In short: a homepage has a few seconds to answer a visitor's questions: what does this business do, can it help, and how can people get in touch? Here are the ten things visitors look for, in roughly the order they look for them.
People rarely read a homepage from top to bottom. They scan it, usually on a phone, looking for a reason to stay or a reason to leave. A good homepage does not try to say everything. It answers the first few questions quickly and points to the next step.
1. What you do, in plain words
The first thing on the page should be a headline that says what your business does. "Electrician for homes and small businesses" beats a clever slogan every time, because a visitor should never have to guess what you sell.
2. Who it is for and where you work
Say who you help and the areas you cover, so people can tell straight away whether you are right for them. It saves you enquiries you cannot take on and saves them a wasted call.
3. A clear way to get in touch
Put a tap-to-call button, your email address and a short form where they are easy to find, and repeat them further down the page. Nothing loses a customer faster than having to hunt for how to contact you.
4. Your main services
List what you offer in a few short blocks, each with a sentence of explanation and a link to more detail if you have it. Use the words your customers use, not your trade's jargon.
5. Proof that you are good
Real reviews, real photos of your work and any accreditations you genuinely hold show visitors that you are who you say you are. Only use what is true and what you have permission to show. Our guide to getting more Google reviews explains how to build up the first of those the right way.
6. A little about you
People like to know who they are dealing with. A short paragraph, and a photo if you are happy to use one, turns a faceless business into a person. Keep it brief, and keep it about how you can help.
7. Opening hours and how you work
State when you are available and how you work: whether you quote in advance, how soon you can start, how you take payment. Visitors are often silently asking these things and would rather not have to ask.
8. A sense of price
You do not have to publish a price list, but you should say how pricing works. Something like "free quotes" or "fixed prices agreed before we start" removes a worry. If pricing varies widely, say what it depends on.
9. One obvious next step
Decide what you most want a visitor to do, whether that is call, ask for a quote or book a time, and make that button stand out. A homepage with five competing buttons gets fewer clicks than one with a clear favourite.
10. The small print
Link to your privacy and cookie policies, and show your business name and contact details in the footer. They are not exciting, but they make a business look established and are expected on any trustworthy site.
Mistakes that cost you enquiries
- Too much text above the first button, so that visitors never reach it.
- A headline that is clever but does not say what you do.
- Out-of-date hours, prices or photos, which make a visitor wonder whether you are still trading.
- Large images that load slowly on a phone.
- Contact details hidden in a menu or buried in the footer.
Check it on your phone
Most visitors will see your homepage on a phone, so look at yours on one, in daylight, with one thumb. Can you read it without zooming? Can you tap every button easily? Can you find how to contact you within a few seconds? If not, fix that before you add anything else.
How it all fits together
You can see how these ten pieces look in practice on our examples page, and our post on websites and social media explains why your homepage should be the place everything else points to. If you would like to see yours built, how it works shows how we go from first call to live website.