What’s your home page there to do?
It’s there to let people know they’re in the right place.
Then it’s there to show them you understand what they need and you can do something about it.
It’s your job to make it as easy as possible for them to see they’re in the right place and they can trust you with their time and money. Then they’ll click through (to your About pages to learn more about you, to your services/work with me pages to see how you help).
If they find they’re not in the right place, or they don’t trust you enough to spend more time with you, they’ll bounce off.
So, when you’re writing your home page, ask yourself:
- Is it clear what I do (Are you a marketing service, an online art shop, an online bakery, a complementary therapy service)?
- Is it clear how I can help (Not the detailed services here – the deeper problem you solve)?
- What’s in it for them – why should they care? (How is there future going to be better because of you?)
- Why should they trust you? Does anyone else trust you? (Testimonials, stats, research)
- What do you want them to do about it? (Read about your services? Join a mailing list?)
- Is it easy for them to act (Is the mailing list/buy/contact button obvious)?
- Is it easy to read (Written in language your reader understands? Or in industry jargon? Are there short, clear sentences and a simple message? Do the visuals and layout work with the copy)?
These are the questions I ask myself when writing homepages for clients. How about you? What questions are you answering when you write?
Great tips. As a fiction writer – I want my homepage to build rapport with readers. Not sure that I’m there yet – but you’ve given me something to think about.
Great advice – what is it you want them to do next and how easy is it for them to act?
Sometimes we forget that because we are so busy telling people everything we want to say!