We’ve spoken before about website copy being completely different to any other copy, but when it comes to difficulty, the home page is often the most difficult web copy a business will ever have to right. There is a lot you want to get across, but if you try and get it all across on the homepage you’re going to leave the visitor to your website feeling like a rabbit caught in the headlights.
Ideally the web copy on your homepage should meet three basic levels. The first is to meet and greet the visitor to your website, you then need to connect with the visitor and engage with them before directing the visitor to another page where they can find out more.
You want to use your homepage web copy to tell the visitor who you are and where you have come from, but you don’t want to bombard them so instead why not complete a short paragraph with an overview of who the business is and what it does with a link through to an ‘About Us’ page where they can read more, if they choose to.
Of course you also want your visitor to know what your business can offer but again you do not want to confuse them with paragraphs and paragraphs of content, so instead, if you only have a few services, write a few short lines about each service, under the heading of the service name and then link through to the individual service page.
Alternatively, if you offer lots of services then why not create a paragraph of the services you offer and the way in which you offer the services and then a link through to your main services page. Or you could have a list of the services and products under a line or two about the way in which you offer your services and products. Each word could then link through to the right page.
Keep in mind that you don’t want to put the visitor off, they could be a potential client, so instead of a messy page where you tell the visitor everything, aim for a concise homepage with simple homepage web copy with a clear path and direction through the website for the visitor to your website.
