- Video
Your website homepage needs to fix this
One sentence at the top of your homepage. What you do, who it’s for, what they get out of it.
▶Play the video: Your website homepage needs to fix thisHere’s the one-minute fix. Right at the top of your homepage, write one sentence that says what you do, who it’s for and, if you can, what they get out of it. No metaphors, no buzzwords, no marketing guff.
A template you can pinch: we are [what you do] that [the result it achieves]. Something like “We build straightforward websites that turn visitors into customers.” Or “I’m an accountant that will help you finally save money.”
This is usually where people get twitchy. Isn’t that a bit basic? Can we make it sound a bit more premium?
No. Marketing people will tell you to sell the sizzle, not the sausage. Benefits, not features. But benefits are where it gets tricky, and that’s how you end up in generic city. Those examples above don’t even lean on benefits. They just say the thing.
The bit most homepages miss is the simple one. Say what you do, with no fancy way of saying it. There’s more in how to write a homepage headline.
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Read the full transcript
So, here is the actual one minute fix. Right at the top of your homepage, write one sentence that says the following. What you do, who is it for? And if you can, what they get out of it. No metaphors, no buzzwords, no marketing guff.
Here's a template you can pinch to do exactly that. We are I what you do that the result it achieves. It sounds something like this. We build straightforward websites that turn visitors into customers. or I'm an accountant that will help you finally save money.
I'm the thing that the result it achieves. This right here is about the point where people start getting twitchy because someone always says, "Well, isn't that a bit basic? Or can we make it sound a bit more premium? I don't know why I put this voice on every time I do this." Or shouldn't we elevate the language? That's again my favorite.
And no, we shouldn't elevate the language because you'll notice that none of those examples are even focusing on benefits right now. They're just super simple because that's where things start to get complicated. And that's where a lot of marketing people will advise you to sell the sizzle and not the sausage. The benefits and not the features. But it gets pretty tricky when we start talking about benefits because that's how we get to generic city.
Again, on your website, the most important thing that people miss is just saying a simple thing right at the top of the homepage, and it's, "What do you do?" No fancy way.