Anti-best practices: When breaking the rules creates better landing pages

There’s a great New Yorker article called “Is the Next Great American Novel Being Published on Substack?” It explores how more writers are moving to the platform to publish on their own terms—connecting directly with readers, building a following, and even earning income through subscriptions. It’s a reflection of something many creatives are feeling: our work doesn’t have to rely on gatekeepers anymore. From newsletters to portfolios to podcasts and product pages, there are more ways than ever to share different parts of our creative practice, but this means that our work can become scattered in all corners of the world, both online and IRL.

This is exactly why landing pages matter. They’re not like a homepage that welcomes visitors with everything you do. A landing page is more focused. It’s an invitation to go deeper: to sign up, try something, take action.

Landing page best practices you shouldn't ignore

There are a few golden rules of landing pages:

• An engaging title: Your headline should immediately grab attention and give visitors a reason to stick around. Think of it as a hook—it sets the tone and invites people in.
• Effective, concise copy: This isn’t just about rushing people toward a CTA. Use a few bullet points or a short paragraph to explain what you're offering and why it matters. Take a beat to connect.
• A clear call to action: What do you want the visitor to do? Subscribe to a newsletter? Start a free trial? Download something? This is where you make that next step obvious and easy.
• Structure with narrative flow: There are no hard and fast rules to the structure of a landing page. What’s most important is that there is a clear narrative arc that’s followed throughout the page. It can be as simple as header, copy, and call to action. But it can also be more imaginative, reflecting your brand’s story.
• An easy-to-use form: If you're collecting emails or other info, keep the form short, clear, and intuitive. Fewer fields = less friction.
• Visual interest: This doesn’t mean over-designed and flashy. Maybe it’s product images or videos, custom typography, animation, or just a clean layout that reflects your aesthetic. Think about what you want to communicate visually—and explore from there.

These principles show up again and again in some of the best landing page design examples across the web.

When and why to break the rules

The real secret isn’t following every best-practice playbook; it’s understanding what your audience truly needs. When you center your CTA on genuine connection, authentic curiosity, or meaningful support, you might bend—or even break—a few landing-page “rules.” And that’s perfectly fine.Sometimes the most compelling call to action isn’t a flashy button or a step in a growth funnel—it’s an invitation to explore, reflect, or build trust before you ever ask for anything. Whatever action you’re guiding visitors toward, focus on its core purpose: connection, curiosity, or support. Design your page to embody that essence.

How breaking rules can work

After you’ve nailed the basics, you get to stretch the rules to optimize your message. Maybe the product or service can speak for itself. Maybe your style does the heavy lifting. Maybe clarity isn’t the point—it’s vibe. Let’s look at a few creative landing page examples that break and bend the rules:

Unconventional headlines

The headline is usually the biggest piece of typography on a landing page—so why not take advantage of that? 

• Take Love Letter: the headline is visually broken—literally, like a heart. As users piece it back together and the message is revealed. It’s an emotional, participatory experience that keeps the user engaged.
• Then there’s Doomates, where the headline is an animation. The entire initial viewport is taken over by bold, high-contrast typography in motion. It’s zany, loud, and instantly sets the tone for everything that follows.
• Or consider the page for the Biceps Grotesque font family. Instead of stating what the typeface is in words, the designers let the font speak for itself. The landing page headline doesn’t say much—because it doesn’t need to. The typography is the message.

Fresh visual approaches

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel—or build a complex interactive experience—to make a landing page stand out. Sometimes, a fresh typeface or an unexpected color palette is enough to make a lasting impression.

Take The Decoland. It follows a fairly standard landing page format: a clear headline, supporting copy, and a bold call-to-action button. But what makes it feel unique is its vibrant green color scheme and pixel-art motifs, which subtly nod to the brand’s tech-forward identity. It's clean and direct—but still visually distinct.

Rethinking content structure

Not every landing page has to be a page of neatly condensed headline, copy, and CTA. Some of the most memorable pages guide users through an experience—one that builds mood, interest, or intrigue before making any ask.

• Take Pivot Grotesk World. This site doesn't open with a pitch or call to action. Instead, it pulls you into the visual world of the typeface itself. Using a limited palette—black, white, gray, and red—it whirls you through expressive layouts and animated letters. Only after this immersive sequence does it invite you to download the font.
• There’s also the Vidimo–Nevidimo art project. Where Pivot Grotesk is bold and kinetic, this page is quiet and atmospheric. You explore by hovering, revealing layered imagery and artist quotes. The content doesn’t unfold in a rigid sequence—it emerges gradually, culminating in an open call that appears at the very end.

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