What is the Homepage?
The homepage is commonly the most visited page on your site and any other website. That’s why the importance of knowing the anatomy of an effective homepage shouldn’t be overlooked.
In digital marketing, the primary purposes of a homepage include: presenting your brand, highlighting your top products and services, and helping new site visitors navigate while building trust and rapport with them.
While it’s not exactly that complicated, writing an effective enough homepage that accomplishes the said purposes can pose a mighty challenge at times.
To help you make that killer first impression, here are some of the best practices you need to master when writing an effective homepage that’ll get you more sales:
Homepage Copywriting Template
Begin by creating your homepage copywriting template.
The following are the sections you’ll want to include when creating your homepage copy:
- Headline & Subheadline
- Description
- Products and Services (with features)
- Callouts
- About Us
- Social Proof
- Overview of Services
- CTA
The Headline and Subheadline
As is the case with other content types, the headline of your homepage is one of its most essential elements, simply because through it, people will know who you are and the value they’ll get from your site.
In addition, putting thought and effort into creating your homepage headline offers continuity, especially for visitors who find your website and land on your homepage from another source, such as social media. By crafting a compelling headline, you’re reassuring them that they’ve come to the right place.
You can achieve this by creating a headline that’s engaging and exemplifies your unique selling proposition (USP). Also, keep in mind that the headline you’ll come up with should answer the question, “what does your company do?”
Right below the heading is a subhead that expands upon your main headline. You can use both the main headline and subheadline to reel more visitors in and explore your site. Once they get hooked, you’d want to seal the deal by including a call-to-action (CTA) below the subhead so that they can act accordingly and swiftly.
Make sure to use precise phrases as CTA, like “sign up today” or “call us now.
Description
After coming up with your best headline, the description is the next part of your homepage that you need to work on since it’s the next bit of information your site visitors will encounter.
You should endeavor to craft the description well because prospective clients will utilize it to evaluate your brand. To help ensure that you’ll come up with the best possible description, keep the following pointers in mind:
- Your homepage must showcase a clear description of who your business serves, your target audience, and the type of services you offer to help your clients.
- Through the description, you should also tell your visitors why you’re the best brand to conduct business with. It should display the main reasons that set you apart from the competition, as well as your business’s unique edge.
- Finally, work on the description to be as close to the top of your homepage as possible. Studies show that it only takes 2.6 seconds for users to set sights on critical areas of your homepage. News flash, your site description is one such area, which is why you should carefully structure it, given its impact on how well your homepage will convert.
Products and Services
Once your site description is set, the next thing to do is go straight into what you’re selling. After all, part of making that killer first impression through your website is to avoid making your customers wait.
To show off your products and services, you have to determine the products and services you primarily offer. Make sure that when customers are navigating your homepage, they can pinpoint what they’re looking for and reach that part of the page quickly.
The key here is to ensure that your site descriptions are clear and direct while your site links work precisely in directing potential customers to the right sales page. Keep in mind that as beautifully designed as your homepage is, it’s only meant to direct traffic.
Get on with your task by coming up with a heading that’ll introduce the products and services you offer.
Then, under that main heading, start listing the said products or services. Include a brief overview of each, including a call to action to help ensure your visitors can easily navigate your homepage.
Repeat these sections and CTAs as many times as necessary to list the product categories you’re looking to sell. These products or services would require their own sales page, which we will discuss a bit later.
Simply, this particular section focuses on helping your site visitors understand what you offer and help them get to the specific page based on what they’re looking for.
Callouts
After listing your business’s products and services, you now have the opportunity to fill in your prospective clients on any other significant aspects of your brand.
Callouts include:
- Your customer guarantees
- Custom benefits you offer
- Different clients you serve
- Areas served or office locations if you have several of them.
In this part, remember to include a section title, the name of the benefit or feature you wish to highlight, and a brief explanation of each. Your competitors may offer the same products as yours. Still, the added benefits and features you provide can potentially attract more clients by simply showing visitors that you’re the better choice.
About Us
Further build your customer’s trust with an “About Us” section. Here, you’ll be discussing details about your company which can be an excellent way to engage new visitors and gain their trust in the process.
One important thing to remember while doing this section is that your customers care about themselves and are keen on solving their problems. Since knowing about you isn’t their priority, don’t make the mistake of going overboard in discussing your business and yourself.
However, this section is still necessary for developing trust since they can see who’s responsible for the products and services they’re interested in. Having said this, make it a point to include in your “About Us” section the following:
- Who you are
- Why clients should pick you over your competitors
- What you stand for
Letting your site visitors know that you’re on the same page can spell the difference between a conversion and a lost sale. Remember, the way customers feel drives most of their purchasing behavior. One question that you must care to answer is, “How can I possibly connect with my clients?”
Write your “About Us” section title and include subheadings if necessary. Include everything you’d want a prospective client to know while trying to keep it as brief and concise (a short paragraph should do).
Finally, don’t forget to add a CTA, although it’s not required in the “About Us” section, especially if the CTA doesn’t fit the context. Most businesses create a separate “About Us” section linked from their homepage, specifically those with longer stories.
Social Proof
Another essential element to add to your homepage is social proof. Social proofs can be in the form of case studies or testimonials that highlight your brand’s effectiveness at solving your client’s concerns.
According to a study, 83% of consumers are more likely to purchase a service or product that a friend or family member recommends. This statistic shows that people generally don’t trust brands because of what they say. Instead, they trust brands based on what other people say about them. This explains the need for you to feature testimonials from satisfied clients on your website homepage.
Some of the ways to incorporate social proof on your website include:
Reviews
Encourage your clients to share reviews on your website or third-party review platforms.
Case Studies
Case studies are success stories involving your clients that show how your product or service helped them. It’s a good idea to enlist the help of a creative copywriter to write a case study that you can display on your homepage for visitors to use as a reference or even download.
Testimonials
Ask your satisfied customers to provide testimonials of their experience with your brand.
Awards & Certifications
Don’t be shy to display on your homepage awards and certifications that your business has earned over the years.
In case you don’t have testimonials or positive reviews yet, the following are some of the ways to get them:
- Reach out to influencers and bloggers in your niche for them to provide exclusive access to your work that’s not available to regular users.
- Offer your product or service at a discounted rate to gain authorization from your clients to showcase your efforts as case studies.
- Perform an outreach campaign to your prospects and offer them a trial, free access, or sample of your product or service, and request a review in exchange.
If you need further proof on the importance of testimonials, refer to this particular study that says positive reviews remain one of the most viable ways for companies to sell their products. It specifically states that consumers are willing to spend 31% more on a brand with excellent customer reviews. It just goes to show how powerful social proof is in influencing your site visitors to conduct business with your brand.
Overview of Services
Another excellent design move that you can have on your homepage is the overview of services section. Apart from providing your site visitors a quick glimpse of your business’s products or services, it lets them know what you can help them with at once.
A good overview section immediately highlights the summary of products your business offers right above the fold.
Finish with a Compelling Call to Action (CTA)
Apart from serving as a snapshot of what you offer and who you are, your homepage should aid in driving you closer to your business goals.
The ultimate goal of every website and homepage is to get your visitors to take action. Since it’s a part of your content funnel, you need to count on your homepage to help drive conversions.
That’s precisely where your call-to-action comes in.
While some customers click on your first CTA right under the main heading, you can expect others to skim through the rest of your website before arriving at a decision. You’d want to include a final CTA that’s clear and focused on only one action for the latter. It could be anything from a link to a resource page or space to sign up for a free trial.
Aside from the actual CTA button, you need to take the time and effort to craft the copy that goes hand-in-hand with that button. To come up with a compelling CTA copy, you can do the following:
Use action words
Make sure to include words, such as start, see, and get, among others. They propel sentences forward by clearly communicating what you want your site visitors to do.
Keep it concise
Ever heard of the saying, “less is more”? When it comes to CTAs, this saying is also very much applicable. Compel prospective clients into taking the next step by using as few words as possible.
Personalize your CTA
Generic CTA’s won’t do the job anymore. Instead, you need to create one that addresses the primary concern of your audience or speak about the main benefit they’ll get from subscribing to your brand.
The absence of a clear and straightforward CTA will render the content of your website’s homepage incomplete. You have to exert effort in making the overall experience of your site visitors a pleasant one. Or else, you will see a good number of them leaving without doing any further action.
Key Takeaways
Your homepage should never be taken lightly nor overlooked. Nailing the ideal anatomy of an effective homepage is crucial to the success of your website and, ultimately, your business.
For this reason, you must spend time and resources developing an award-winning homepage supported by equally impressive homepage copywriting.
