IS YOUR HOME PAGE LEAVING CLIENTS CONFUSED?

It serves as a shop window, so make what’s on offer appealing

Does your website do you justice? Do potential customers clearly understand the benefits of working with you? The urge to give too much information on your home page can overwhelm the need to be crystal clear and succinct. Potential clients will spend a matter of seconds skimming over it and if they’re left feeling none the wiser, they’ll soon click away. So give them a reason to stay!

For over ten years I have worked with small businesses and solopreneurs to craft the wording for their websites and find the right message and tone of voice to appeal to their clients and get them more business. I’m often asked to ‘refresh’ or edit the wording of their home page, because they’ve realised that while they get lots of visitors to their website, they’re not getting enough business.

Of course you will want to make a good impression and convey just how great you and your services/products are. But if, in doing so, you’re leaving visitors feeling overwhelmed and confused, it’s not working for you.

At this point it might be a good idea to get a couple of friends to take a look at your website and give some honest feedback.

Ask yourself these questions:

Do clients often feel confused after visiting your website?

Are you fed up of people saying ‘Yes but what do you DO exactly?’

Do you rarely get work offers from people who don’t actually know you?

Is the range of services you offer hard to get across simply?

Could there be too much information on your home page, with not enough of a call to action?

Maybe you have evolved business-wise and the messaging needs to be updated?

If any of the above rings true for you, get ready to be ruthless with your home page. It’s not the place for a summary of your CV, the story of your ‘why’, your life story, nor a detailed breakdown of your credentials and background. A long description of the products or services you offer would only make a user feel bogged down. The key information to include is:

  • What you offer (eg hypnotherapy, bespoke jewellery, yoga classes)
  • Who you tend to offer it to (eg people struggling with stress, individuals looking for a unique gift, women who hate being unfit)
  • What the benefit is (eg, beat your anxiety, feel confident that you’re giving a great gift, get more toned and calm)
  • Why you are THE person to offer this – keep this brief, it’s not a list of qualifications, just a line or two on how you are qualified and/or experienced, and what drove you to launch your business
  • Brief detail on how to access what you offer (eg, via Zoom or in person, from your website or from a particular retailer, via online classes and retreats) 
  • What people say about your products or services – it can be good to include a couple of short, glowing testimonials. Or just one amazing one.
  • If relevant, previous clients or companies you have worked with, and/or press, awards and other media coverage.
  • How to find you on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, your podcast etc.
  • A call to action – how to contact you, or arrange a chat or consultation, or view your products or services.

 

A few tips:

Words
Use words that describe how your clients/customers feel as a result of doing business with you – eg, calmer, less stressed, relieved, confident, happy, in the know, understood, and that you are going to save them time and make life easier.

Phrases
Use positive phrases like ‘an easy solution’, ‘accessible’, ‘to suit you’, ‘at your level’, ‘who can ask for more?’, ‘that you’ll love’ etc.

Solve problems
Make it clear that you understand the pain points of your clients – the need that you can fulfil, the problem you can solve – and that you can help better than anyone else, so they need look no further.

Ease
Make it really easy for them to act once you’ve convinced them to buy – make buying from you or arranging a chat or consultation really easy.

Images
Pictures play a powerful role in creating a positive impression. If you use a generic image to convey your ‘world’, spend some time finding the right one. Explore related websites to see what really works and get some ideas.

You
In most cases there should be a picture of you on your home page – ideally colourful, smiley and approachable. This will also mean that when people meet you in real life they recognise you.

Bullet points
If what you offer is a bit unusual or quite costly, it can really help to have a list of positive bullet points on your home page – ‘My XXX will be perfect for you if… (eg for online yoga classes, ‘you are ready to dedicate two hours a week to your fitness, you want to be in a class with likeminded women, you have a laptop and space in your home to exercise without being interrupted, you have always fancied giving yoga a try but have never dared etc’. You could even have a list of negative ones: ‘My XXX probably wouldn’t be right for you if…’ (eg, ‘you prefer doing fitness classes alongside other people in a gym’, ‘you have complex physical issues that need monitoring’ etc etc). Apart from sharing useful information, people will benchmark themselves against the positive bullet points, confirming that this is the right service for them.

 

Where should everything else go?

The information that you haven’t included on your home page needs to go somewhere. Everyone loves a good story so if you have a good one to share, create a separate page called ‘My story’ or ‘How I got here’. And if you have credentials and qualifications relevant to your business, you need to list them prominently at the end of this page.

The detail of the services you offer and how it all works should be on a separate page called ‘My services’ or’ What’s on offer’. This is where you should include your pricing.

 

 

Words: Marina Gask, Audrey co-founder, journalist and copywriter.

For copywriting, editing or advice on how to reach your target audience, contact journalist and copywriter Marina Gask at hello@audreyonline.co.uk, and for business coaching or tax advice, contact transformational coach and tax expert Faye Watts at hello@audreyonline.co.uk.