Home page copy

What home page copy is

Home page copy is the writing on the one page most visitors see first: the headline, the line under it, the section that says who you serve, the proof that you are real, and the buttons that send people where they need to go. It has one job, which is to get a stranger to the right next page knowing what you do and whether it is for them.

It is not the place to explain everything. A home page that describes every service in full is a service page that has been asked to do too many jobs, and it does none of them. Nor is it a brand exercise: the sentence at the top comes from a value proposition, but the home page is where that sentence has to earn a click.

Who this is for

Three situations bring people here. The site is new and the home page is still the placeholder the designer left. The business has changed, added a service or dropped one, and the home page still describes the company from three years ago. Or visitors arrive, look, and leave without going anywhere else, and the analytics say so.

If your home page is fine and one inside page is the problem, you want a page rewrite instead. If you do not yet know what the business stands for or who it is for, the home page will only make that confusion public; a positioning statement comes first.

What goes in it

A home page is a sequence of decisions, top to bottom, and each section answers one question a visitor is silently asking.

• The headline. What you do and for whom, in plain words. "Bookkeeping for trades businesses in the Okanagan" beats "Welcome to our website" every time.
• The line under it. The one thing that makes you different, stated as a fact a buyer can check rather than an adjective.
• The first button. The single action you most want: a call, a quote, a shop. One button, not four.
• Who it is for. The two or three kinds of customer you serve, named, so the right visitor recognises themselves and the wrong one leaves quietly.
• What you sell. Each service in one or two sentences, each linking to its own page. This section is a signpost, not a brochure.
• Proof. A number you can stand behind, a named customer, a quote with a name on it, or a photograph of real work. Whichever you actually have.
• How it works. Three or four steps from first contact to finished job, so the buyer knows what they are agreeing to.
• The closing action. The same button as the top, with one sentence on what happens after they press it.

Before any of that is written, I read your existing site, your competitors' home pages, and whatever record you have of what customers ask when they first call. The headline is written in their words, not yours.

What you get

The copy. Every section above, written and in order, as a document of two to four pages. Headings, body text, button labels and the alternative text for any image the page needs.

The page outline. A one-page sketch of the sections in order with a note on the purpose of each, so your designer or developer knows what each block is for and does not reorder it for looks.

Two headline alternatives. The one I recommend and two others with a sentence on when each would be the better choice, because the headline is the decision the whole page hangs on.

A walkthrough call. Thirty minutes, with whoever builds the page, so the copy goes in as written.

A worked example

An illustration, not a client. A two-partner electrical contractor has a home page that opens with "Welcome to our site, where quality and customer service come first" and a photograph of a van. Below it are nine boxes, one per service, each with the same button. Inquiries come from a listing site and word of mouth; the website produces almost none, and the owners cannot tell which of the nine services a visitor wanted.

Listening to the office phone for a week shows callers ask three things: do you do residential panel upgrades, do you do commercial fit-outs, and how soon can you come. The new home page opens with "Residential panel upgrades and commercial fit-outs across the Fraser Valley, usually within ten working days". Two buttons, one per customer type, each to its own service page. Nine boxes become two sections. The proof section shows one recent panel job with the permit number and a quote from the homeowner, used with permission. The page is a third of its former length, and the two service pages now do the explaining.

How it runs

1. A half-hour call. What you sell, who buys, what the current home page is failing to do. No charge.
2. A fixed price in writing. Scope, price and dates agreed before anything starts.
3. Research. Three to five working days reading your site, your competitors and the questions your customers ask. If you have call notes or a support inbox, I read those too.
4. The draft. You read it cold, then we talk. One round of changes is included.
5. The final copy and outline. Delivered with the walkthrough call for whoever builds the page.

Two weeks from first call to final copy is typical. A home page written as part of a larger set of pages runs on that set's timescale.

What it costs

Home page copy is quoted as a fixed price in CAD after the half-hour call. The price depends on how much research is needed to find the right headline, how many customer types the page has to address, and whether a value proposition already exists or has to be worked out first. The number is agreed in writing and does not change unless you change the scope. The pricing page explains how quotes are built.

What happens next

A home page sends people somewhere, so the pages it points to are usually next: service pages for each thing you sell, and an about page that survives the check a buyer makes before they trust you. If the new page changes the tone of the site, voice alignment brings the older pages into line. None of that is assumed; the home page is complete on its own.