Most conversion advice starts at the button: color, copy, placement. That work matters, but it assumes someone has already decided to stay on the page — the harder problem is earning that decision in the first three seconds.
We design the first screen as a promise, not a pitch: one clear statement of what this is and who it is for, delivered with enough visual confidence that a visitor trusts the rest of the site is worth their time.
Conversion rate is a lagging indicator. Attention — measured in scroll depth, time on the hero, return visits — is the leading one we actually design against, because a business can only convert people who stayed long enough to be convinced.