What to put on a homepage: the sections that earn their place

By Core Concepts · · Design

A homepage has one job: help the right visitor decide to take the next step. Every section should move them closer to that or be cut. This is the order that works for most service businesses, and why.

1. The first screen: say what you do

A visitor should know within a few seconds what you offer, who it is for and what to do next. That means a plain headline, one supporting sentence and one clear button. Clever taglines that need explaining belong further down.

2. Proof, early

Before reading on, people want a reason to trust you. Give them one straight away: a few real numbers, recognisable clients, a certification or a rating. Keep it to a single row. It should feel like a fact, not a boast.

3. What you offer

List your services or products in the visitor's language. Three to six items is easy to scan. For each, say what it is and who it suits. Our Brace template handles this with an accordion, so five services fit in the space of one.

4. How it works

Uncertainty stops people from getting in touch. Show the steps: what happens after they contact you, how long it takes, what they need to prepare. Three or four steps are enough.

5. The work or the evidence

Show results: projects, case studies, before and after, rooms, the product in use. This is usually the section that deserves the most space and the best photography.

6. The people

For businesses built on trust, such as law, finance, health and wellness, people want to see who they will deal with. Real names and real roles beat stock portraits. The partner cards in Castell & Reeve use monograms rather than fake faces for exactly that reason.

7. Prices, or how pricing works

If you can show prices, do. If you cannot, explain how a quote is worked out. A calculator or estimator turns a vague question into an engaged visitor, like the pricing calculator in Selah.

8. Questions

Answer the five or six things people always ask. It saves you emails and helps the page appear for those questions in search.

9. One clear way to act

End with the same action you offered at the top: book, call, request a quote. One action, repeated, converts better than four competing ones.

What to leave out

  • A slider of rotating banners. Few people see past the first.
  • A mission statement nobody would disagree with.
  • Social feeds that send visitors away from your site.
  • Sections you added only because the template had them.

The short version

Say what you do, prove it, show the work, remove doubt, ask for one thing. A template gives you this order already built, so the decisions left are about your content. See how ours are structured.

Templates in this article

  • Brace: A light, modern homepage for contractors and construction groups. $79.
  • Castell & Reeve: A "quiet authority" homepage for law and advisory firms. $79.
  • Selah: A calm, warm homepage for pilates, yoga and wellness studios. $79.