Visual hierarchy is the principle that elements on a page should be arranged so visitors naturally look at the most important things first. It's achieved through size (bigger = more important), contrast (high contrast = more attention), color (brand colors draw the eye), spacing (isolated elements get more attention), and position (top-left gets scanned first in Western reading patterns).
On landing pages, the hierarchy should be: Headline → Subheadline → CTA → Supporting content. If your logo, navigation menu, or decorative image is competing with the headline for attention, your hierarchy is broken.
The blur test
The simplest way to check visual hierarchy: screenshot your page, apply a heavy Gaussian blur (15-20px), and look at what remains visible. The blurred version should show distinct blocks of different visual weight. If you can still identify where the headline is and where the CTA is, your hierarchy works. If everything blurs into a uniform mass, nothing stands out — which means nothing gets attention.
Stripe's homepage is the gold standard. Even blurred, you can see the clear headline block, the product visual, and the CTA. The hierarchy is so strong that the structure communicates even without readable text. That's what you're aiming for.