Writing a great homepage is a cornerstone of a solid website. Without it, your website can’t fully do its job of selling to your ideal clients and connecting with them in a meaningful way.

Homepages may seem like they aren’t a big deal, but they’re super important when it comes to your overall strategy. Although people will not always land on your homepage first, we definitely want to craft it as if that is the case.

A great homepage will give an idea of who you are, what you offer, and how your ideal people can begin the journey of working with you.

Read on for the 3 home page copywriting tips that you’ll need to write it, ASAP.

Write A Great Headline Above The Fold

Websites live and die by their headlines. Seriously. It may feel like great design is more important, but honestly, if your messaging doesn’t work, then you won’t be able to attract the right people into your business even if your website is the most gorgeous thing they’ve ever seen.

Although every business is different, it’s generally a good idea to include a clarifier-type line sharing what you do like “Web Designer for Coaches”, as well as a headline that is outcome or benefits-driven, meaning that it’s clear why your service is a great investment. 

Finally, finish it off with a call to action that sends them to the most desired action. That will likely be your services page, your most popular offering, or, if your ultimate goal is to build your email list, then to send them to your lead magnet.

If you need more actionable help with this, download our free homepage headline guide to get the scoop.

Direct Them To Your Services and Show Them Who You Are

After we’ve grabbed their attention with a headline, now we have to keep them reading. We accomplish this with a little bit of positioning. You’ll want to include some main positioning language about your brand, from the perspective of the person you want to reach most.

Although we don’t want to go full sales page here (that’s going to work much better on your services pages), we do want a little bit of statement of problem (without making them feel like shit), and how we can help. This DOES NOT have to mean that you write an “I help X do X” kind of sentence. In fact, I’d encourage you NOT to do this because it won’t sound different from anyone else. 

What can work really well here is to counter their beliefs, state the facts, and  explain why your offering is pretty freaking awesome. For example, on my homepage, I include some core philosophies behind why copywriting works, what it’s meant to do, and how that meets their goals for where they want to take their business next.

Then, you can introduce who you are with a “Hi, I’m so-and-so” type section. Keep it SHORT here. Don’t give your life story or share that you love Doritos at lunchtime. Keep it focused on the client. If you want to share cute fun-facts about yourself, save it for the about page.

Finally, round it out with some testimonials, and perhaps even a sneak peek of your service offerings enticing them to click over to what’s next.

Always Include a ‘Last Chance’ Headline in your Home Page Copywriting

One of the BIGGEST mistakes I see as a copywriter is not including a final action at the bottom of your homepage. Too often, people will simply end with a canvas of testimonials and a lovely footer with an Instagram feed and call it a day when that simply won’t fly. 

Instead, think of that ONE ideal action that you’d like people to take. For some, it may be fairly straightforward: you’ll either send them to your services page or get them to download your lead magnet if you’re trying to grow your email list. Sometimes, though, if you have more than one service, it may benefit you to either (1) segment them into the handful of services you offer by sending them to the service-specific pages for each or (2) pick the service you want to send people to most, and put a CTA button for it. 

Ideally, this section should consist of an attention-grabbing, on-brand headline, a subhead or brief paragraph telling them what’s next, and a call to action button sending them where you want them to go.

Although it’s an option to simply send people to your contact page, you’ll often want to funnel people over to your services first so that you get more qualified leads. If people are simply filling out your contact form but skipping over your services, they may have more entry-level questions like how much does this cost or what do you offer, when really we want people to be ready to go when they’re filling out that contact form.

Ready to go in-depth and refine the messaging for your signature offer? Click to get our free guide.