Above-the-Fold Messaging Grader
Grade whether your hero explains what you do in three seconds.
Close, but the weak points cost you attention in the first seconds. Sharpen the headline to a plain outcome and cut any jargon before optimising anything below the fold.
The fold has one job: confirm the promise that earned the click and tell people what to do next. Clever rarely beats clear here.
About this calculator
Visitors decide whether to keep reading within a few seconds of landing, almost entirely based on what they see without scrolling. This grader scores your hero section against five clarity signals, whether a stranger instantly knows what you do, whether the headline states an outcome, and whether there's one obvious next step, so you can fix bounce at its most common source before touching anything further down the page.
How to use it
- Answer each of the five checks (Yes / Somewhat / No) as a fresh visitor would experience your hero, not as you intend it to read.
- The clarity score weights each check, the "what you do in 5 seconds" and CTA checks carry the most weight since they drive bounce the hardest.
- Read the overall grade and verdict, then rewrite whichever check scored lowest before iterating on anything below the fold.
Methodology
Each of the five checks is answered Yes (full weight), Somewhat (half weight), or No (zero), then multiplied by that check's weight: 30 for instant comprehension, 20 each for stated outcome and single CTA, 15 each for jargon-free copy and a supporting (not repeating) subhead. The weighted points sum to a 0-100 clarity score.
Scores of 80+ are graded "Clear," 55-79 "Getting there," and below 55 "Confusing, high bounce risk," reflecting how much of the checklist a typical hero needs to pass before it stops losing visitors on arrival.
This is a self-assessment grader, it scores your honest answers to structural questions, not an automated read of your actual copy or a measured bounce rate.
FAQ
That gap is exactly what the tool is built to catch. Founders and marketers who know the product well fill in the blanks a first-time visitor can't, so an honest score usually requires asking someone unfamiliar with the product to read the hero cold and answer the checks for you.
The "what you do in 5 seconds" check carries the most weight (30 points) because comprehension gates everything else, a visitor who doesn't understand your category or offer won't stick around long enough for a strong CTA to matter.
No. It measures whether your hero clears the structural bar that correlates with lower bounce, headline clarity, one CTA, no jargon, but actual bounce also depends on traffic quality, page speed, and whether the offer matches what drove the click in the first place.