Ask anyone to name a block pattern and they will describe a hero: big heading, supporting line, a button, probably an image. It is the section every site needs and the one you will reuse most — which makes it worth building properly once. Six habits separate a hero you keep for years from one you rebuild every project.
1. One message, one action
A hero is a billboard, not a brochure. One headline of ten words or fewer, one supporting sentence, one primary button. If a second button is unavoidable, make it visibly secondary — an outline style next to a filled one.
2. Real hierarchy, not just big text
Use the theme’s largest heading preset for the headline and a normal body size for the subhead — a 3:1 size ratio reads as confidence. Resist custom font sizes; a hero that uses presets inherits every future typography refinement for free.
3. Space is the design
Generous, even padding above and below — from the theme’s spacing scale, not hand-typed pixel values — is what makes a hero feel intentional. Cramped heroes read as broken; airy ones read as designed.
4. Guarantee the contrast
If text sits on a photo, do not trust the photo. A Cover block with a 50–60% dim means the headline stays readable when someone swaps in a paler image — and someone always swaps in a paler image.
5. Content-agnostic imagery
Choose placeholder photography that suggests mood rather than subject — texture, architecture, gradient light. The more specific the placeholder, the more the pattern looks wrong the moment it is reused for anything else.
6. Set the preview width
Heroes are full-width layouts, so tell WordPress to preview them that way. A viewportWidth of around 1400 in the pattern’s metadata keeps the inserter thumbnail honest instead of showing a squeezed mobile rendering.
Build one hero this carefully and file it in your library. The next project starts with an insert, a headline swap, and an image swap — minutes, not an afternoon.