wheel - 12:38 pm on Feb 11, 2009 (gmt 0)

the entire focus of the page, and pretty much the only option on the page, should be the conversion. "fill in this form to receive something".

Make sure it's prominent - and specifically tells your visitors why they need to fill in the form and what they'll get. The lack of focus on the lead conversion form (or making it almost a secondary feature) is the single biggest problem I see in my niche.

My lead conversion pages are a paragraph of text, the conversion form, then the rest of the text. The form isn't off to the side or in with the menus or anything. It's the central feature of the page.