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.

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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)

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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.

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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

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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?)

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Workflow

1. Confirm the offer. What exactly is being offered? At what price (if any)? What does the visitor get?
2. Confirm the audience and objection. Specific segment. The specific worry they bring.
3. Mine the language. Customer testimonials, support tickets, sales calls. Use real customer phrases.
4. Draft the hero. Headline, subheadline, CTA. Test 5 to 10 variations.
5. Build the structure. All 7 sections in order. Sections can combine for shorter pages.
6. Draft sections. Section by section. Don't polish until the structure is sound.
7. Edit for friction. Remove every word that doesn't earn its place. Landing pages do not have words to spare.
8. Test the CTA. Read the page aloud. By the end, is the visitor's next action obvious?
9. 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.

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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.

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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:

# [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]

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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.

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Reference files

• references/hero-formulas.md - Patterns and formulas for hero headlines.
• references/objection-library.md - Common objections by category, with handling strategies.

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Supporting file: references/hero-formulas.md

Hero Headline Formulas

The hero headline is the most-read line on the page. It earns the rest of the read or it doesn't.

These are not magic templates. They are starting points. Apply them, then make them sound like the brand.

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Formula 1: Outcome + audience + mechanism

Pattern: [Specific outcome] for [specific audience] with [specific mechanism]

Examples:

• "Ship features 3x faster, for engineering teams who hate meetings, with async-first project management."
• "Cut payroll processing from days to minutes, for finance teams of 50+, with one connected system."
• "Build a remote team that doesn't burn out, for founders scaling past 20 people, with rituals that actually work."

Strengths: Highly specific. Hard to confuse with a competitor.

Weaknesses: Can become long and clunky. Not always elegant.

When to use: Product is in a crowded category and needs to differentiate quickly.

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Formula 2: Pain reversal

Pattern: Stop [specific pain]. Start [specific outcome].

Examples:

• "Stop losing customers to slow checkout. Start converting at industry-leading speeds."
• "Stop digging through Slack threads. Start finding answers in seconds."
• "Stop guessing what your users want. Start knowing."

Strengths: Direct. Names the visitor's current frustration.

Weaknesses: Depends on the pain being widely felt. If the pain isn't recognized, the headline doesn't connect.

When to use: The audience is actively frustrated by something specific.

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Formula 3: Surprising claim

Pattern: A specific claim that contradicts what the audience expects.

Examples:

• "The note-taking app most people actually use."
• "Email outreach that doesn't feel like spam."
• "The CRM that sales reps don't try to escape from."

Strengths: Pattern-breaks. Creates curiosity.

Weaknesses: Must be defensible. A surprising claim with no proof feels like marketing puffery.

When to use: You can back up the claim with evidence in the page below.

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Formula 4: Direct address

Pattern: Speak to a specific situation the visitor is in right now.

Examples:

• "You have 47 unread Slack messages. Here's what to do."
• "Your team just lost three candidates this month. Here's why."
• "Your app crashed at 3 AM. We watched your monitoring system miss it."

Strengths: Visitor recognizes themselves immediately.

Weaknesses: Risk of feeling presumptuous if the situation is wrong.

When to use: The audience is highly specific and the scenario is universal among them.

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Formula 5: Question they're already asking

Pattern: Pose the question the visitor came to find an answer to.

Examples:

• "How much should you actually spend on Google Ads?"
• "Should you build it or buy it? Here's the framework."
• "Why does your team's productivity drop after lunch?"

Strengths: Aligns with search intent. Strong for SEO landing pages.

Weaknesses: Less common in product hero copy. Better for content-driven landing pages.

When to use: The page answers a specific question the visitor brought.

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Formula 6: Comparison (us vs. them)

Pattern: [Our category] without the [familiar pain of the category].

Examples:

• "CRM software without the bloat."
• "Project management without the meetings."
• "Customer support without the tickets."

Strengths: Defines you in opposition to known alternatives.

Weaknesses: Lazy version becomes "X but better." Specific version requires you to actually deliver on the difference.

When to use: The category has a well-known pain point you avoid.

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Formula 7: Number + outcome

Pattern: Specific number that quantifies the value.

Examples:

• "Cut your churn in half within 90 days."
• "Onboard your team in 15 minutes, not 15 weeks."
• "Generate 200 hours of meeting transcripts per month."

Strengths: Specific and credible.

Weaknesses: The number must be defensible. Made-up numbers undermine trust.

When to use: You have real data backing the claim.

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Formula 8: First-person promise

Pattern: "Get [specific thing]" or "Find [specific thing]" - speaking as if to a friend.

Examples:

• "Get insurance quotes in 60 seconds. Compare 30 carriers."
• "Find a contractor your neighbors actually recommend."
• "Get back the 6 hours a week you spend on email."

Strengths: Conversational. Low-friction.

Weaknesses: Casual register may not fit every brand.

When to use: Brand voice supports a conversational first-person register.

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Subheadline patterns

The subheadline supports the headline. It usually does one of three jobs:

Job 1: Mechanism

The subheadline explains how you deliver the headline's promise.

Headline: Ship features 3x faster. Subheadline: Our async workflow eliminates the meetings that slow your team down.

Job 2: Audience qualifier

The subheadline names the audience precisely.

Headline: The simplest way to manage your inventory. Subheadline: Built for ecommerce stores doing $1M to $10M in revenue.

Job 3: Specificity / proof

The subheadline adds the credible detail.

Headline: Stop losing leads. Subheadline: Top performers reduce response time from hours to minutes. We help you do the same.

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What to avoid in hero copy

Generic adjective stacking

Bad: "Powerful. Intuitive. Scalable."

These adjectives apply to anything. They distinguish nothing.

Vague benefits

Bad: "Streamline your workflow with our innovative platform."

What workflow? What's innovative? What does the visitor actually do?

Brand-name-only headlines

Bad: "Acme: The Future of Work."

The visitor doesn't know what Acme is yet. The headline must tell them.

Cleverness over clarity

Bad: "Where productivity meets possibility."

Sounds nice. Means nothing. Visitors do not have time to decode poetry.

"Welcome to" openers

Bad: "Welcome to the [Brand] platform."

Treats the visitor as a guest rather than a person trying to solve a problem. Wastes the most important real estate on the page.

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Testing hero headlines

Don't ship the first headline you write. Generate 5 to 10 variations using different formulas. Read them aloud. Show them to people. Pick the one that:

1. A target-audience reader recognizes themselves in
2. Differentiates from at least 3 specific competitors
3. Sets up the rest of the page (the rest of the page must deliver on the headline's promise)
4. Sounds like the brand (not generic marketing speak)
5. Survives the "why now" test (why does this matter to the visitor today)

If a headline can't survive all five, generate more variations.

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CTA patterns to pair with hero headlines

The headline and CTA must rhyme. If they don't, the visitor's mental model breaks.

The CTA copy is part of the hero, not an afterthought. Treat it with the same care as the headline.

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Supporting file: references/objection-library.md

Objection Library

Common objections by category, with handling strategies. Use this to pressure-test landing page copy and to make sure each major objection is met somewhere on the page.

If a landing page does not name and answer the audience's real objections, it will not convert no matter how strong the hero is.

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How to use this library

1. Identify your audience and the specific decision they are facing.
2. Walk this library and flag every objection that applies.
3. For each flagged objection, decide where on the page it gets handled (and whether it gets handled with copy, social proof, a guarantee, an FAQ, or a feature).
4. Pressure-test the page: read it as a skeptical reader. Are the flagged objections answered before the CTA?

Most pages handle 5-8 objections. Pages that handle 0-2 read as too good to be true. Pages that handle 15+ feel defensive.

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Category 1: trust

The audience does not know if you are real, competent, or honest.

"I have never heard of you"

• Symptom: Bounce rate high, low time on page.
• Handling: Logo bar of customers, press mentions, founder photo and one-line bio, "since [year]" line, recognizable case study, security badges if relevant.

"How do I know this works?"

• Symptom: Visitors read the whole page but do not act.
• Handling: Specific case studies with real names and specific outcomes ("X reduced Y by Z%"). Demo or trial. Money-back guarantee. Free assessment.

"How do I know you will be around in a year?"

• Symptom: Common in B2B with switching costs, regulated industries, long-term commitments.
• Handling: Funding announcements, customer count, years in business, prominent enterprise customers, industry awards or compliance attestations.

"Who is behind this?"

• Symptom: Common in personal brands, consultancies, or expertise-based services.
• Handling: Founder photo, credentials, prior work, authentic origin story.

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Category 2: fit

The audience cannot tell if this is for them.

"Is this for someone like me?"

• Symptom: General-audience visitors converting; specific-segment visitors bouncing.
• Handling: Audience-specific copy, role-based or industry-based pages, named segments in the hero ("for [role] at [company size]"), audience-specific case studies.

"Will this work for my situation?"

• Symptom: Visitors get to features and bounce.
• Handling: Use case sections, conditional FAQ ("if you are X, here is how this works"), filterable case studies, decision tree or quiz.

"Is my problem big enough to need this?"

• Symptom: SMB visitors looking at enterprise products, or vice versa.
• Handling: Plan or tier comparison, "right-sized for [size]" messaging, alternatives section ("if you have [smaller problem], try [lighter approach]").

"I have already solved this with [alternative]"

• Symptom: Visitors compare and leave.
• Handling: Comparison page, "vs [competitor]" page, "in addition to" framing, integrations section.

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Category 3: complexity and time

The audience worries this will be hard, slow, or distracting.

"How long will this take to set up?"

• Symptom: Time-on-page high; conversion low. Common in dev tools, SaaS.
• Handling: "5 minutes to set up" messaging, video walkthrough showing real timing, testimonials from peers about onboarding, white-glove option.

"Will I have to migrate or change what I am doing?"

• Symptom: Switching anxiety. Common in any tool replacement.
• Handling: Migration guides, importer features highlighted, "works alongside [current tool]" framing, migration assistance offered.

"Will my team need training?"

• Symptom: Buyer is enthusiastic; champion is worried about adoption.
• Handling: Onboarding program, in-product training, role-based docs, video library, account manager for enterprise.

"Is this going to add to my plate?"

• Symptom: Visitors are already overworked. Common pitch to operators, ICs.
• Handling: Time-saving framing with specific numbers ("saves 4 hours per week"), automation highlighted, replace-not-add positioning.

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Category 4: cost

The audience worries about price, value, or hidden costs.

"How much does this cost?"

• Symptom: Anyone visiting the pricing page bounces. Conversion only on free trial.
• Handling: Transparent pricing on the marketing site (or "starts at" if pricing varies), no "request a quote" for low-tier pricing, ROI calculator.

"Is it worth the price?"

• Symptom: Pricing page visited; nothing happens.
• Handling: Specific ROI examples ("customers see X return in Y months"), comparison to alternative ("instead of hiring a [role], you get [tool]"), free trial or money-back, value framing throughout.

"Are there hidden fees?"

• Symptom: Visitors abandon at checkout or in sales calls when extras come up.
• Handling: "No setup fees" line, "no per-seat charges" if true, "all features included" if true, transparent pricing page with all variables surfaced.

"I do not have budget right now"

• Symptom: Common in macro slowdowns. Visitors say "interesting, send info."
• Handling: Annual discount, smaller plan, free tier, ROI-led copy, ROI calculator, "self-funding within X months" claim if defensible.

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Category 5: risk

The audience fears what happens if this goes wrong.

"What if it does not work?"

• Symptom: Visitors explore deeply but do not commit.
• Handling: Money-back guarantee, free trial, free pilot, money-back specifically tied to outcome ("if you do not see X, we refund"), case studies of customers who got results.

"What if my data is at risk?"

• Symptom: Common in B2B, data tools, financial, healthcare.
• Handling: Security page linked from footer (and from sales-relevant pages), compliance badges (SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, HIPAA), data-handling explainer, "your data is yours" framing.

"What if I am locked in?"

• Symptom: Visitors ask about export, contracts, cancellation in sales calls.
• Handling: "Export your data anytime," "no long-term contract," "cancel any time," month-to-month option visible.

"What if my team will not adopt it?"

• Symptom: Champion deals stall.
• Handling: Onboarding program, role-based pricing or trials, internal-rollout playbook, customer testimonials from peer companies on adoption.

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Category 6: timing

The audience does not see urgency.

"I will get to this later"

• Symptom: Sign-ups but no follow-through. Long sales cycles.
• Handling: Cost-of-inaction framing ("each month you wait costs X"), time-bound offer (tasteful, real, not fake), seasonal hook if relevant, before-and-after framing showing time loss.

"I am evaluating multiple options"

• Symptom: Pipeline takes 6+ months to close.
• Handling: Comparison page, evaluation guide ("how to evaluate [category]"), trial that gets the buyer hands-on quickly, customer references for direct calls.

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Category 7: politics and process

The audience cannot decide alone.

"I need to get my boss to approve this"

• Symptom: Champion engagement high; deal stuck above champion's authority.
• Handling: Business case template, ROI calculator, exec one-pager, "make the case to [role]" content, customer references at peer companies (named role buying the same tool).

"I need legal/security/procurement to review"

• Symptom: Long lag between handshake and contract signature.
• Handling: Security questionnaire pre-completed, MSA boilerplate available, vendor onboarding kit, named legal/security contact for buyer-side reviewers.

"I need to align with [other team]"

• Symptom: Multi-stakeholder deals stall.
• Handling: Team-specific pages, team-specific demos, multi-stakeholder ROI framing, internal advocacy kit (slide deck, FAQ).

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Category 8: emotional / status

The audience worries about how they will look.

"What if this is the wrong call?"

• Symptom: Decision-maker stalls. Common with high-visibility purchases.
• Handling: Peer customer testimonials ("[Title] at [Recognizable Company] said X"), industry analyst recognition, awards, money-back guarantee that limits downside.

"Will this make me look behind / ahead?"

• Symptom: First-mover anxiety or laggard anxiety. Industry-specific.
• Handling: "Industry standard now" framing for laggards, "ahead of the curve" framing for first-movers, social proof from peer companies in either case.

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How objection handling shows up on the page

The library is the inventory. The page is where it lands. The most common placements:

• Hero: answers the "is this for me" objection.
• Logo bar: answers "are you real."
• Feature sections: answer "does this do what I need."
• Use case sections: answer "will this work for my situation."
• Case study sections: answer "does this work."
• Comparison sections: answer "what about alternatives."
• Pricing section: answers "what does it cost."
• FAQ section: answers the long tail of objections.
• Guarantee / trial offer: answers "what if it does not work."
• Footer trust block: answers "is my data safe" via compliance badges.

If an objection from your audience is not answered anywhere on the page, the page is incomplete.

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Worked example

Audience: Engineering manager at a series-B startup, 30-50 person engineering org, evaluating an observability tool to replace an in-house Grafana setup.

Top 5 objections (filtered from the library):

1. "How long will this take to set up?" (Category: complexity)
2. "Will I have to migrate?" (Category: complexity)
3. "What does this cost at our scale?" (Category: cost)
4. "What if my engineers do not adopt it?" (Category: risk + politics)
5. "What if our data is at risk?" (Category: risk)

Page placements:

Page is built around answering these five, in order, from hero to CTA.