Best Practices For Writing Homepage Copy (With Examples)

Investing in your homepage copy 10X more than any other page on your site make total sense.

36% of new visitors to your website will navigate to your homepage after landing on your blog, a product or service page, or another page.

As one of the most viewed parts of your site, homepages can be challenging to write, because they determine whether readers stay or leave. If your site were a house, it would be the living room or kitchen that connects everything else together. 

But how can you address a major project like improving or creating a company's homepage copy?

One way is to divide it into smaller elements.

Here is a basic structure of a homepage:

It’s quite common to want to overload your homepage with as much information as possible. But after editing a great many web pages for clients in my career as a copywriter, I’ve learned that overloading your homepage is rarely the right choice. 

Over the years, I have come to love writing homepage copy, because it helps you to realign your company’s goals. Putting together concise copy on who you are and what you offer can encourage you to prioritize your most important unique selling point (USP) and reflect on the goals you already have and if they are still applicable.

Here, I’ll share what I’ve learned about how to write homepage copy that keeps readers glued to the page.

Why is it important for your site to have good web copy?

Well-written web copy turns a visitor into a customer.

Whether people find your website through SERPs or come across a referral link via social media, as they’ve clicked your link, it’s safe to say your website visitors are interested in your content.

Imagine coming across a book with a compelling cover. However, if you turn the book over to read the blurb and find that it’s poorly written, confusing, and long-winded, you’re likely to set it down again. Poor homepage content has the same effect.

With good web copy, visitors will be enticed to stay on your site or buy from you. Your homepage copy should clearly explain who, what, and why — who are you, what can you offer, and why a visitor should care. If you want to increase sales, optimize SEO, show your authority in your industry, and increase customers, copy that contains this information is vital.

How to write good webpage copy

Here’s my pro copywriter’s shortlist of tricks to create copy that meets your business goals. Before you get started, a quick note to remember to double-check spelling and grammar. After writing, you can even use Wordtune to make sure your writing is accurate and well-polished.

Identify your customers’ pain points.

Before you get started writing your homepage copy, you should know who your customer is and what kind of problems you can help them solve.

Consider how your website copy can address your visitors’ pain points and frame your products or services as solutions.  To create a connection between yourself and a reader, address them as “you.” 

These two methods can help you identify pain points:

1. Competitor research - Analyze the keywords your competitors are using. Notice what FAQs competitor websites answer and what solutions/products they offer.

2. SEO research - You can use keyword tools such as Ahrefs or rely on Google. In the search bar, type in your keywords and see what suggestions appear. When you search on Google, there is usually a “People also ask” section which lists popular questions associated with your keyword.

Understanding your customers' needs and what they are looking for is a crucial part of SEO. Once you know what terms your customers are likely to type into a search bar, add them to your webpage copy — and make sure to offer solutions.

Highlight your value proposition.

Your value proposition (VP) explains why your business is beneficial and ultimately better than your competitors. While a mission statement highlights your brand’s overall aims, your VP tells your visitors why they should invest in you.

As an example, our mission at Wordtune is to “revolutionize the way we read and write,” but our VP is to help you “say exactly what you mean through clear, compelling and authentic writing.”

To help create your value proposition, follow these three steps.

1. Write down your customer pain points. (If you followed my two steps from earlier, you should also have some keywords to note.)
2. Under each pain point, write down some solutions. How can your business solve these concerns?
3. Pick out the solutions that feel most relevant to your business aims. Do not try to cram too many solutions onto each page, as this can cause you to lose your overall message.

Create your VP by combining your keywords and solutions. Experiment with putting different elements together in a sentence. An ideal VP is both easy to understand and simple to read.

Include the necessary elements of a home page — without the filler.

A key part of learning how to write homepage copy is knowing what information you need and what is too much. Here’s some essential elements of a website homepage.

1. Headings

Your headings are one of the first things people will see on your site. For that reason, they must be catchy and to the point. What is the first thing you want people to read about your business?

Here are a couple of popular ways to create a homepage heading.

• Use a slogan - For Wordtune, we came up with “Your Thoughts in Words.” Write down some relevant words and see if you can create something memorable.
• Use your VP - Your value proposition can work great as a heading. Just be cautious that it is not too long — you may want to pull out a couple of keywords that you can use in that case.
• Ask a question - An effective way to show you understand your customer’s pain points is to ask a question that relates to their concerns. 
• Use a CTA - Calls to action can be very effective as headings. The language company Babbel makes “Start learning a new language today” its header.

Regardless of which style you choose, it’s key for headings to relate back to your readers and the purpose of your website.

2. Benefits rather than features

Like a friend introducing acquaintances, homepage copy should introduce people to your website and then encourage them to stick around. Focusing on benefits rather than features can help. 

While features are particular points about you and your business, the benefits of your services are how these points are valuable to customers.

For instance, a feature of ours is that you can get Wordtune for your team in one pricing plan. To turn this into a benefit, we could write, “a team plan means everyone can say exactly what they mean through clear, compelling, and authentic writing.”

Notice how the second sentence tells people about team plans but also explains how this is valuable and why it’s worth having.

In a brief summary, explain clearly who you are and what you do, focusing on the benefits of your product. Remove excessive detail, such as in-depth product knowledge, which is better saved for other pages, such as your About Us page.

Try to put yourself in your readers’ shoes. What type of questions would they want answered about your services right away?

In addition to mentioning benefits, it’s also important to prove your results with relevant information such as the following.

• A summary that describes why your company is credible — something short and concise that doesn’t compete with your about page
• Reviews and testimonials
• Awards and certifications
• Survey feedback
• Statistics

3. Brief, concise statements

Your homepage provides an overview of your website. Keep paragraphs short and to the point. Avoid lengthy sentences and complex wording that could make the page difficult to understand. 

Going back to the idea of a homepage as an introduction, you don’t want to overwhelm visitors with content when you have only just met.

As we suggest in our guide to writing copy that sells, it’s a wise idea to go through your draft and highlight any vague or generic statements you might find on your homepage. Then, you can either substitute these for specific benefits or remove them altogether.

4. Keywords

While there is no exact number of keywords to include in your copy — some SEO experts suggest one keyword per 200 words of copy — you’ll want to add keywords throughout your homepage. Just avoid keyword stuffing by making sure each keyword fits naturally in the copy.

Again, competitor research and keyword tools can help you find your keywords. You may want to list out all the words and phrases you associate with your business. Then, use a keyword tool to see which terms are most popular or achievable for SERPs.

Create powerful CTAs.

Consider what parts of your site you want people to experience first. Would you like them to download a free resource or sign up for your mailing list before reading another web page? Is there a particular hero product that you are eager to highlight first?

CTAs can direct people to secondary pages or platforms, such as social media. Add buttons and internal links with action words such as “read,” “join,” “sign up,” “subscribe,” “learn more,” “start today,” or “shop now.”

If your business requires a consultation to get started, it’s beneficial to send readers to your contact page so they know exactly how to get a hold of you for next steps.

When deciding how to write homepage copy for your site, prioritize clarity. Visitors need to understand exactly what your website focuses on and why it is beneficial for them. 

As a writer, using the Wordtune Editor helps me improve my messaging for maximum readability. For instance, Rewrite shows me different ways I can reword a sentence.

7 great homepage copy examples 

Now that you’ve seen the tips, let’s see some companies that are putting them into action.

1. Babbel uses reviews to demonstrate benefits

Babbel lets its reviews speak for themselves. Highly credible sources like CNN help the platform seem trustworthy and describe great features.

2. Neil Patel entices with a compelling CTA

This heading on SEO expert Neil Patel’s website immediately hits his customers’ biggest pain point. Then, he calls readers to action with an immediate step they can take to solve the problem — click the button.

3. Applegate puts its key information at the top

Take inspiration from Applegate and put your most relevant information at the top of your homepage. The keywords “No antibiotics” and “No GMO ingredients” reveal the benefits of its products straightaway.

4. Heinz writes homepage copy that addresses its core audience

Using the second-person “you,” Heinz effectively addresses its readers. The use of the word “adulting” combined with the visual tells us exactly who they are targeting — young people trying to be healthier as they become more independent.

Are there any keywords or associations you can include in your copy that will feel relatable to your target audience?

5. Merix Studio uses visuals to elevate its copy

Take a cue from Merix Studio and create visuals that lift your keywords. The use of color, the unique text configuration, and the visual of the magnetic field illustrate the company’s positioning as a source of global technology expertise and draw the eye to relevant CTAs.

6. Conversion Rate Experts focuses on results

A fantastic example of how to write a summary of your business that doesn’t just explain your products. Conversion Rate Experts summarizes itself while seamlessly highlighting the key benefits of working with it.

Customers learn what to expect from the service with this list of how thorough and results-driven the company is, with links that further demonstrate its expertise.

7. Nivea writes homepage copy using numbers

Including numbers can prove your business’s credibility and increase trustworthiness. Have you been learning about your industry for a certain number of years? Could you put together a feedback survey that could turn into a great homepage statistic?

Conclusion 

Your homepage is the introduction to your website and the hub that connects all your other web pages together. It should be concise, easy to navigate, and user friendly. Remember to keep copy brief, prioritize customer benefits, and include those all-important CTAs to direct people to other parts of your site.

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