How to write your website’s homepage
Every business wishes it could transform its website into a machine that prints money. If only it were as easy as placing a picture of your product with a big “BUY NOW” button!
It’s never that easy, though, and it’s never been that easy. The truth is, nobody has ever bought something before being convinced to buy it. When was the last time you bought something without reading a review, understanding its features, knowing about the company selling it, or having some prior experience with it?
Words matter. Marketing is a lot like building a relationship with someone. Every channel you communicate through—including your website—is like having a conversation. But how do you make a website so that it has a conversation with the customer? What do you need to say?
Each section of your website must address a specific aspect of your customer’s story. Within each section, you will want to answer specific questions. When all the questions are answered, your website will simulate a conversation that will leave great first impressions and establish customer relationships.
Explain what you do in the header
Reading a website’s homepage is like meeting someone for the first time. You try to lock their name into your memory, attempt to find some common ground and go through a game of 20 questions to understand what it is they’re about.
In the header, you want to clearly and quickly describe what you’re about, what value your offer, and why your customers should continue talking to you.
What do you do?
If you’ve ever been to a networking event or fumbled over what to ask someone to get the conversation started, then you’ve probably asked, “What do you do?” Your website is no different.
Although a joke in the Office, Bob Vance is a model for answering the “What do you do” question. The others in this scene look at him confusedly. But, if they were in the market for a refrigerator or refrigeration service, they would know whom to call.
Likewise, your header must first describe what you do as clearly and quickly as possible. Do you make healthy dog treats? Say, “We make healthy dog treats.” For us at 6th Ave Storytelling, we do organic marketing based on storytelling.
How will it make my life better?
If you were talking to someone in real life and told them what you do for work, they might follow up by asking, “How did you get into that?” or, “What made you decide to do that?”
Within a website, the question, “How will it make my life better?” hints at the same idea but is more direct to what the person is asking. After hearing about what you do, readers need to be given a reason to be interested and continue reading.
If you make healthy dog treats, you might say, “So your pup knows how much you love and care for them.” At 6th Ave Storytelling, we want to make the world as obsessed with your business as you are, so we provide organic marketing services based on storytelling.
How do I get it?
At any given moment, your customer might be ready to act. When they’re ready to buy or contact you, make it as evident and frictionless as possible. Make your buttons and calls to action obvious, abundant, and straightforward.
Your button's label should be whatever action your customer needs to take to begin the buying process. Calls to action, such as “Learn more” or “Get started,” are vague and don’t describe what will happen on screen. If they need to call, say, “Call now.” If they need to schedule an appointment, say, “Schedule an appointment.”
Describe the value you offer
Your next section shouldn’t waste any time. If your header did its job, then the reader knows what you do and why they should be interested. The following section, the Value Proposition, follows the conversation into the natural next step.
What problem are you solving for me?
The problem you solve was vaguely referenced in the header when describing how you improve people’s lives. Now, you want to state what problem you’re addressing explicitly.
If you tell someone you make healthy dog treats so owners can love and care for their dogs, they will start wondering what makes a dog treat healthy. Likewise, they might ask what unhealthy treats do to a dog's health and why they should stop using unhealthy dog treats.
On your website, clearly state what problem you solve, why it needs to be solved, and the consequences for not solving it.
What is your solution?
After clearly stating the problem, immediately resolve the conflict by describing your immediate solution and why the solution will work. Here, you communicate the value readers and customers get out of doing business with you.
At 6th Ave Storytelling, we know it's hard to know with whom to trust your marketing and brand. Our proven framework and team of experts give you the story-driven strategy and support you need to grow your business and keep making an impact.
Introduce yourself officially
Up until now, everything your website has said focused completely on the reader. Sure, you were talking about what you do and the value you provide, but it was all for the sake of the customer. It isn’t until this section that you shed a little light on your story—still, though, it’s oriented around the customer.
Why are you solving this problem for me?
If this were a face-to-face conversation, you would most likely be asked what personal stake you have in solving the problem. Take this opportunity in the conversation and website to express empathy with the customer.
Maybe you make healthy dog treats because your pet became sick after exposure to a common toxin in inferior treats. If you sell business services, perhaps you remember how difficult it was trying to figure this problem out yourself.
What makes you capable of solving this problem?
Following your empathy statement, demonstrate that you have what it takes to solve your customer's problem. Share reviews from other customers enjoying success with your product. Talk about your unique approach and how it's different from your competitors.
A dog treat company would discuss the natural ingredients in their treats and how they’re both delicious to dogs and provide vital nutrients to keep them healthy. For us, we developed The Storytelling Pathway, a proven plan that has marketed and grown dozens of businesses in the DFW area.
Give them a process for getting the value
Finally, once all the other questions in the conversation have been answered, your conversation partner will ask, “So what does it look like to implement your solution. How do you do it?” They’re asking for a clear process—steps 1, 2, and 3. The more complex your solution is, the more you must make your plan digestible.
There are two types of plans: how to get the solution or how to use the solution, and which to use depends on your unique product or service.
What steps would we need to take to get the solution?
A plan to how to get the solution is often used for service-oriented solutions. For 6th Ave Storytelling, we describe how to get the result in three steps:
Meet up
Plan your path
Grow your business
Often, when services are offered, an agreement beforehand needs to be reached before those services are rendered and payment is made. For that reason, highlighting the steps you’ll take with them to get to that agreement will help them understand their time and energy investment upfront before any value is received.
What’s the process for using this solution?
Product-oriented solutions usually employ a process for using the product. In this day and age, everyone knows how to buy something online. They don’t need you to describe entering their shipping information and clicking the buy now button.
Instead, tell them what to do once they receive the product. Whether its an IKEA assembly manual or a description of how often to feed your dog their healthy treats, clarifying the best way to use the product goes a long way to convincing someone to purchase it.
Keep it clutter-free
Depending on your business, the solution you offer, and how important your website is to your marketing strategy, you might include other sections that continue the conversation. If you think about your website like the first conversation you have with somebody, and follow the logical sequence of questions and answers, then you’ll be better off than most of your competitors.
However, sometimes your website needs to link or reference items that don’t pertain to that conversation, such as:
Your core values
Careers and jobs openings
Legal disclosures
Archived content
Terms and privacy policies
Your team members
History
Press releases
Your footer—or better yet, call it the junk drawer—is the perfect place to put these items. Anyone navigating to your website looking for one of these will know to scroll down to the footer to find them because they shouldn’t be part of your homepage’s content.
You don’t need to feature every inch of your business on the homepage. Focus on the main conversation, move everything else into the footer, menu, or about page, and you’ll be fine.
Your website should have a soul
Your homepage is like having a get-to-know-you conversation, so let people know whom they’re getting to know. Not the brand—the people. Humans don’t like doing business with faceless organizations. People do business with people, and websites with faces have soul, making visitors feel inspired to be part of something bigger than themselves.
We’re all about helping small-to-mid-sized businesses find their soul, develop an organic marketing plan, and grow their business. If you want to dive deeper into finding the soul of your website, download our guide, Storysite 101; How to Build a Website That Makes You Money. If you’ve burned through resources, time, and energy and want a second opinion or some help, schedule a meetup with 6th Ave Storytelling.
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