They’re the trickiest to write. 

They have a BIG responsibility. 

And it’s difficult to know what to actually put on them as everyone’s homepage is so different. 

Well, worry no more. 

Because this blog post will go through the 7 key things you should put on your homepage. 

But first, let’s get this out of the way, shall we? 

What’s the biggest mistake we see people make on their homepage?  

Giving too much information. 

That’s it. We often see people cram in as much information as possible on their homepage, in an attempt to get their web user to buy straight away. 

But people do not buy after reading the information on your homepage (sorry about that). 

They need a little more warming up. And you might have to encourage them onto your email list before they even buy from your website (depending on what you offer). 

What should a homepage do? 

Your homepage is not the place to go into great detail about your products or services or all about you as a company. 

We like to think of the homepage as the reception area of your website. Your homepage should direct users where they need to go quickly and efficiently. 

People land on your website wanting different things: they want to know more about you, they want to know about a specific service you offer, they want your contact details, they want to read your blog etc. 

And you need to efficiently signpost everyone – making it clear which direction to head in. 

Essentially, the main job of your homepage is to get someone to the next page of your website as quickly as possible. 

What is Bounce Rate?

You may have heard of ‘bounce rate’ – this is the percentage of people who visit your website and leave without taking an action (like clicking on another page or filling out a form). It means your visitor bounces off the page. It can be an indicator that your page isn’t working well. People are landing on your website, and (for various reasons) are leaving without doing anything.

Getting your homepage right will help prevent this problem and ultimately, increase conversions.

What should you put on a homepage? 

Below, we go through the 9 essential elements of a homepage that will get someone to the next page of your website.

1. Your website’s tagline/statement

As soon as someone lands on your website, they should gain a good understanding of what it is you do. 

That’s why you should add a tagline or statement about you or your company above the fold (i.e. what is visible on the page without scrolling down) on your homepage. 

Unfortunately, if you’ve ever had to write one of these statements you’ll know that it is THE MOST DIFFICULT SENTENCE TO WRITE IN THE WORLD.

This is why I’ve added some tips below to help you. 

#1 Make it clear what you do 

The problem is, a lot of these statements are often complete fluff that don’t actually say anything at all. 

If you saw this as soon as you landed on a  website, what would you think this company did? 

‘Adapt, transition, innovate…’ 

???

No?

That’s an IT company. 

But you wouldn’t have a clue, right?

Don’t assume that people who land on your website know exactly what it is you do. You need to make that clear. 

#2 Focus on Your Reader and Not on You 

Another mistake that business owners make with this statement is focusing on themselves rather than on the reader. 

To put it bluntly, people don’t care about you. They care about themselves and their problems. 

That’s why, when you land on our website we say ‘get more leads and sales from your website’ and not ‘we are websites specialists with over twenty years combined experience.’ 

The first one actually tells the reader how we can help. The latter is just plain dull! 

#3 Don’t Obsess over Benefits 

Finally, try not to go overboard on the benefits so that it isn’t actually clear what it is you do. 

Can you guess what this company does? 

‘Enjoy more time doing what you love…our products will help get you there.’ 

No? 

That’s for household cleaning products. 

This usually happens when someone takes the mantra ‘sell the benefits’ a bit too far and doesn’t actually make it clear what on earth they do.  

So remember: 

• Make it clear what you do 
• Make it about the reader 
• Don’t go too far on selling the benefits so what you actually do becomes unclear! 

If you want a little more guidance, check out our blog post which tells you the 9 different ways you can write your company statement. 

A Good Example of A Homepage That Does This Well

Janine is the Queen of keeping it simple and clear. There’s no question of what it is she does or who she helps. Sometimes, companies try too hard to sound clever. But clear trumps clever every time.

Col owner of Pixels Ink also does a great job with his big, bold statement. It’s clear what they do, and he also adds a memorable subheading about transforming ‘ordinary brands into extraordinary ones’ – really nice touch!

2. Your CTA 

Right after the company statement, you will typically see a call to action. A call to action is usually a button that gets your web visitor to do something e.g. click to visit another page, or download a freebie etc. 

This is always a tricky one to get right because it’s difficult to know what will work. And sometimes it requires a little testing to see what resonates with your web visitor. 

But, here are some tips that will help you decide on that all-important CTA button. 

#1 Book a Call Doesn’t (Usually) Work 

We mentioned previously that people don’t buy from your homepage, so it’s unlikely they will book a call with you right off the bat. 

Again, people need a little more warming up than that. Even if you offer a free twenty-minute call that can be quite a daunting prospect for someone who doesn’t really know much about you yet. 

Plus, from your point of view, do you really want to fill up your diary with unqualified people who have just landed on your homepage with potentially no idea who you are or how you work. 

Nope. 

#2 Make it Stand Out 

The one key thing to remember about your CTA is to make it stick out like a sore thumb. 

Okay, well you don’t have to make it too ugly. But definitely don’t make it blend in. Put it in a different colour and/or put a border around it. 

We often see CTA buttons that blend in and look pretty. But this is not what you want, you want your CTA to capture your web visitor’s attention!

A Good Example of A Homepage That Does This Well

Denise Cowle does this fantastically. She includes a stand-out CTA that leads to a page about her service. There’s definitely no missing it!

FitRoots Martial Arts School do something a bit different. They include two CTA buttons that direct two slightly different audiences to the right place – people who will want to use their face-to-face martial arts school and people who want to join their online academy. This is a good example of how you can use your CTA buttons to direct multiple different audiences where they need to go.

If you appeal to multiple audiences, you learn how more about how to do this in our blog post: how to use your website to help two different audiences.

3. Your Promotional Area 

The promotional area is the area just underneath your hero section. 

This is where your homepage should work hard at getting your website traffic to where they need to go. It’s the ‘traffic cop’ of your homepage!

Here are some tips that can help you nail the promotional area. 

#1 Don’t make it too busy

Imagine a road sign which gives you directions. You see the word museum, but then there’s whole load of text underneath telling you all about the museum and why you should visit. It would be a bit confusing right? Especially if you’re driving past it at 50mph! 

This works the same as your promotional area. You don’t want too much here. Usually, you will one word that sums up your service, like we do on our homepage. And if that doesn’t give enough detail, include a brief sentence. But don’t have paragraphs and paragraphs of text. 

#2 Don’t have too many options 

Do you ever feel that when you’re faced with too many options you just don’t do anything? 

Yup, this is a common problem we see in promotional areas. Some people will have 6/8/10/12+ services and they’ll try to get their web traffic to pick one. 

But that’s a lot for our human brains to handle. Remember, they’re on your website. And when we use websites, we don’t like to think too much. And going through 12 different services trying to decipher which one is best for us is a bit too much. 

That’s why we recommend you have a maximum of three-four services or links in your promotional area. 

A Good Example of A Homepage That Does This Well

Clare Murthy is a baby photographer based in Surrey. Her website’s homepage is so clean and clear, especially the promotional area. She clearly directs people where they need to go based on what kind of photography they need.

4. The Opening Paragraph 

The second hardest thing to write on your website is the first paragraph or section on your homepage. 

That’s because it feels like you have so much to cram in about who you are and what you do in a very short space. It’s understandably difficult. 

But, here’s our one big tip about that first section on your homepage…

#1 Don’t make it about you 

Ever see this on a homepage? 

Welcome to my business! 

My name is x, and I have been in this business for x years. I do this. I do that. I. I. I. 

It’s a common mistake. And if this is you right now, this isn’t a criticism. As we said earlier, it’s incredibly difficult writing this paragraph and it feels natural to talk about yourself. After all, someone is on your website, right? 

But the biggest mindset shift when it comes to your website is that…it’s actually not yours. Or at least, it shouldn’t be. 

It’s actually all about your visitor. It’s about what you can do them. 

So when it comes to writing your first paragraph, put the emphasis on your web visitor and then introduce what you do. 

A Good Example of A Homepage That Does This Well

I love Debbie Ekins‘ opening paragraphs on her home page. She shows that she understands her audience and what they need, ‘You don’t have time to do all this marketing work,’ and she also explains how she can help. It’s a great combination of focusing on the reader, highlighting your own skills and getting your personality across.

5. Further sections of text 

You don’t want your homepage to be too long (as we said before, the main aim of the homepage is to get someone to the next page of your website as quickly as possible.) 

But you may want to include some other sections on your homepage to help you achieve this. 

This includes:  

#1 An About section

You may have a section on your homepage that talks a bit about you and how you help your customers. This section normally has a call to action button that leads to the ‘about page’. 

#2 A product/service highlight  

You may also have a section on your homepage that highlights a particular product or service. This section will have a call to action button that leads to that particular product or service.

A Good Example of A Homepage That Does This Well

Alex Pemberton does this really well on her website. Her about section explains what she does, but it still makes it about her reader too.

6. Your Lead Capture 

On your homepage, you can include a lead magnet (or freebie) to entice someone to pop in their contact details such as their email address. This is a good thing to do before someone leaves your website–as often, people will leave without buying! 

We’ve all heard the stat that someone needs to see your message at least seven times to buy from you – and you can’t guarantee people will keep coming back to your website. So collecting their email address and emailing consistently is the key here. 

#1 If your lead magnet is a newsletter, make it sound interesting 

Don’t just say, ‘sign up to my newsletter for the latest news’ because, well, that sounds boring!  Actually tell someone what they’re going to get and make it sound interesting and beneficial. 

If you want to understand more about promoting your freebies or newsletters, we have some tips in our blog post: creating lead generating websites. .

#2 Show the ‘lead magnet’ – make it tangible 

If you’re offering a free lead magnet such as a cheat sheet or guide, actually show what it looks like. Yes, it’s not a tangible product, but make it tangible! Make it look meaty and feel like an actual product. This is a sure-fire way to increase sign-ups!

A Good Example of A Homepage That Does This Well

The Membership Guys do this really well on their homepage. They show a screenshot of the video so it’s clear what you get. And they have a clear call-to-action button to sign up.

7. Social proof

You want your homepage to build trust and authority with your web visitor. There are two main ways you can do this – using testimonials or logos from the places you’ve been featured or awards you’ve won. 

#1 Avoid the bland testimonial 

Suchabody is so professional and friendly! 

Try to avoid this kind of testimonial. Professional and friendly isn’t exactly exciting – it’s kinda the minimum we should expect from a business. If you’re going to feature testimonials, make them interesting. Include stats about what was achieved. Showcase what it was really like to work with you. 

If you want to learn more, we also wrote a blog post on how to get amazing client testimonials.  

#2 Don’t go overboard on talking about awards 

You’ve won an award. Yay! 

It’s exciting when this happens. Of course, it is. But your customer’s level of excitement and your level of excitement is entirely different. 

Your level of excitement is: HOLY CRAP I WON THIS AWARD I’M OVER THE MOON!!!!! 

And your customer’s is: ‘Huh, they won that award. That’s nice. Anyway, back to me.’ 

Yes, feature the logo of the award you’ve won but don’t harp on about it on your homepage. 

A Good Example of A Homepage That Does This Well

Gavin Bell does this well on his website. He showcases where he’s been featured quite prominently on his homepage, but the section is also quite subtle too. You’ll recognise the logos as soon as you see them (and this builds trust) but he doesn’t go on about it at great length!

Don’t Forget This Homepage Design Tip!

Something to remember about your homepage design…

Section everything up!

Make sure your promotional area is in its own section.

Make sure your first paragraph of text and image of you is in its own section.

For example, look at the difference between the two below.

The top one has a testimonial next to the introductory text and image. The bottom image separates these two items out. One section is for the about. Another section is for testimonials. This avoids it looking too messy and overwhelming.

Download the Homepage Blueprint

You can download our homepage blueprint below. This is an in-depth guide into exactly how to create your homepage step-by-step so that you can build trust and increase conversions.

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

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