landing-page-copy

name	landing-page-copy
description	Draft, edit, or review landing-page and conversion copy that helps a specific reader make one decision. Use when writing a hero section, sequencing a full landing page, mining voice-of-customer language, generating headline variants, sharpening a vague feature page into outcome-led copy, diagnosing why a page isn't converting, or rewriting brochure-voice marketing into copy that sounds like a real person.
argument-hint	Goal (draft/edit/review/diagnose), product or offer, target reader, stage of awareness if known, the one action the page should drive, voice-of-customer source material, and any existing copy or analytics

Landing Page & Conversion Copy

What This Skill Does

Turn a product, offer, or rough draft into landing-page copy that earns one specific decision from one specific reader.

This skill treats a landing page as a constraint problem with one controlling rule: assemble the page from the reader's own words, organized around their stage of awareness, and pressure-tested against a single conversion. Coverage is not the goal. A clear, specific, scannable page that answers the reader's real objections is.

Use this skill to:

• Draft a hero section (headline, subhead, primary CTA) from a product brief.
• Sequence a full landing page from research to offer to objection-handling.
• Mine voice-of-customer source material into a tagged, usable corpus.
• Generate 20–30 headline variants and pick the strongest.
• Rewrite "we"-voice feature lists into outcome-led, "you"-voice copy.
• Diagnose why an existing page isn't converting and propose specific rewrites.
• Critique a draft for vagueness, awareness-level mismatch, or buried offer.

This skill is for landing-page craft. It is not for full-funnel growth strategy, paid-channel ad copy, long-form sales letters disconnected from a landing page, or platform-specific posts (LinkedIn, X, email) — those have their own constraints.

When to Use

• The user has a product, offer, or rough brief and wants a landing-page draft.
• An existing page reads like a brochure (we-voice, feature lists, vague superlatives) and needs a rewrite.
• The user has voice-of-customer material (reviews, sales calls, support tickets, Reddit threads) and wants it turned into copy.
• A page isn't converting and the user wants a copy-side diagnosis with specific fixes.
• The user wants 20+ headline variants for testing or to pick the most specific one.
• A team has multiple competing CTAs or unclear awareness assumptions and needs a single-decision page.

Do not use this skill for:

• Paid ad copy where the constraints are character limits and platform policies, not page architecture.
• Long-form direct-response sales letters where the controlling format is email or PDF, not a web page.
• Pure brand or positioning work disconnected from a specific page and a specific action.
• Platform-native social posts — write for the target platform's constraints directly.

Inputs To Gather

Ask for whatever is missing before drafting or rewriting.

• goal — draft, edit, review, diagnose, or headlines-only.
• product_or_offer — what is being sold or signed up for, in one paragraph the user would say out loud.
• target_reader — a specific person with a specific problem, named role, and trigger that brought them here. Not "professionals" or "businesses."
• traffic_source — how the reader arrives (cold ad, branded search, comparison query, internal link). Determines awareness assumptions.
• stage_of_awareness — Unaware / Problem-Aware / Solution-Aware / Product-Aware / Most Aware. If unknown, ask enough about the traffic source to pick one.
• the_one_action — the single conversion the page must earn (start trial, book demo, buy, subscribe). Not "engagement" or "interest."
• voice_of_customer — quotes, reviews, sales-call snippets, support tickets, Reddit threads, cancellation-survey answers. Verbatim phrases are worth more than paraphrases.
• proof_assets — numbers, customer names, logos, case studies, screenshots, demos, guarantees.
• objections_known — top 3–5 reasons readers don't convert (price, trust, fit, effort, risk).
• offer_details — price, plan structure, free trial, money-back, onboarding, what happens after the click.
• voice_constraints — brand voice, regulated wording, claims that must (or must not) appear.
• existing_page — current copy and analytics (scroll depth, CTA clicks, form starts) when editing or diagnosing.

If the brief is "make this page convert better," ask for the one action and the stage of awareness before suggesting any copy. If there is no voice-of-customer material at all, ask whether the user can supply 5–10 verbatim quotes before drafting the hero.

Non-Negotiable Constraints

Treat these as defaults unless the user explicitly narrows scope.

1. One reader, one stage of awareness, one action. The page targets one place on the awareness ladder and earns one decision.
2. Voice of the customer over voice of the writer. Headline and subhead should be 70%+ paraphrased from real reader language, not invented.
3. Specifics over superlatives. Replace adjectives with numbers, names, mechanisms, or time. If a claim can't be substantiated, cut it.
4. Outcomes before features. Lead with the better life the reader wants; use features as evidence the outcome is real.
5. Promise → proof → mechanism → offer. The page sequence honors how belief builds.
6. Strip every other path. No nav menu in the conversion zone, no competing CTAs, no "alternatives" links that leak intent.
7. One CTA verb, repeated. Same action language at every CTA, roughly every 1.5 screens.
8. Anticipate the top 3–5 objections in order (price, trust, fit, effort, risk) and answer each in the page's flow.
9. Write to one person, out loud. Use "you," contractions, short sentences. Read aloud; if you stumble, rewrite.
10. No dark patterns. No fake scarcity, fake testimonials, fake countdowns, fake "people viewing this now," or guilt-trip opt-outs.
11. Treat the page as a hypothesis. Recommend what to instrument and which variable to test first.

Procedure

Follow the steps in order. Do not skip the research and awareness steps — they decide everything that follows.

Step 1 — Clarify reader, awareness, and the one action

Determine:

• the one reader the page is for, named with role and trigger.
• the stage of awareness given the traffic source.
• the one action the page must earn.
• the offer in one sentence the user would actually say.

If any of these are unclear, ask one targeted question rather than drafting around ambiguity. Awareness-level mismatch is the single most expensive mistake — get it right before writing.

Step 2 — Mine voice-of-customer language

From the source material the user provides:

• Pull verbatim phrases (not paraphrases).
• Tag each phrase by pain, desired_outcome, objection, or aha_moment.
• Note recurring metaphors, the words readers use for the problem, and the way they describe the "before" and "after."
• Surface the 5–10 phrases most likely to anchor a headline, subhead, or objection-handling block.

If source material is thin, say so explicitly and flag which sections of the page will be weakest until more research lands. Do not invent quotes or testimonials.

Step 3 — Choose the message-page architecture

Decide the structural sequence based on awareness:

• Unaware → story-led, problem agitation first, then a turn into the new mechanism.
• Problem-Aware → name the pain in the reader's words, then introduce the category of solution.
• Solution-Aware → contrast against alternatives, position the mechanism, then the product.
• Product-Aware → proof, differentiation, and friction removal.
• Most Aware → offer, guarantee, urgency without manipulation, and friction removal.

Sketch the section order before writing any section copy. Default sequence: hero → social proof → outcome / mechanism / proof loop → objections → offer → secondary CTA → FAQ.

Step 4 — Draft 20–30 headline variants

Write hero-headline candidates only. Force each to lean on at least one of:

• a specific outcome ("Cut payroll close from 4 days to 4 hours"),
• a specific reader ("For ICU nurses charting on 12-hour shifts"),
• a specific mechanism ("The only CRM built on your inbox, not next to it"),
• a specific contrast ("Stop paying for seats your team doesn't use"),
• a specific number, name, or time ("412 ICU nurses at Mount Sinai trust this").

Cut every word the headline still works without. Pick the most specific candidate, not the cleverest. Pair it with a subhead that adds a new piece of information — typically the mechanism or the qualifying detail — not a restatement.

Step 5 — Draft the page in one pass

With the chosen hero, draft the full page following the chosen architecture:

• Hero: headline, subhead, primary CTA verb, single supporting visual cue.
• Social proof above the fold when credible (logos, numbers, named users).
• Outcome / proof / mechanism loop: for each promise, show the proof and explain the mechanism.
• Objection-handling blocks in the order objections actually arise (price, trust, fit, effort, risk).
• Offer block: price, plan, what's included, what happens after the click, the guarantee or risk reversal.
• Secondary CTA with the same verb.
• FAQ that answers the questions the sales team actually hears, not the ones marketing wishes were asked.
• Footer kept minimal in the conversion zone.

Draft without self-editing. Get the whole page on the page first.

Step 6 — Apply the "so what?" cut

For every line on the page, ask "so what?" until the answer is a reader outcome. If a line never reaches a reader outcome, cut it or move it to a proof block where features belong. Then:

• Replace every adjective with a fact.
• Cut adverbs and qualifiers ("really," "truly," "very," "simply," "easily").
• Strip the "we" voice. Convert to "you" wherever possible.
• Read every paragraph aloud. If you stumble, rewrite it shorter.
• Cut the windup at the top of each section. Most sections have one opening line that should be deleted.

After this pass, cut another 20%. Whatever survives is closer to copy that converts.

Step 7 — Pressure-test against the single decision

Walk the page from top to bottom as the named reader. At each section, ask:

• Does this answer the question the reader has at this moment?
• Does it add a new piece of information, or restate the previous one?
• Does it move the reader toward the one action, or sideways?
• Does it leave an objection unaddressed that a real reader would have here?

Cut, reorder, or rewrite anything that fails. Re-confirm the CTA verb is identical at every instance.

Step 8 — Recommend instrumentation and the first test

Before delivering, name:

• the metrics worth instrumenting (scroll depth, CTA click-through, form starts, form completes).
• the one variable worth testing first (almost always the hero or the offer — highest leverage).
• two or three concrete alternative hypotheses for that variable, drawn from the headline shortlist or offer framing.

The page is a hypothesis. The user should know what they're learning from shipping it.

Branching Logic

• Cold traffic, Unaware reader. Lead with story or a sharp problem agitation in the reader's own words. Earn the right to introduce the product. Do not open with the offer.
• Branded search, Most Aware reader. Open with offer, proof, and friction removal. Cut the agitation. Make the price, plan, and guarantee scannable in seconds.
• Comparison traffic, Solution-Aware. Lead with a specific contrast against named alternatives or categories. Earn the differentiation before the offer.
• Brochure-voice rewrite. Strip "we" voice, replace feature lists with outcome-led blocks, and demote features to proof under each promise. Hold the user's preferred phrases only where the brand or compliance requires them.
• Diagnosis, no rewrite yet. Walk the page top-to-bottom and produce a numbered punch list: what fails the 5-second test, where the awareness mismatch is, which objections aren't answered, and which lines fail "so what?" Recommend the highest-leverage rewrite first.
• Headlines-only request. Produce 20–30 variants, group them by the angle they take (outcome, reader, mechanism, contrast), and recommend the three most specific. Note which voice-of-customer quote each anchors.
• Voice-of-customer mining only. Return a tagged corpus (pain / desired_outcome / objection / aha_moment), highlight 5–10 phrases that could anchor copy, and flag where source material is thin.
• Regulated category (health, finance, legal). Hold compliance language exactly. Apply specificity inside the constraints — proof, mechanism, named users — not exaggerated outcome claims.
• B2B with a long sales cycle. The "one action" is usually a demo or qualified lead, not a purchase. Anchor the page on the trigger that moves a buyer to take a meeting, not on closing the deal.

Output Format

Match the deliverable to the task.

For draft:

1. The full page, section by section, with each section labeled (Hero, Social Proof, Outcome 1, Proof, Mechanism, Objection: Price, Offer, etc.).
2. The chosen hero headline plus a shortlist of 5 alternates from the headline draft.
3. A short Notes section: the reader, the stage of awareness, the one action, the section sequence chosen, and which voice-of-customer phrases anchor which sections.
4. A short Test plan: the one variable to test first and two or three alternative hypotheses.

For edit:

1. The revised page first, formatted as it would appear in the final layout.
2. A concise list of what changed and why, grouped by section.
3. Anything that still needs the user's decision (a specific claim that needs substantiation, a quote that needs permission, a price that wasn't supplied).

For review or diagnose:

1. A 5-second-test verdict on the hero (what is this, who is it for, why care).
2. A numbered punch list of issues in page order, each with: location, what's wrong, why it costs conversions, and a one-line rewrite or fix.
3. A prioritized rewrite plan: the highest-leverage change first, the next two after that.
4. A short instrumentation note if relevant.

For headlines-only:

1. 20–30 headline variants, grouped by angle (outcome, reader, mechanism, contrast, number/name/time).
2. The three most specific recommendations with the voice-of-customer phrase each leans on.
3. A subhead suggestion for each of the top three that adds a new piece of information.

For voice-of-customer:

1. A tagged corpus of verbatim phrases (pain, desired_outcome, objection, aha_moment).
2. Recurring language patterns: words readers use for the problem, the metaphors they reach for, the "before" and "after" descriptions.
3. The 5–10 phrases most worth anchoring copy on, with a one-line rationale each.
4. A note on where source material is thin and what to gather next.

Quality Checks

The work is ready only when all of the following are true:

1. The page targets one reader, one stage of awareness, and one action — and they are stated explicitly.
2. The hero passes the 5-second test: what it is, who it is for, why the reader should care.
3. The headline and subhead lean on real voice-of-customer language and add new information rather than restating each other.
4. Every section is led by a reader outcome; features sit underneath as evidence.
5. Specifics — numbers, names, mechanisms, time — replace superlatives wherever a claim is made.
6. The top 3–5 objections are answered in the order they arise, in the reader's own words.
7. There is one CTA verb, repeated; no competing CTAs, no leaky nav, no alternatives links in the conversion zone.
8. The voice sounds like one person talking to one person — not a committee, not a brand.
9. The offer is visible, priced (or clearly priceable), and risk-reversed where possible.
10. There are no dark patterns, fake scarcity, fake testimonials, or unsubstantiated claims.
11. The page is shorter than the first draft. The user has a test plan that names the one variable to learn from first.

Failure Modes To Avoid

• Inventing customer quotes, testimonials, or case-study numbers.
• Drafting the hero before deciding the reader and the stage of awareness.
• "We"-voice feature lists where outcome-led, "you"-voice copy belongs.
• Vague superlatives ("best-in-class," "revolutionary," "seamless," "world-class") used as evidence.
• Multiple competing CTAs, navigation menus in the conversion zone, or "see alternatives" links that leak intent.
• Burying the offer behind hedging, jargon, or politeness.
• Awareness-level mismatch — pitching the offer to cold traffic, or over-explaining the problem to ready buyers.
• Adverbs and qualifiers ("really," "truly," "simply," "easily") stacking up where specifics should be.
• Restating the headline in the subhead instead of adding a new piece of information.
• Dark patterns: fake countdowns, fake "people viewing now" widgets, guilt-trip opt-outs, or pre-checked consent.
• Treating the page as a finished deliverable instead of a hypothesis worth instrumenting.
• Rewriting an entire page when the hero or the offer is the highest-leverage change.

Default Stance

Specific beats clever. Reader's words beat writer's words. One decision beats five. Default to writing the page as a Loom script to one named customer, lean the hero on a real voice-of-customer phrase, and answer the top objections in the order they actually arise. When in doubt, cut more than you keep, lead with the outcome, and tell the user which one variable is worth testing first — the market is the only honest critic of a landing page.