This is a common question, and I'm not sure there's a "golden number" for how well any page ought to convert; it depends a lot on where the traffic is coming fr

This is a common question, and I'm not sure there's a "golden number" for how well any page ought to convert; it depends a lot on where the traffic is coming from. One of your best tools in improving your page, however, is to test multiple versions at once and see which one converts better. Moreover, anything you can do to reduce the number of steps and requirements for the user will also improve conversion. For example, does your product really need them to confirm their password if they can have it emailed to them when they sign up or at any future time? Try removing unnecessary form fields, or deferring them until after the user has signed up. For reference, my most recent site (still in development) has the sign-up form on the front page, and we're able to convert 10-15% of random visitors from AdWords. I feel like that's pretty good. On another site, I struggled to get 8-10% overall conversion. And, on a very simple project (http://file.io http://file.io) that received a good number of hits from del.icio.us/popular (very targeted/interested traffic), I was converting greater than 25%. Just keep making it simpler, and keep testing, and you can improve your page.