Hello and welcome to the fourteenth lesson of the course “Copywriting from zero in 30 days”. Today we are talking about homepage content. Since the home page is a showcase for the entire site and often an entry point for the audience, it is very important to understand what tasks it has and how to solve them.

Homepage content tasks

The classic home page of the multi-page website, as a rule, solves four main tasks:

1. From the first seconds answer two main questions: “Where the person has got?” and “Why he or she should stay on the site?”.
2. Generate initial trust and warm up the audience, standing out from competitors.
3. Filter traffic and direct it to the internal pages of the site. This is especially relevant when we simultaneously work in different segments, for example, B2B and B2C.
4. Convert to some target action, for example, leave a request, subscribe to newsletter, write a message to the chat, etc.

Here’s an illustrative example. Let’s say that we sell toys made of natural wood, juniper. An we know that our audience is looking for original, useful and safe toys.

Right now you can see a simple homepage wireframe for such a shop. We talked about wireframes and how to create them in the ninth lesson of this course.

Now let’s analyze how the page created according to this wireframe solves the tasks assigned to it. Oh, and by the way… If you’d like to examine this wireframe in detail or even download, copy and use it, here’s the link.

Task #1. Answer the main questions

When the audience visits our site, it has its own motives and desires. These motives are also called an intent. For example, our audience may be looking for certain goods or services or has a problem and needs a reliable solution. That’s why in order to solve this task we should show the readers that our site fully corresponds to their intent.

We can do this with the first screen blocks. For example, we tell the audience about the specialization of the store right in the header. Then we move people’s attention to the special offer in the slider. In the title just below we convey the commercial essence, thereby explaining to buyers what we are selling and why a person should stay on our site and examine it. Moreover, we are showing the examples of our most popular products, arousing even more interest.

By the way, you may also noticed a fragment of a mobile page wireframe. This one.

In the previous episodes we mentioned that generally copywriters don’t create adaptive layout. But the home page is a kind of exception here. At least in everything related to the blocks of the first screen. First of all, because the page must perform its tasks, both in desktop and mobile versions. But in the mobile version, there is much less space for the content, and some fragments need to be simplified in order to solve the task. That’s why we show how it should look like.

Task #2. Generate initial trust

In order to generate initial trust and stand out from competitors we are using benefits and psychological influence techniques that we have learned in the previous lesson.

For example, we use social proof in the form of numbers of purchases or ratings in the bestsellers block. We also use why formula to build trust and inspire goodwill in people. We use benefits as a list of reasons. Please note, that all these reasons are related to our shop, because there may be many competitors which also sell juniper toys, and we don’t want to sell the industry itself. We talked about this aspect as well as about features, specs, benefits in the third lesson of this course. Finally, we stand out from competitors with a narrow niche, focusing on original juniper toys only and positioning ourselves as a manufacturer.

Task #3. Traffic filtering

The store in our example operates mainly in B2C segment. Therefore, we focus on making it easier for people to navigate the site. There is navigation in the header and footer. Plus, the audience can go to the catalog from the bestseller block, as well as to individual product pages. Since the range of toys is rather small, there is no search bar on the site.

In addition, we have a special offer on our website for wholesale buyers who can become our distributors. We also place a link to it in the navigation bar and in the footer.

Task #4. Convert audience

In most cases homepage solves this task automatically. Simply because the transition to another page of the site, for example, a catalog, for a subsequent purchase is also a target action. Nonetheless sometimes there are additional target actions.

In our case, we convert the audience into a subscription to Email newsletter or a channel in a messenger using additional block. Plus, we offer audience a quick contact via phone or a callback button in the header and footer. We also link the page with our social networks so the visitors can follow us there. As you can see we provide potential buyers a variety of ways to convert, depending on their needs and warmth.

Practical task

We have just learned four main tasks of the home page and the ways to solve them in the wireframe. Now it’s time to practice. Your practical task will consist of two parts. The first part is to look through any 5 existing homepages and check whether they correspond to the principles described above. The second part is to create your own full-fledged home page wireframe or mockup.

You will succeed! Take care of yourself, subscribe and see you in the next lesson.

Best regards, Dan.

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