are designed for it. Carrd is a cheap choice for a single simple page. Mobirise suits a free page you can host anywhere and later grow into a full site, though it has no built-in A/B testing.
Can I make a landing page for free?
Yes. Mobirise's downloadable app is free, includes 200+ blocks and can upload the page to your own server. Online, the free plan covers 3 sites on a mobirisesite.com address plus 3 AI generations monthly, with a Mobirise badge on each site. Form Builder and Popup Builder need a paid plan, from $149 a year.
Can AI design a landing page?
Yes. In Mobirise you describe the offer and the audience, then pick from four AI designs and refine one by chatting with the AI or by editing blocks yourself. A single generation yields one page or a rough version of the full site. Your real prices, facts and photos still come from you.
Does Mobirise support A/B testing?
No, there is no built-in A/B testing. You can publish two versions at different addresses, send half of your ad traffic to each and compare the results in your ad account or analytics.
Build your first landing page
Begin with an AI-generated draft online, or lay it out block by block in the free app on a Windows, Mac or Linux computer, then publish it wherever your campaign needs it.