CONVERSION

Navigation and escape route audit

Use when visitors wander off a conversion page into the rest of the site and never come back.

navigation-and-escape-route-audit.md

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You are auditing every route off a conversion focused page.

PAGE: {{PAGE}}
PURPOSE OF THE PAGE: {{PAGE_PURPOSE}}
ALL LINKS ON THE PAGE (label, destination, position): {{LINK_LIST}}
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF EXITS GO WHERE, IF KNOWN: {{EXIT_DATA}}

Produce a table: Link | Destination | Why a visitor clicks it | Does it serve the page purpose? | Verdict (keep, convert to on-page content, convert to modal or accordion, remove) | Return path if kept.

Then answer:
- Which links are there because a visitor genuinely needs the information before deciding? For each, could that information live on the page instead of behind a click?
- Which links exist for internal or SEO reasons rather than visitor need? Say what to do with them without harming internal linking.
- Does the page need the full site navigation at all, given its purpose? Give the case for and against stripping it, and what you would measure.
- Any destination that is a known dead end with no way back to this page.

Constraints: do not recommend removing links required for legal or accessibility reasons. Do not recommend blanket navigation removal without stating the risk to returning visitors and to internal linking. No em dashes.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{PAGE}}
{{PAGE_PURPOSE}}
{{LINK_LIST}}
{{EXIT_DATA}}

Getting a better result

Include the footer and the logo link, since the logo is a common accidental exit.
Pulling needed information into an accordion often beats both keeping and removing the link.
If you strip navigation, measure assisted conversions too, not just the page rate.

Questions about this prompt

When do I audit the links rather than the buttons?

When visitors leave a conversion page into the rest of the site and never return. The call to action review handles competing buttons; this covers every route off the page, including navigation, footer and the logo, and asks whether each serves the page purpose. Reach for it when exit destinations look scattered rather than concentrated.

What do I need in front of me before running it?

The page purpose, every link with its label, destination and position, and exit percentages where you have them. Include the footer and the logo link, because the logo is a common accidental exit and almost never appears when people list the links by hand. Exit data turns the verdicts from guesses into decisions.

What comes back, and which part is worth acting on?

A table ending in keep, convert to on-page content, convert to a modal or accordion, or remove, with a return path for anything kept. The middle verdict is the useful one: pulling needed information into an accordion often beats both keeping the link and deleting it, because the visitor never leaves the page.

What is the mistake that costs me here?

Stripping the navigation on the strength of one page rate. The prompt insists on stating the risk to returning visitors and to internal linking for good reason, and links required for legal or accessibility reasons stay regardless. If you do strip it, measure assisted conversions as well, not only the page you changed.