Landing Copy

Landing Copy — The Words That Convert on One Page

Hook, offer, proof, CTA. You write the words a visitor reads top to bottom; you do not draw the layout, build the page, or write the ad that sent them.

This skill owns conversion copy for a single page: a hero headline under ~8 words plus a benefit subhead, a top-to-bottom page skeleton, the offer stated as a benefit, proof slotted next to the ask, and one primary CTA repeated without competing. It is a copy job. The pixels are design's, the React/Next build is nextjs's, the ad that drives the click is ads's.

When to use

• Writing or rewriting a hero: H1 + subhead + button copy.
• Structuring a full landing/sales page (hook → problem → offer → proof → CTA → objections).
• Choosing and writing one primary CTA and its repeated instances.
• Turning features into benefits ("AES-256 encryption" → "your security team signs off in days").
• Slotting proof — testimonials, metrics, logos, a guarantee — next to the ask.
• Making the page headline match the ad/email that drove the click (message match).
• Rescuing a page that gets traffic but does not convert — when the failure is the words.

When NOT to use (route to the sibling that owns it)

• Visual layout, hierarchy, spacing, component system → design (../design/SKILL.md).
• Building the page in code, form wiring, routing → nextjs (../nextjs/SKILL.md) / react.
• The paid Google/Meta ad copy that drives traffic to the page → ads.
• The brand's tone, voice rules, lexicon, do/don't word list → brand-voice.
• Ranking in organic search or getting cited by AI answer engines → seo-geo.
• Designing and running the experiment that picks the winning variant → ab-testing.
• Writing the standalone customer story as its own asset → case-studies.
• A multi-channel launch plan, nurture emails, or campaign strategy → marketing (../marketing/SKILL.md).

Boundary in one line: you own the words that convert on one page; ads owns the click that arrives, design owns the layout they sit in, ab-testing owns the proof of which words win.

The conversion reality (calibrate, never promise)

These numbers set expectations. State them as a band; the moment you promise a flat conversion rate you are lying to the user.

• Cross-industry median is ~6.6%; strong pages in any vertical reach 10–15%+. Per-vertical the spread is wide: Events & Entertainment ~12.3%, Financial Services ~8.4%, SaaS/Tech ~3.8%, Ecommerce ~2.35%, B2B services ~1–3%. Why: a SaaS team told "you'll hit 12%" was quoted the events median; quote the band for their vertical so the goal is real. (Foundry CRO benchmarks 2026, citing Unbounce's analysis of 464M visits / 41k pages.)
• Visitors decide whether to stay in ~5 seconds, and ~80% rarely scroll past the fold. Why: the hero is the single highest-leverage copy on the page — if it does not answer "what is this and why should I care" before a scroll, the rest is unread. (Hero-section research / NN/g attention studies 2026.)

The four blocks — the spine of the page

Every conversion page is these four jobs, top to bottom. Each has a distinct question, a home on the page, and a failure mode. Diagnose a dead page by finding which block is weak.

The hook

The H1 carries the what; the subhead carries the benefit; both must echo whatever the visitor clicked.

• H1 under ~8 words / ~44 characters. The constraint forces clarity, and a clear headline beats a clever one every time. If you can't say it in 8 words you don't understand the offer yet.
• Subhead carries the benefit — who it's for and the outcome they get, in one clause.
• Message match: the headline must echo the promise of the ad/email that drove the click. Aligning a single claim across ad + page has produced a 66% CVR lift in documented cases (and 212% from fixing message match alone). You match the page to the ad; writing the ad is ads.

Bad  — "Reimagine The Future Of Financial Operations"   (clever, 6 words, says nothing)
Good — "Expense reports done in 30 seconds"             (clear, 5 words, names the outcome)
         Subhead: For finance teams drowning in receipts — snap, submit, approved.

The offer

Name the thing, the outcome, and the cost in effort or money. Lead with the outcome the buyer gets, then the mechanism that delivers it. This feature→benefit transform is the highest-impact copy shift on most pages.

The scaffold is FAB — Feature → Advantage → Benefit — but you stop at the benefit the reader cares about and back it with the mechanism as proof, not the other way round.

Bad  — "Our platform has advanced AES-256 encryption."
Good — "Protect customer data with AES-256 encryption, so your security team
         signs off in days, not months."

Rule: every feature line answers "so what?" with an outcome. If it can't, cut it.

The proof

Belief is built next to the ask, not in a wall of quotes elsewhere.

• 3–5 specific, named testimonials, each with a concrete result. "Great product!" persuades no one; "cut our close time from 9 days to 2 — Maria, CFO at Lumen" does. Specific beats superlative.
• Place proof adjacent to the primary CTA. Social proof next to the ask has lifted conversion ~68% in documented cases; reviews/testimonials are decisive for ~93% of buyers and ~88% trust them like a personal recommendation. Why: belief and the decision happen in the same moment — put the evidence where the click is.
• Numbers, recognizable logos, and a risk-reversal (money-back, no card required) are proof too. One hard number outweighs three adjectives.
• Never fabricate proof. If a metric, quote, or logo isn't real, mark [[NEEDS PROOF]] and ask the user — do not invent it.

Bad  — "Loved by teams everywhere. World-class results!"
Good — "We cut expense-report time 82% in the first month."
         — Maria Ortiz, CFO, Lumen (47-person finance team)