Landing Page Copy
Write copy for pages with a single conversion goal: signup, purchase, demo request, download, lead capture. Stack-agnostic.
This skill is narrower than content-and-copy. Landing pages exist to drive a specific action, not to inform broadly.
When to use
- Writing a hero section for a homepage or product page
- Writing a sales page or long-form sales letter
- Drafting opt-in or lead-capture page copy
- Campaign-specific landing pages
- Pricing page copy
- Demo or signup CTAs
When NOT to use
- Long-form blog content (use
content-and-copy) - Email sequences (use
email-sequences) - Brand voice definition (use
brand-voice) - Page design and layout decisions (use
design-standards)
Required inputs
- The product, service, or offer
- The target audience and the specific objection they bring
- The conversion goal (one specific action)
- Brand voice
- Existing customer language (testimonials, support tickets, sales calls)
- Any constraints (length, format, regulatory)
If audience is unclear or objections are unknown, run brand-discovery or pull from sales call recordings before writing.
The framework: 7 sections
A landing page does seven things in sequence. The structure can flex (combine, reorder, expand), but the elements stay constant.
1. Hero
The first 3 to 5 seconds. Decides whether the visitor stays.
Three components:
- Headline. The promise. Specific, outcome-focused, free of cliche.
- Subheadline. The mechanism. How you deliver the promise.
- Primary CTA. The action. One button, descriptive label.
Strong hero patterns:
- Outcome + audience + mechanism. "Ship features 3x faster, for engineering teams who hate meetings, with our async-first project tool."
- Pain reversal. "Stop losing customers to slow page loads."
- Surprising claim. "The note-taking app that gets used. We have data."
- Direct address. "You have 47 unread Slack messages. Here's what to do about it."
Weak hero patterns:
- Generic adjective stacking ("Powerful, intuitive, scalable")
- "Welcome to our platform"
- Brand-name-only headlines ("Acme: The Future of X")
- Vague benefits ("Streamline your workflow")
2. Social proof (early)
Within the first scroll, prove someone else trusts you.
Forms:
- Customer logos (recognizable beats unknown)
- Quantitative trust signal ("Over 10,000 teams")
- One strong testimonial with name and role
- Press mentions (logos of where you've been featured)
Placement: Right below the hero, before the visitor invests in reading more.
3. Problem / promise
Establish that you understand the visitor's situation.
Pattern:
- 1 to 3 paragraphs naming the specific problem
- Use the visitor's language (mined from research, not your marketing language)
- Stop before you sell. Resonate first.
Test: Read the problem section aloud. Does the target audience nod? If they don't, you don't understand them yet.
4. Solution / mechanism
How you solve the problem. The "what we actually do" section.
Effective structure:
- One headline summarizing the solution
- 3 to 5 specific features or capabilities, each with a 1-2 sentence explanation
- Each feature framed as the benefit it produces, not the technical detail
- Visual support (screenshots, illustrations, video clips)
Failure mode: Listing features without translating to outcomes. "Real-time collaboration" is a feature. "Edit together without copying-pasting from email" is the outcome.
5. Proof and detail
The expanded social proof and case studies section.
Components:
- 1 to 3 detailed case studies (specific customer, specific outcome, specific numbers)
- Multiple testimonials with attribution
- Specific data points (usage stats, success metrics, growth)
- Awards, certifications, or third-party validation
The deeper proof section is where committed visitors convert. Skim-readers won't make it here, but the ones who do are ready to buy.
6. Objection handling
Anticipate the reasons people say no. Address them directly.
Common objection types:
- Price. "Is this worth it?"
- Time. "Will this take forever to set up?"
- Trust. "Will this actually work for my situation?"
- Risk. "What if I commit and it's wrong?"
- Comparison. "How is this different from [competitor]?"
- Implementation. "Can my team handle the change?"
Handling formats:
- FAQ section. Structured, scannable.
- Comparison table. Vs. competitors or vs. alternatives.
- Risk reversal. Money-back guarantee, free trial, no-contract terms.
- Proof of effort needed. "Setup takes 5 minutes, not 5 weeks."
7. Final CTA
The closer. Re-state the offer. Re-state the action.
Strong final CTAs:
- Repeat the primary CTA from the hero (consistency)
- Frame in terms of the visitor's situation ("Get your team set up in 5 minutes")
- Remove friction ("No credit card required")
- One action only (avoid offering 5 alternatives that paralyze decision)
Avoid:
- Multiple CTAs competing for attention at the bottom
- New offers introduced only at the bottom (visitor is now confused)
- Long forms that ask for more information than needed for the action
The CTA itself
Buttons matter. Treat the button copy as a whole-page-worth of attention.
Strong CTA patterns:
- Action + outcome. "Start your free trial," "Get my pricing," "Send me the guide"
- First-person. "Show me how" outperforms "Show you how"
- Specific. "Book a 15-minute demo" beats "Contact us"
- Low-friction. "Free trial, no credit card" reduces commitment cost
Weak CTAs:
- "Submit" (functional but lifeless)
- "Click here" (no value statement)
- "Learn more" (vague; about what?)
- "Get started" (started doing what?)
Workflow
- Confirm the offer. What exactly is being offered? At what price (if any)? What does the visitor get?
- Confirm the audience and objection. Specific segment. The specific worry they bring.
- Mine the language. Customer testimonials, support tickets, sales calls. Use real customer phrases.
- Draft the hero. Headline, subheadline, CTA. Test 5 to 10 variations.
- Build the structure. All 7 sections in order. Sections can combine for shorter pages.
- Draft sections. Section by section. Don't polish until the structure is sound.
- Edit for friction. Remove every word that doesn't earn its place. Landing pages do not have words to spare.
- Test the CTA. Read the page aloud. By the end, is the visitor's next action obvious?
- Hand off with a post-import checklist. The deliverable is a markdown document, not a built page, so step 9 is not something you perform: it is a list you attach for whoever builds the page. Spell-check the copy yourself, then hand over the rest. Every destination URL resolves. Mobile preview of the built page. SEO basics if SEO is a goal. If the page is already built and you are revising it in place, run the checklist yourself instead of handing it over.
Failure patterns
- Hero that explains instead of sells. "We're an X for Y" is description. "Get X without Y" is sell.
- Feature lists with no outcomes. Features without benefits read as a spec sheet.
- Generic testimonials. "Great product!" is worth less than nothing. "We cut onboarding time from 2 weeks to 4 days" is gold.
- Multiple competing CTAs. Pick one primary action. Everything else is noise.
- Walls of text. Visitors scan. Use short paragraphs, bullet lists, and visual breakpoints.
- No social proof. Trust is the first hurdle. Without proof, the rest of the page does not earn the chance to be read.
- Mismatched headline and CTA. Hero promises X, CTA asks for Y. Visitor confused.
- Writing for everyone. "Our solution works for any business" appeals to no one. Specificity converts.
- Ignoring mobile. Most visitors are on mobile. Test the page at 375px first.
Output format
Default output is a structured markdown document for the page, with each section labeled. The markdown is ready to import into the CMS or hand to design.
Structure:
markdown# [Page Title] ## SECTION: Hero - Headline: [text] - Subheadline: [text] - Primary CTA: [button text] - Supporting cue: [optional, e.g., "No credit card required"] - Hero visual notes: [if any] ## SECTION: Social proof (early) - Logo bar: [list customer/press logos] - Trust statistic: [if any] ## SECTION: Problem / promise [2 to 3 paragraphs] ## SECTION: Solution - Headline: [text] - Feature 1: [headline + description] - Feature 2: [headline + description] - Feature 3: [headline + description] ## SECTION: Proof - Case study 1: [customer, outcome, numbers, or state the gap per the data-availability rule] - Testimonials: [list] - Data points: [list] ## SECTION: Objection handling - FAQ: [questions and answers] - OR Comparison table: [vs alternatives] - OR Risk reversal: [guarantee, terms] ## SECTION: Final CTA - Headline: [text] - Final CTA button: [text] - Supporting cue: [optional] ## Variants for testing - [Alternate headlines] - [Alternate CTAs] - [Alternate proof framings]
If required data is unavailable
This skill's output depends on data, measurements, or tool results it cannot generate on its own. When a required input, tool, or data source is unavailable or unverifiable, the sanctioned output is the deliverable with the gap stated: what was needed, what was actually obtained or verified, and which parts of the output are affected. Fabricating, estimating, or interpolating a required number to complete the deliverable is never sanctioned. A stated gap is a complete answer.
Reference files
references/hero-formulas.md- Patterns and formulas for hero headlines.references/objection-library.md- Common objections by category, with handling strategies.
