The 80/20 rule for landing page copy

Complexity kills conversions. Most landing pages could do twice as well by following one rule: put 80 percent of your effort into the few things that decide the sale, and 20 percent into everything else.

The parts that decide the sale are almost always the headline, the call to action, the way features are framed, and the proof. Everything else is support.

Here is what that looks like on a page for a project management tool.

The weak version

Headline: "Better Project Management"

Button: "Sign Up"

Features: "Multiple integrations, cloud storage, team chat"

Proof: a row of random company logos

Every line here is true and none of it is useful. It describes the product. It does not tell anyone what changes for them.

The strong version

Headline: "Finish Projects Twice as Fast Without Hiring"

Button: "Start Your Faster Project (15-Day Free Trial)"

Features framed as outcomes: "Auto-assign tasks and save 5 hours a week"

Proof with a number: "A team of 5 delivered 23 projects last quarter, up from 11"

Same product. Same features. The second version wins because the reader can picture themselves succeeding.

How to apply it

Look at your page and find the four things above. If you cannot improve them today, nothing else on the page is worth touching yet.

Ask one question about each: does this tell the reader what changes for them? If the answer is no, rewrite it before you adjust a single margin.