Prompting Best Practices

Getting great results from Dalton's AI comes down to how you write your prompts. This guide covers what works, what doesn't, and how to troubleshoot common issues.

The Golden Rule: Be Specific

The AI performs best when you tell it exactly what you want. Vague prompts lead to unpredictable results.

Instead of...	Try...
"Make it better"	"Focus on the time-saving benefit"
"Make it shorter"	"Make this one sentence"
"Change the layout"	"Move the reviews section above the product description"
"Add something here"	"Add a trust badge showing free returns"
"Improve the CTA"	"Make the button copy action-oriented, starting with a verb"

Tell the AI What You Want (Not What You Don't)

Positive instructions work better than negative ones.

Instead of...	Try...
"Don't make it too long"	"Keep this under 10 words"
"Remove the fluff"	"Focus only on the main benefit"
"Don't be too salesy"	"Use a conversational, helpful tone"
"Avoid jargon"	"Use simple language a beginner would understand"

Device-Specific Prompts

Dalton can apply changes to specific devices. Add these phrases to your prompt:

• "on mobile only" - Changes apply only to mobile view
• "on desktop only" - Changes apply only to desktop view
• "for mobile" - Same as above

Examples:

• "Center this text on mobile only"
• "Make the button full-width on mobile"
• "Show a shorter headline on mobile only"

Check Both Views

Always preview both desktop and mobile after making changes, even if you specified a device. This ensures nothing unexpected happened.

One Change at a Time

Complex prompts with multiple instructions often fail. Break them into steps:

Instead of:

"Reorder these three sections, change the headline to focus on speed, and make the CTA more urgent"

Do this:

1. "Move the testimonials section above the features"
2. "Change the headline to emphasize how fast setup is"
3. "Make the CTA button copy more urgent"

Prompts That Work Well

Headlines:

• "Make the headline focus on [specific benefit]"
• "Test a question-based headline"
• "Make this headline more specific about [outcome]"

CTAs:

• "Start the button text with an action verb"
• "Add urgency to the CTA without being pushy"
• "Make the button copy benefit-focused instead of action-focused"

Layout:

• "Move [element] above [other element]"
• "Add a [trust badge/social proof/urgency indicator] near the CTA"
• "Make the [section] more prominent"

Copy:

• "Shorten this to one sentence"
• "Add a specific number or statistic"
• "Focus on [pain point] instead of [feature]"

Prompts That Don't Work

Some things are outside what the AI can do:

• Dynamic content: "Change the price" / "Update the inventory count"
• Images: "Add a product photo" / "Change the hero image"
• Navigation: "Rearrange the menu items"
• Forms: "Add a new form field"
• Animations: "Make this fade in"

For these, use URL Split Tests with a completely different page version.

When Prompts Fail

If your prompt keeps failing or producing errors:

1. Check if the element is dynamic - Prices, inventory, size selectors can't be modified
2. Try selecting a parent element - Sometimes the specific element is inside a component the AI can't access
3. Simplify the prompt - Remove any complexity and try one change
4. Check for iframes - Content inside iframes (like embedded forms) can't be edited

See Troubleshooting for more detailed solutions.

Iterating on Results

Don't expect perfection on the first try. The best experiments come from iteration:

1. Start with a simple, specific prompt
2. Preview the result
3. If not quite right, create a new variant with a refined prompt
4. Compare variants to find what works

Undo or Start Fresh

If a variant doesn't look right, use undo to revert changes, or delete it and create a new one with a better prompt.