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) 6. Problem to solution, one section 7. Benefits, three to five, outcome driven 8. How it works, three steps 9. Social proof, testimonials or a case study

Bottom (objection handling) 10. FAQ, six to twelve questions 11. Risk reversal, trial, cancel anytime, guarantee 12. 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.

Nested radius formula. When a shape sits inside another shape and the gap between them is less than 32px:

inner radius = outer radius − gap

Apply this only when the result is greater than 2. Below that, leave the inner shape square or unchanged.

Example: an outer card at rounded-2xl (16px) with 8px of internal padding gives an inner element an 8px radius (rounded-lg).

B4. Borders and backgrounds

• Never apply a border to only one side of a card. Borders go all the way around or not at all.
• Never use gradients in backgrounds. Backgrounds are flat.

Dark mode background colors

Use only these:

#000000 · #181818 · #1F1F1F · #272727 · #313131 · #131209

B5. Hero section

Heading color

• Dark theme: left to right gradient on the heading text, #FFFFFF → #9B9B9B.
• Light theme: left to right gradient on the heading text, #000000 → #666666.

This is the one place gradients are used, and only on text, never on the background.

Layout

• Heading and subheading both get a max width of 680px.
• Read the heading copy and insert line breaks at meaningful points.
• Never break a line in a way that cuts a phrase awkwardly or makes the sentence harder to read. Break where the thought breaks.

B6. Icons

Use: Phosphor, Solar, or Iconamoon.

Never use: Material Icons, Material Symbols.

B7. Motion choreography (fluid dynamics)

Never use default transitions. All motion simulates real world mass and spring physics through custom cubic beziers.

transition-all duration-700 ease-[cubic-bezier(0.32,0.72,0,1)]

Fluid island nav

Closed state. The navbar is a floating glass pill detached from the top: mt-6, mx-auto, w-max, rounded-full.

Hamburger morph. On click, the hamburger lines fluidly rotate and translate into a perfect X using rotate-45 and -rotate-45 with absolute positioning. They must never simply disappear.

Modal expansion. The menu opens as a screen filling overlay with a heavy glass effect: backdrop-blur-3xl bg-black/80 or bg-white/80.

Staggered mask reveal. Nav links inside the expanded state fade in and slide up from an invisible box, translate-y-12 opacity-0 resolving to translate-y-0 opacity-100, staggered per item with delay-100, delay-150, delay-200, and so on.

Scroll interpolation

Elements never appear statically on load. As they enter the viewport they execute a gentle, heavy fade up:

translate-y-16 blur-md opacity-0  →  translate-y-0 blur-0 opacity-100

over 800ms or longer.

For JavaScript driven reveals use IntersectionObserver or Framer Motion's whileInView. Never use window.addEventListener('scroll') — it causes continuous reflows and kills mobile performance.

B8. Content realism

Never ship filler. These are the tells that a page was generated rather than made.

• No Lorem Ipsum. Write real draft copy.
• No "John Doe". Use diverse, realistic names.
• No placeholder brands like "Acme Corp", "Nexus", or "SmartFlow". Invent contextual, believable names.
• No round fake numbers like 99.99%, 50%, $100.00. Use organic data: 47.2%, $99.00, +1 (312) 847-1928.
• No AI cliches. Never "Elevate", "Seamless", "Unleash", "Next Gen", "Game changer", "Delve", "Tapestry", or "In the world of".
• Sentence case headers, not Title Case On Everything.
• Active voice. "We could not save your changes", not "Mistakes were made".
• No exclamation marks in success messages, and no "Oops!" in errors. Be direct: "Connection failed. Please try again."
• Unique avatars per person, and varied blog post dates.

B9. States

Every interactive element ships with its full state set:

• Hover — background shift, slight scale, or translate
• Active — scale(0.98) or translateY(1px) for physical feedback
• Focus — a visible focus ring. Accessibility requirement, not optional.
• Loading — skeleton loaders shaped like the real layout, not circular spinners
• Empty — a composed "getting started" view, never a blank panel
• Error — inline and specific. Never window.alert().

No dead links. A button pointing at # is either linked or visually disabled. The current page must be indicated in the navigation.

B10. Ship requirements

Things that get forgotten and make a page feel unfinished:

• Privacy policy and terms links in the footer
• A custom, branded 404
• Client side form validation for email format and required fields
• A skip to content link for keyboard users
• Cookie consent where the jurisdiction requires it
• A branded favicon
• <title>, meta description, og:image, and social sharing tags
• Alt text on every meaningful image
• Semantic HTML: <nav>, <main>, <article>, <aside>, <section>
• A way back from every page

B11. Tagline reveal section (mandatory)

Every landing page includes one large type section stating the core benefit or tagline, separate from the hero. It sits further down the page as its own moment, not stacked directly under the hero.

Copy

• Minimum two lines of text.
• A benefit statement or tagline, written in the voice of A5, not a generic section heading.

Typography

• Size text-4xl to text-6xl depending on line count, following the B1 type scale.
• Max width capped like the hero, so lines break at meaningful points per B5.

Animation

• Text starts in a subtle, muted tone, roughly 25 to 35% opacity of the theme's base text color.
• As the section scrolls into view, each word transitions individually from that muted tone to the full text color, in reading order.
• Words activate one at a time as they cross a trigger line, not the entire block flipping at once. The transition uses the custom easing curve from B7, never a linear fade.
• Implement with IntersectionObserver per word, or a single scroll listener throttled through requestAnimationFrame. Never an unthrottled window.addEventListener('scroll'), per B7.

Output format

When generating a landing page from scratch, return these in order before writing code:

1. Page outline — sections and their order
2. Hero copy — headline, subheadline, CTA, proof line
3. Benefits — three to five outcome driven bullets
4. How it works — three steps
5. FAQ — six to twelve questions and answers
6. SEO / AEO — index or noindex recommendation, plus title and meta if indexed
7. Layout recommendation — A, B, C, or D, and why

Then build section by section per A6.

Quick checklist

Strategy

• One offer, one audience, one primary action
• No competing CTAs above the fold
• Specific numbers instead of vague verbs
• At least one risk reversal
• Proof sits next to the claim it supports
• Layout type chosen deliberately

Visual

• Single approved typeface, no italics, no ultra bold
• No hyphens in copy, no orphaned words
• Every font size lands on a Tailwind scale step
• Every spacing value comes from the spacing table
• Nested radii follow the formula
• No single sided card borders, no background gradients
• Hero heading and subheading capped at 680px with meaningful line breaks
• Icons from Phosphor, Solar, or Iconamoon
• Every transition uses a custom cubic bezier, scroll reveals use IntersectionObserver
• Tagline reveal section present, minimum two lines, words activate one at a time on scroll

Content and ship

• No Lorem Ipsum, no placeholder brands, no AI cliches, no round fake numbers
• Hover, active, focus, loading, empty, and error states all present
• No dead links, current nav item indicated
• 404, legal links, form validation, favicon, meta tags, alt text