Recently on The Unfiltered Tea with Evie I dove into the first episode of my Website Copywriting 101 series, and we started with the page that does the most heavy lifting on your whole website. Your homepage.
Grab your tea and get cozy, because this one is packed. You can also listen to the full episode here:
The Short Version
A homepage that works for a service-based business answers your visitor's questions in the order they ask them. Here's the order I use when I write homepage copy for my clients:
A crystal clear headline and subheading, with a call to action for the people who are ready right now
Proof that other people trust you (logos, brands, awards)
A short about section that links to your full about page
A quick acknowledgement of where your visitor is at, then a preview of your services
Testimonials
Your method or process
An FAQ section written for AI search
A final call to action
A footer that links to everything
Why Your Homepage Matters So Much
Okay, your girl loves stats, so here are a few I found while prepping this episode with a little google search:
Up to 88% of consumers check out a business's website when deciding whether to buy from them
Up to 84% say a business's website directly affects their trust and willingness to engage
84% say a business with a dedicated website is more credible than one with only a social media presence
I'm one of those people. Even if I find a brand on Instagram, I need to see their whole ecosystem before I buy anything, big or small. It even goes for takeout. If I'm ordering, I want to pull up the menu on your website and see pictures of the food first.
That last stat really gets to me, because I've seen bigger businesses and even coaches skip the website and run everything through Instagram. Over the summer I watched two local businesses have their Instagram accounts shut down overnight. Years of content and community, gone, with no way to get it back.
That's the reality of building on rented land. Your website is your home base. It's the one place you control, and it's where people go to find your Instagram, your podcast, your blog and your email list.
When Your Website is Stuck in a Past Version of Your Business
Most businesses build their website around the vision they had at the very beginning. Then the business grows and changes as you work with people, and the website stays the same. If 88% of your audience is going to land there, it needs to reflect the business you're building now and where you want it to go.
That's a hard and very personal thing to sit with. It's also the most important part.
The Core Four Pages
I break every website into what I call the core four pages: home, about, services and contact. This series covers each one, starting with the homepage (the home base of your home base).
1. Your headline and subheading
People take in the visuals of your website in about 0.05 seconds. From there, they take three to five seconds to decide whether to stay and keep scrolling.
So your headline and subheading carry a lot. They need to be up to date and it needs to be ridiculously clear that your visitor is in the right place. Say who you serve and how you serve them. We're not talking about you yet.
This is where people love to get clever and a little whimsical. Clear over clever, every time. Think about the words people actually type into Google or ChatGPT when they're looking for you, like "copywriter in Ontario" or "website copywriting for service-based businesses."
Nobody is searching for a "word whisperer who is passionate about helping people show up as their truest selves." Some people have described me that way and I love it. It's still not what anyone types into a search bar.
Clear language here helps your visitors, and it helps Google and AI tools understand what you do, since this is the first thing they scan.
Add a call to action right under it too. Some people have already checked out your Instagram and just want to book a call with you. Let them do that without scrolling the whole page.
2. Proof that people trust you
Next comes authority. This is where you show brands you've worked with, awards you've won or features you've had. On my homepage I say "trusted by these brands and more" with logos from clients I've worked with.
I know it can feel like bragging, but hear me out. People are looking for social proof, and seeing that other businesses trust you checks a box for them.
3. A short about section
This is a little sneak peek into who you are and why you do what you do. Save the full story for your about page.
The tricky part is talking about yourself in a way that's really about the person reading. If you say "I used to do this and now I help people with this," your reader starts picturing themselves as the person you help.
Keep it short and add a button to your full about page for the people who want to know more (I'm a stories girly, so I always click).
4. Where they're at, then your services
Now we get into what your work means for the person on the page. Acknowledge what they're experiencing and show them you understand, without poking at their pain points.
Then give them a preview of your services. On my site that's website services, email marketing and brand photography, each with a short blurb on why it matters and how I do it differently. Add a button to each service page so they can learn more.
5. Testimonials
People love proof, so give them more of it. Screenshots your clients have sent you or a slideshow of written testimonials with names both work.
Because I work with other businesses, I link each testimonial to that client's website when I can. If I wrote their website, it shows the other side of the story (what the client said and what I did for them).
6. Your method or process
Everybody has a process, and there's almost always something special in it worth pulling out. Show people what working with you actually looks like, step by step.
My friend Mel Grime does this with her ALIGN method, an acronym for how she works with her clients. Something like that becomes your Batman signal on your homepage. People connect it with you and only you.
7. An FAQ section written for AI search
This is the section a lot of people skip. FAQs usually live on a services page, a sales page or the contact page, and they cover the basics like price and timelines.
With the way AI search is developing, it's now recommended to have an FAQ section right on your homepage. Use the questions people are really asking about your industry and your service. For a website copywriter, that might be how to decide whether you need new copy or a whole new website, how much it costs for a small business to redo their website or how to get a website showing up on search engines and AI.
Then answer them with your own thinking and your specific methods. AI honestly eats that up.
8. A final call to action
Every page I write ends with somewhere to go. If you don't invite people to take the next step, the reality is they won't take it. People like to be invited.
On a homepage that usually means three calls to action: one at the top for the quick decision makers, one in your services section (for each service) and one at the very bottom.
9. A footer that links to everything
Your footer shows up on every page. Link your socials, your podcast and every page on your website so nobody has to scroll around hunting for your blog or your services page. Keep it simple, clear and easy.
Walk Them Through the Buyer Journey
Every business has its own nuances, and some homepages need an extra section or two. The core idea stays the same. You're walking people through their buyer journey in an order that makes sense, before you ask anything of them.
Listen to the full episode
There's more in the episode itself, including the brand new podcast intro and outro. Listen to Website Copywriting 101, Part 1 on The Unfiltered Tea with Evie here:
Next up in the series is your about page - stay tuned!
And if you read this and realized your homepage is stuck in a past version of your business, that's exactly what I help with. Contact me to book your free discovery chat and we'll look at it together.
Homepage copy FAQ
-
A clear headline and subheading that say who you serve and how, proof that others trust you, a short about section, a preview of your services, testimonials, your method, an FAQ section and a footer that links to every page. Add calls to action at the top, middle and bottom.
-
Yes. With AI search growing, a homepage FAQ helps tools like ChatGPT and Google understand what you do. Use the questions people actually ask about your industry and answer them in your own words.
-
Yes. Instagram is rented land and accounts can be shut down overnight. Your website is the home base you control, and most buyers check a business's website before they decide to buy.
-
At least three. One near the top for people who are ready to book, one in your services section and one at the bottom of the page.
-
Search engines and AI tools scan your headline first, so clear words that match what people search for (like "copywriter in Ontario") help them understand who you are and who you serve. A homepage FAQ adds even more of that context.
