By now, you’ve probably heard that you only have a matter of mere seconds to make a good impression when someone visits your site. To inspire your audience to stay and keep interacting with your site and not ultimately X out and head somewhere that is not your site.
As the first place that most visitors land when they visit your site, your home page is one of the most important pages on your website, basically acting like your storefront. It’s how you invite in potential clients and say “Hi! Welcome! I’m so and so, and this is what I offer, and this is who I offer it to! Please stay awhile and make yourself comfortable! Perhaps a drink?”
Or something along those lines.
So in order for visitors to feel like they’re exactly where they should be, your homepage has some pretty important jobs it has to take care of.And some pretty important good impressions to make!). And you can help it do those jobs by making sure your home page copy is doing it’s job.
Now, just a note not to let any of this intimidate you! While these elements *are* important, they’re really not all that hard to implement!
Home Page Copywriting Elements You Need to Have
A strong, attention-grabbing headline
The above-the-fold headline is the first thing visitors are going to read, so out of everything on this list, this is arguably one of the most important elements.
Overall, your headline needs to tell your audience who you are, what you do, and who you do it for. Because this instantly lets visitors know if they’re in the right place. Which is all anybody really ever wants in life.
You always want to avoid any sort of confusion throughout your site — especially on your home page. If your audience is unsure of what you even do, they probably won’t stick around to do the work and figure it out. They don’t have a lot of time in their day, so make sure you’re easily and quickly giving them the answers they need to make a decision.
Now if SEO is something that’s important to you, you’ll also want to think about incorporating keywords into your headline so that said visitors can find your website to begin with.
You’ll want to be careful, though, when balancing a keyword-rich, SEO-friendly headline with a user-first, eye-catching headline. For the most part, your readers and their experience are your first priority. So your headline should speak to them because chances are they won’t appreciate obvious, non-human-sounding keyword stuffing.
So keep the keywords simple and put your readers first!
A relevant, client-centered introduction
As a service-based business, you often spend more time with your client than a product-based business might. You and your personality are so closely entwined with the services you’re offering that it’s important that you share more about you, as well. And since your clients will be spending more time with you, they’re gonna want to know who you are and if you’re someone they can see themselves working with. Consider it a vibe check!
This is important information to share with them early in their journey, so adding a mini-about introductory section on your home page gives them a little taste of who you are.
But this section is a bit of a careful balancing act. While you want to share more about who you are, you still want to tell it through the lens of how you can help them. Because that’s who your website is talking to — them!
This section can always end with a call to action leading readers to your About page, where they can get the full story, if they want!
Some wonderful social proof
The cherry on top to the perfect homepage is a really freakin’ good testimonial.
Incorporating testimonials throughout your home page ups your overall credibility. It’ll make your audience feel more likely to trust you and alleviate any concerns or objections that they might have.
We’re social creatures at heart, and when determining whether we want to spend money on something, we want to be reassured that other people also liked it. Even if we don’t actually know the person who recommended it.
You need at least one testimonial on your home page, but the more the merrier. There’s nothing wrong with sprinkling them throughout the page. Sometimes these testimonials are exactly the thing that will give potential clients the final push they need to make a buying decision.
Solid call to actions that inspire action
Like I said earlier, your visitors are busy, and they just wanna be told what to do so they don’t have to make any extra decisions in their day (honestly, same).
Think of your home page like a road map. It should guide them to the very next steps. So ultimately ask yourself what action you want them to take next. Should they visit your service page to view your offerings? Head right to your contact page to inquire? Take a peak at your portfolio? Should they do multiple of these?
Once you decide, then make sure that your call to actions (CTA’s) are easy to see and engaging enough to warrant someone clicking on them. Use them to build up the brand voice and tone throughout your site!
Is your home page copy as optimized as it could be?
And if you do already have these elements, are you giving them the attention they deserve? Are they truly pulling their weight by speaking directly to your audience and maintaining your brand voice?
Every part of your website is a chance to improve your user’s experience and create a brand they can’t get enough of. So make sure you’re not leaving anything on the table.
Hey, I’m Kristie and I write website and email copy for the best businesses! And in doing so, help business owners like you feel grounded and less chaotic.
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