Most websites lose visitors because of fixable problems nobody’s checked for. Not complicated problems. Obvious ones, like a confusing headline, a missing trust badge, or three different buttons competing for attention.
This tool walks you through a guided audit based on the LIFT model, a framework built around six factors that drive (or kill) conversions. Pick your page type, answer some yes/no questions, and get a Kirro Score showing exactly where to focus first.
How to use this checklist
- Pick the page type you’re auditing. The questions change based on whether it’s a homepage, pricing page, product page, sign-up page, or blog.
- Open the page you want to audit in another tab so you can look at it while answering.
- Work through each of the six LIFT factors. Each section has 3 to 5 yes/no questions. If something doesn’t apply to your page, mark it N/A.
- Read the “why this matters” tooltips. Each question links back to a specific psychology principle that explains why it affects conversions.
- Review your Kirro Score at the end. It breaks down your results by factor, showing which areas are strong and which need attention.
What the six LIFT factors mean
Every conversion decision comes down to six things. The LIFT model, developed by WiderFunnel’s Chris Goward, organizes them into one framework.
Value proposition is the core. Does the visitor believe the benefit is worth the cost (time, money, effort)? If not, nothing else matters. A strong value proposition answers “why should I care?” in under five seconds.
Relevance asks: does this page match what brought the visitor here? If someone clicked an ad for “free trial” and the page talks about enterprise pricing, they’re gone. Message match is one of the biggest conversion levers, especially for landing pages.
Clarity is about whether the value proposition and next step are obvious. Can a stranger figure out what to do in five seconds? One clear button beats three competing options every time. Most pages fail here (Hick’s Law: more choices = harder decisions).
Urgency gives visitors a reason to act now instead of “maybe later.” Real urgency (limited-time offer, seats filling up) works. Fake urgency (countdown timers that reset) damages trust.
Anxiety covers anything that makes a visitor hesitate. Missing trust signals, unclear pricing, no testimonials, or a checkout that feels sketchy. The fix is usually putting social proof and security indicators near the decision point, not buried in the footer.
Distraction is anything pulling attention away from the goal. Competing links, sidebar promotions, autoplay videos, too many navigation options. The best-converting pages are often the simplest ones. Removing elements can improve conversions more than adding them.
What to do with your results
Your Kirro Score shows a number from 0 to 100 and breaks it down across the six factors.
80 or above: Solid foundation. Your page covers the basics well. Focus on A/B testing the gaps to squeeze out more gains. Small changes can compound here.
50 to 79: Room to grow. Start with whichever LIFT factor scored lowest. That’s where visitors are dropping off. The checklist’s “start here” recommendation points you to specific fixes for your page type.
Below 50: Big opportunities ahead. The basics aren’t in place yet, which means fixing them will likely produce noticeable results. Focus on the top two weakest factors before worrying about anything else. Check our CRO best practices guide for a broader roadmap.
Your scores save in your browser, so you can come back after making changes and see whether things improved. We recommend re-auditing after every round of changes.
FAQ
What is a CRO audit?
A CRO audit is a structured review of a web page (or an entire site) to find things that are hurting conversions. Instead of guessing what to fix, you check each element against proven principles. It’s like a home inspection, but for your website. The full CRO audit process can include heatmaps, user recordings, and analytics, but this checklist covers the most impactful visual and structural checks you can do right now.
What is the Kirro Score?
It’s a conversion readiness score based on three sources: the LIFT model (six conversion factors developed by WiderFunnel), 106 psychology principles from growth.design, and page-type best practices from CXL, Baymard Institute, and Invesp research. We combined these frameworks into a single score because nobody else has. Each question maps to a specific LIFT factor and psychology principle.
How often should I audit my website?
At minimum, audit every page before and after making changes. Quarterly audits catch drift (small changes that accumulate and hurt conversions over time). If you’re actively running tests, audit after each winning variation goes live to make sure the improvement didn’t create new issues elsewhere.
What’s the most important thing to check first?
Your value proposition. If visitors can’t figure out what you offer and why it matters within five seconds, everything else is secondary. Open your page, squint at it, and ask: “Would a stranger understand what this company does?” If the answer is no, start there. The CRO guide covers this in more depth.
Do I need a CRO expert to do this?
No. This checklist is designed so anyone can use it. Each question is something you can answer by looking at your own page. The psychology principles behind each question are explained in plain English. A CRO expert would go deeper (heatmap analysis, user interviews, funnel data), but this audit catches the most common and impactful issues without any special tools or training.
Want Kirro’s AI to run this audit automatically? It analyzes your actual page, finds specific issues, and recommends what to test. Takes 60 seconds.