Build a homepage people read, trust, and buy from.
If you’re neck-deep in website overwhelm, here’s a high-converting homepage outline to craft the simple sections that get people interested in your offerings and excited to buy from you.
Section 1 - The Hero section
Because this is what visitors see first, we need to answer 3 questions fast.
What do you do?
Give readers a clear title or brief description of what exactly you do. Bonus points if you do it in a unique way.
How does what you do improve their life?
What do they have to gain by using your products or services?
Paint the dream outcome. Obvious truth: if you don’t give them a reason to work with you, they won’t.
How can they get it?
Using a strong call to action (CTA) tells readers exactly what you want them to do next.
It gives them an option to take advantage of the benefit you said they’ll get.
Tips
Generally speaking, your website homepage should appeal to your broadest possible audience. Think of this page as your “catch-all” for anyone remotely interested in what you offer.
If you’re able, pair this photo with a happy customer using your products or services. If you don’t have that, try and source a photo (Unsplash.com) that you feel best communicates that scenario.
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Section 2 - The Problem Section
Briefly touch on some of the problems your reader is facing. This does a few things:
It communicates that you are aware of the pains they’re feeling and shows that you care.
If your prospects believe you deeply know their struggles, they’re more likely to believe that you can solve them.
It gives readers hope that they don’t have to experience these pains anymore. There’s a solution you provide that alleviates the discomfort.
Tips
Understand that this isn’t manipulation, it’s persuasion. Some business owners shy away from this step because it makes them uneasy, but if you truly wish to help people solve their problems, you need to address the state they’re currently in and give them the drive to take action to see change.
Address both external and internal problems. External: My lawn needs mowing. Internal: I’m embarrassed that my lawn is the messiest one on the block.
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Section 3 - The Benefits Section
After the last section, which was a bit heavy, it’s time to introduce some joy. Touch on some of the benefits and features of working with your business.
Remember, a feature is a trait of your product or service. It’s “you-focused”. Conversely, a benefit is a positive result of using your product or service, or “customer-focused”.
If you want a high-converting homepage, it needs to be benefit-heavy. Being feature-heavy is like saying “we are awesome” every other sentence. Wouldn’t your reader be much happier reading something centered around their solutions and success?
Tips
Three or four benefits in this section are plenty.
If you need help thinking of benefits, list your products/services, and for each one, think of how that makes your customers’ lives better.
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Section 4 - The Company Section
Introduce your company! This should be a short section highlighting what it is that you do and how that service helps people.
You can make this authoritative, empathetic, or something else entirely, but make sure you touch on a deep benefit your users will experience after working with you. A personal or team photo is a wise addition to this section. Show that you’re real people doing real work.
Tips
This is a solid section to display your unique value proposition (UVP/USP) if you have one.
Avoid the mistake of droning on too long about your company. Most readers don’t honestly care about your business, they simply want to know what it does for them or the people they love. Link to a separate about page where people can learn more if they’d like to.
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Section 5 - The Plan Section
Give three simple steps people can take to get started working with you. After everything they’ve read, they may be ready to take action at this point. This gives your visitors a clear path to take that gets them on the journey to seeing the results they’re interested in.
Tips
Number your steps or use “first, next, then” language.
Your first step should be the very next action you’d like them to take (book a call, schedule an appointment, etc.).
If your final step is the dream outcome they want to see, it will encourage more engagement.
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Section 6 - The Action Section
Make it crystal clear what they should do next, and then make it as easy as possible to do it.
Consider what action you want them to take. After that, contemplate all the ways you can make that decision much easier for them to make.
You could include an inline booking calendar so all they have to do is click. You may want to remind them what’s at stake if they don’t take action (section 2).
Tips
Use a bright button color you haven’t used anywhere else to draw the eye to your dominant CTA.
Be sure to tell them what’s in it for them if they take the desired action.
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Happy building
Thanks for going on this journey. I hope this gives you some insight when it comes to structuring a trust-building homepage. If you’d like some help implementing, click HERE to schedule a chat with me.
If you want the condensed version of this post in PDF form for easy reference, you can download it for free HERE.
Cheers to you. All the best in creating your beautifully simple and effective website.
