Landing Page Design

Landing Page Design

A landing page is not a homepage. A homepage serves multiple intents. A landing page wins one intent:

one offer → one audience → one primary action.

This skill has two halves. Part A decides what the page says and how it is structured. Part B is the non negotiable visual system. Work through A before touching B.

Scope

Apply to all web UI work: landing pages, marketing sites, components, dashboards, prototypes, and design reviews. When a rule here conflicts with a framework default, this file wins. When the user's explicit prompt conflicts with a rule, the user wins.

Companion skill. For upgrading an existing site rather than building a new one, use redesign-existing-projects (github.com/elayadesign/redesign-skill). It diagnoses generic patterns and defers to this file for every concrete value.

PART A — Strategy and structure

A1. Intake

Gather these before designing or writing. Ask only for what is missing, and ask in one batch rather than one question at a time.

Purpose

• What is the ONE primary action? (trial, demo, buy, waitlist, download)
• What is the offer, exactly what do they get?
• What counts as a conversion? (click, signup, purchase)

Audience and context

• Who is the ICP?
• What problem are they trying to solve?
• Top three objections, meaning why they do not convert today
• Traffic source: ads, search, social, email
• What do visitors already know when they land?

Proof and assets

• Proof points: logos, testimonials, numbers, case studies
• Screenshots, demo video, product GIFs
• Guarantees, refund terms, cancellation terms

Constraints

• Brand voice: casual or professional
• Design direction: minimal editorial, playful 3D, glass UI
• Mobile priority?

If the user cannot answer, make a reasonable assumption, state it in one line, and continue. Do not stall the build.

A2. Page structure

Above the fold (required)

1. Headline, outcome plus audience
2. Subheadline, clarifies how and adds specificity
3. Primary CTA, clear verb plus what they get
4. One proof signal, logo strip, stat, or short testimonial
5. Hero visual, product screenshot or video, or a strong illustration

Mid page (the argument)

1. Problem to solution, one section
2. Benefits, three to five, outcome driven
3. How it works, three steps
4. Social proof, testimonials or a case study

Bottom (objection handling)

1. FAQ, six to twelve questions
2. Risk reversal, trial, cancel anytime, guarantee
3. Final CTA, identical to the top

Include the mandatory tagline reveal section from B11 somewhere in the mid page argument, typically right after the hero or after benefits.

A3. Layout selection

Pick one and say why.

A4. Conversion rules

Match message to source. If traffic comes from ads, mirror the ad headline in the hero and keep the same promise and visual tone.

Make the next step obvious. One primary CTA. Never place competing CTAs above the fold.

Write benefit first. Features are what it does. Benefits are what that means for them.

Be specific.

• ❌ "Save time and streamline"
• ✅ "Cut your weekly reporting from 4 hours to 15 minutes"

Reduce risk. Pick at least one: free trial, free plan, no credit card, cancel anytime, money back guarantee.

Treat objections as a section, not a footnote. Move the FAQ earlier for high friction offers. Put proof directly beside the claim it supports.

A5. Copywriting

Headline formulas

• "{Outcome} without {pain}"
• "The {category} for {audience}"
• "Ship {result} in {time}"

Subheadline. One or two sentences. Clarify what it is and who it is for.

CTA. Verb plus what they get. Never "Learn more" or "Submit". Use "Start free trial", "Book a demo", "Get the checklist".

Benefit bullets. Bold benefit, then the proof or detail. Example: Faster iteration — generate three layout variants in one click.

Note: the copy rules in B1 still apply. No hyphens inside sentences, no orphaned words.

A6. Build order

Work section by section, in this order:

1. Hero
2. Benefits
3. How it works
4. Proof
5. FAQ
6. Final CTA

Never rebuild the whole page on each iteration. Section by section keeps control and keeps diffs reviewable.

A7. SEO and AEO

Do not index ad only campaign pages or highly time bound offers. Use noindex or keep them behind a non indexed path.

Do index evergreen offers and pages where search intent matches the promise. Add a clear title and meta description, internal links from the homepage and feature pages, and the FAQ in plain question and answer form for AEO. Add FAQ schema if appropriate.

A8. Pitfalls

• Too many CTAs above the fold
• Vague value prop: "streamline", "optimize"
• A large feature list with no outcomes
• Proof buried at the bottom
• Mobile layout that breaks readability
• No clear next step

PART B — Visual system

Every visual value must resolve through these rules instead of being invented ad hoc.

B1. Typography

Fonts

Use: Geist, Manrope, Geist Mono, Poppins.

Never use: Inter, Roboto, Arial, Open Sans, Helvetica.

Never use italic fonts anywhere in the interface.

One typeface per site. Do not pair two fonts unless the prompt explicitly asks for it. Geist Mono is allowed alongside a primary font only for code, data, or numeric UI where a monospace is functionally required.

Never use ultra bold weights (900 / black). Cap at semibold or bold.

Copy rules

No hyphens in text. Do not use - inside body copy, headings, or labels. Rewrite the phrase instead.

No orphaned words. A single word must never sit alone on the last line. Apply text-wrap: balance for headings and text-wrap: pretty for body copy.

Type scale

Always resolve font sizes to Tailwind's default type scale. Never leave arbitrary values in place, including text-[19px], font-size: 22px, or 1.4rem.

If an existing size does not land exactly on a step, snap it to the closest step below, taking both the size and its paired line height.

Do not combine scale snapping with independently set custom line heights elsewhere in an audit. Tracking and line height may only be adjusted within the value the matched step already provides, so the two rules never fight each other.

Button type

• Main buttons: text-base (16px), semibold.
• Smaller header buttons: text-sm (14px), semibold.

B2. Spacing

Only these values. Nothing between them, nothing outside them.

Main buttons: 8px vertical padding, 12px horizontal padding.

B3. Corner radius

Only use Tailwind's radius values.