83% of landing page visits are mobile, so why is desktop converting higher? New data reveals what to fix

Mobile landing pages underperform desktop by a measurable margin, even as mobile drives the majority of visits. In a platform-wide analysis of 41,000 landing pages and 57 million conversions, Unbounce’s Conversion Benchmark Report finds that plain-language copy and email traffic correlate with the strongest conversion rates. This brief highlights the numbers marketers can use to set targets and prioritize fixes.

New Report Reveals An 8% Mobile Landing Page Conversion Gap — Across 41k landing pages, desktop converted 8% higher than mobile despite far less traffic.

Mobile landing page conversion gap - Executive snapshot

83% of landing page visits came from mobile devices, yet desktop converted 8% higher on average.
Median landing page conversion rate across industries: 6.6% with verticals ranging from 3.8% to 12.3%.
Pages written at a 5th-7th grade reading level converted at 11% - 56% higher than pages at an 8th-9th grade level. Heavy use of complex words (3+ syllables) correlated with a 24.3% drop in conversion.
Email traffic averaged a 19.3% conversion rate. Paid social also performed strongly (Instagram 17.9%, Facebook 13%) and outpaced paid search in this dataset.
Closing the 8% mobile gap would have yielded an estimated 1.3 million additional conversions in the sample.

Implication for marketers: Treat mobile as the primary experience, simplify language to a 5th-7th grade reading level, and capture demand with email and paid social while monitoring conversion quality.

Method and source notes

What was measured: Unbounce aggregated anonymized performance from 41,000 landing pages and 57,000,000 conversions across industries to report device mix, conversion by device, channel-level conversion averages, and copy readability correlations. The report presents medians and ranges and estimates lost conversions from the mobile-desktop gap.

Timing and scope: The exact time window is not specified. Results reflect pages and traffic processed on Unbounce’s platform and may over-represent mobile-heavy acquisition programs, such as social ads.

Supplementary evidence

Mobile speed and bounce: Google/SOASTA found that slower mobile load times sharply increase bounce probability - 1 to 3s: +32%, 1 to 5s: +90%, 1 to 10s: +123% (source).
Speed and conversion: Deloitte observed that a 0.1s improvement in mobile site speed correlated with an 8-10% lift in conversions in retail and travel (source).
Device share baseline: StatCounter shows mobile at roughly 59-61% of global web traffic in 2024, lower than the 83% share seen on landing pages in the Unbounce dataset (source).

Key limitations

Conversion definitions vary by campaign and are set by advertisers. Not all conversions carry equal revenue impact.
Channel conversion rates may reflect audience warmth and do not isolate causal effects.
Readability findings are correlational and may proxy for audience, offer type, or compliance context.

Findings

Mobile vs. desktop performance

Traffic mix: 83% of landing page sessions were on mobile devices, indicating mobile-heavy acquisition on landing pages. This exceeds the ~59-61% global mobile share, suggesting selection effects from ad and social traffic.
Outcome: Desktop converted 8% better than mobile on average despite far less traffic volume. Unbounce estimates 1.3 million incremental conversions were possible if pages closed this gap.
Speed context: Independent studies tie slower mobile load times to sharp increases in bounce and lower conversion. A 1 to 5 second delay raises bounce probability by 90% (Google/SOASTA), and a 0.1s improvement correlated with an 8-10% conversion lift in retail and travel (Deloitte).

Industry medians and spread

Aggregate median conversion rate: 6.6% across all industries.
Verticals span 3.8% to 12.3%, so targets should reflect category and conversion type, not a single global number.
Frequency is not value. High rates may be tied to low-friction micro-conversions, while lower rates may represent higher-value goals.

Readability and copy simplicity

Pages at a 5th-7th grade level converted at 11% on average - 56% higher than pages at an 8th-9th grade level, and more than double professional-level copy in this dataset.
Use of complex words (three or more syllables) showed a 24.3% negative association with conversion rates.
Practical take: Simplify vocabulary and sentence structure to improve form completion and call-to-action engagement, especially on small screens.

Channel performance

Email traffic had the highest observed conversion rate at 19.3%, consistent with warmer, known audiences.
Paid social performed well: Instagram at 17.9% and Facebook at 13%, surpassing paid search in this dataset.
These figures are averages across many accounts and objectives; outcomes depend on offer quality, audience intent, and funnel stage.

Interpretation and implications

Likely

Make mobile the primary design and quality assurance focus. Given the traffic share and the 8% performance gap, improving mobile speed, forms, and above-the-fold clarity is a high-leverage opportunity.
Plain language is an actionable lift. Target a 5th-7th grade reading level in headlines, body copy, and form labels. Reduce complex words and test shorter sentences.
Lean into email’s conversion strength with list growth and landing pages tuned for rapid confirmation (short forms, minimal friction).

Tentative

Paid social’s strong averages suggest creative-to-page match and mobile-native layouts matter more than platform choice. Align visuals, headline promise, and landing page scannability to preserve intent.
Use industry medians as directional targets, but pair rate goals with revenue per lead or per order to avoid over-optimizing low-value actions.

Speculative

A material share of the mobile gap may be driven by speed debt and input friction. Combine image compression, fewer third-party scripts, and progressive disclosure in forms to recover a meaningful portion of the estimated 1.3 million missed conversions.

These findings align with broader industry trends that emphasize lean UX, continuous testing, and mobile-first optimization.

Contradictions and gaps

Device mix variance: Landing pages show 83% mobile sessions, while global browsing is closer to 59-61% mobile. Results may not generalize to all sites or B2B contexts.
Timeframe and causality: The measurement window is unspecified. Relationships are correlational and may be confounded by offer type, audience, and funnel stage.
Channel comparability: Email typically reflects warm users, while paid search and paid social often include colder audiences. Direct comparisons have limits without uniform objectives and attribution windows.
Conversion definition: Campaign-level definitions vary. Compare rates alongside value metrics to avoid misinterpretation.

Data appendix

Device share on landing pages: mobile 83%. Desktop converted 8% higher than mobile.
Aggregate median conversion rate: 6.6%. Vertical range: 3.8-12.3%.
Readability: 5th-7th grade level averaged 11% conversion and outperformed 8th-9th grade by 56%. Complex words (3+ syllables) associated with a 24.3% drop.
Channel conversion rates: Email 19.3%; Instagram 17.9%; Facebook 13%.
Speed context: Bounce probability rises 32% (1 to 3s), 90% (1 to 5s), 123% (1 to 10s). A 0.1s faster mobile load correlated with +8-10% conversions in retail and travel.