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paywall-upgrade-cro

When the user wants to create or optimize in-app paywalls, upgrade screens, upsell modals, or feature gates. Also use when the user mentions "paywall," "upgrade screen," "upgrade modal," "upsell," "feature gate," "convert free to paid," "freemium conversion," "trial expiration screen," "limit reached screen," "plan upgrade prompt," "in-app pricing," "free users won't upgrade," "trial to paid conversion," or "how do I get users to pay." Use this for any in-product moment where you're asking users to upgrade. Distinct from public pricing pages (see page-cro) — this focuses on in-product upgrade moments where the user has already experienced value. For pricing decisions, see pricing-strategy.

78

1.04x
Quality

70%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

88%

1.04x

Average score across 3 eval scenarios

SecuritybySnyk

Passed

No known issues

Optimize this skill with Tessl

npx tessl skill review --optimize ./skills/paywall-upgrade-cro/SKILL.md
SKILL.md
Quality
Evals
Security

Quality

Discovery

89%

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

This is a strong skill description with exceptional trigger term coverage and clear boundary-setting against related skills. Its main weakness is that the 'what' portion could be more specific about the concrete actions the skill performs (e.g., writing copy, designing layouts, structuring CTAs). The description also uses second person ('where you're asking users') which slightly detracts from the expected third-person voice.

Suggestions

Add more specific concrete actions beyond 'create or optimize' — e.g., 'designs paywall layouts, writes upgrade copy, structures CTAs, recommends social proof placement' to improve specificity.

Change 'where you're asking users to upgrade' to third person voice, e.g., 'where the product asks users to upgrade.'

DimensionReasoningScore

Specificity

The description names the domain (in-app paywalls, upgrade screens) and some actions ('create or optimize'), but doesn't list multiple specific concrete actions like 'design layout,' 'write copy,' 'A/B test variants,' etc. The actions remain at a high level.

2 / 3

Completeness

Clearly answers both 'what' (create/optimize in-app paywalls, upgrade screens, upsell modals, feature gates) and 'when' with an explicit and extensive list of trigger phrases. Also includes helpful boundary-setting by distinguishing from related skills (page-cro, pricing-strategy).

3 / 3

Trigger Term Quality

Excellent coverage of natural trigger terms including 'paywall,' 'upgrade screen,' 'upsell,' 'feature gate,' 'convert free to paid,' 'freemium conversion,' 'trial expiration screen,' 'limit reached screen,' 'how do I get users to pay,' and many more variations that users would naturally say.

3 / 3

Distinctiveness Conflict Risk

Explicitly distinguishes itself from 'page-cro' (public pricing pages) and 'pricing-strategy,' clearly carving out its niche as in-product upgrade moments. The boundary 'where the user has already experienced value' is a sharp differentiator.

3 / 3

Total

11

/

12

Passed

Implementation

50%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

This skill provides a solid structural overview of paywall and upgrade screen CRO with useful wireframe templates and good coverage of trigger types. However, it leans toward general UX principles Claude already knows rather than providing highly specific, actionable guidance. The content would benefit from tighter writing, more concrete copy examples with real variations, and a clearer step-by-step workflow for actually building a paywall.

Suggestions

Add a concrete step-by-step workflow at the top (e.g., '1. Identify trigger type → 2. Select template → 3. Write copy using formula → 4. Verify all 7 components present → 5. Plan A/B test') with explicit validation checkpoints.

Replace general UX principles Claude already knows (e.g., 'Respect the No,' 'Don't trap or pressure') with specific, novel guidance like exact copy formulas, proven headline structures, or conversion benchmarks.

Provide 2-3 complete, real-world paywall copy examples with actual text (not just placeholders like '[Benefit]') showing good vs. bad versions to make the templates immediately actionable.

Move the A/B testing metrics, anti-patterns, and timing/frequency sections into a reference file to keep the main skill focused and concise.

DimensionReasoningScore

Conciseness

The skill is reasonably organized but includes some unnecessary framing ('You are an expert...') and sections that state obvious UX principles Claude already knows (e.g., 'Don't trap or pressure,' 'Maintain trust'). Several bullet points could be tightened, and the core principles section largely restates common sense.

2 / 3

Actionability

The wireframe-style paywall templates are helpful and somewhat concrete, but they're pseudocode/mockups rather than executable code. The guidance is mostly directional ('show what the feature does,' 'quick path to unlock') rather than providing specific copy formulas, exact component structures, or implementation-ready examples with real copy variations.

2 / 3

Workflow Clarity

There's a logical flow from assessment → principles → trigger points → components → optimization → testing, but the skill lacks explicit sequencing for the actual task of creating a paywall. There are no validation checkpoints (e.g., 'verify your paywall includes these 7 components before finalizing') or feedback loops for iterating on designs.

2 / 3

Progressive Disclosure

There's one reference to 'references/experiments.md' and cross-references to related skills, which is good. However, the main file is quite long (~180 lines) with sections like anti-patterns, timing rules, and A/B testing metrics that could be split into reference files. The content is somewhat monolithic for its length.

2 / 3

Total

8

/

12

Passed

Validation

100%

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation11 / 11 Passed

Validation for skill structure

No warnings or errors.

Repository
coreyhaines31/marketingskills
Reviewed

Table of Contents

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