What to actually put on your home page

The home page is the one most people rewrite five times and still dislike. Usually because they start with what they want to say rather than what a stranger needs to know.

Say what you do, plainly, at the top

Somebody landing on your site has about five seconds of patience and one question: is this the right place? Answer it immediately, in language they would use themselves.

“Bathroom fitting and tiling in Wexford, since the nineties” tells a stranger everything. “Delivering bespoke solutions tailored to your needs” tells them nothing, and could describe a law firm or a skip hire company.

The test: could a competitor put your headline on their site without changing anything? If yes, it is not saying enough.

Then where you are

For a local business this is not a detail, it is a qualifying question. People want to know you cover their area before they read another word. Put the town or county in the first thing they see, not only in the footer.

Then what you want them to do

Pick one action. Ring, or fill in the form, or get a quote. One, prominent, repeated as they scroll.

Three buttons of equal weight offering three different things is a decision you have handed to the visitor, and the most common response to a decision is to make none.

Then the reasons to believe you

This is where proof goes: photos of real work, reviews, how long you have been going, qualifications that matter in your trade. Real and specific beats impressive and vague. Three genuine reviews from named local customers are worth more than a claim about hundreds of satisfied clients.

If you do not have proof yet, do not invent it. Say what you do and how you work instead. People can tell.

What to leave off

• A welcome message. Nobody has ever been persuaded by “Welcome to our website”.
• Your company history, at the top. It can go on the about page, where the people who care will find it.
• A slideshow of stock photos of people in offices who do not work for you.
• Anything you would not say out loud to a customer standing in front of you.

A quick test

Show your home page to somebody who does not know what you do, for five seconds, then take it away and ask them what your business is and where. If they cannot answer both, the top of the page needs rewriting before anything else on it does.