Beginners: Essential Questions For Your Homepage Content

Earlier this week we looked at must have pages for your first website. Here we look at the home page in more detail.
Before you can write compelling content for your home page, you need to be clear in your mind what it is you want to achieve.

This is easier if you are hiring a copywriter, as they will work through your objectives with you and ask questions to make sure they know how to write the content that is best for your business.

If you want to write the web copy yourself, these questions will help you get started.

What tone do you want to set for your site?

This might seem an abstract concept if you’re just putting your website together, but it is very important and not something you want to rush. Many people might say “professional” or “friendly” off the top of their head. These are important, but the more detailed you can about who you want to target, and what kind of tone will appeal to them is going to make your content much more effective.

Building a customer profile is a great way to start thinking about what tone you want to set for your website.

If the idea of “tone” seems odd, think about it this way:

How do you want your customers to feel when they visit your website?

Do you want them to laugh? Do you want them to feel inspired? Do you want them to reflect on a particular subject, or get excited? Do you want them to take you seriously and trust your company?

Chances are there are a number of related reactions you will want from your customer. Knowing this will help you or your copywriter produce content that works not only for your website but for writing marketing materials.

First or third person?

If you’re offering a consulting service that you personally offer, first person is preferably the way to go. Some people think writing in the third person will make the site seem grander, or a bigger operation but first person is much more endearing if the customer is investing in YOU.

If you’re a larger firm then third person can work better, unless you have a personality behind your site that is the spokesperson for what you do. Deciding your format will stem from what tone it is you want to set throughout the site.

If you had 30 seconds to tell a customer what it is you do, what would it be?

This is also known as your “elevator pitch” and you will want to include it on your homepage as it is likely to be the page that gets the most traffic on your site.

Your elevator pitch is a summation of not only what your business does, but it should include why your business is unique. You want to convey to customers what it is that you do, and also why they should be interested in that.

What do you want your customers to do when they visit your site?

This might seem obvious; you want them to buy your product or service. That is the ultimate goal, but there might also be things you want them to do before that, especially if you are looking to build relationships with potential customers before selling to them.

These might include:

• Signing up to your newsletter
• Reading your blog and leaving a comment
• Sending in their feedback about your site
• View another page within your website, for example one with special offers
• Request a free sample of your work or product

It’s important to know what it is you want to achieve before you set out to write the copy or instruct a copywriter to work for you.

If you have any other home page content questions or comments, let me know below!

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Tagged as: copywriting, Marketing, online business