Who should you trust to write texts for the main page of the site?
It could be a web writer, an SEO optimizer, some cool content studio, or a sales department employee can handle it?
I took a walk on the Internet. This is creepy. The texts on the main pages do not sell, but serve as background. Sadly. It's a shame. Not profitable.
Commercial sites and online stores are aimed at sales. Business card sites should tell about a company, a person or that thing, clearly and intelligibly. But for some reason, Runet sites are full of cliched “USPs,” ornate designs, and nonsense made up of letters.
How to write text on the main page of a website so that it increases conversion and does not take up space?
There are a lot of letters in the article. Your personal teleport is below:
I won’t go on and on about the importance of headlines, benefits, focus on potential clients and other trivial things. I'll write it simply. On business. With examples.
For lovers of conversion, clear numbers and high standards. When you read the article to the end, you will be itching in one intimate place. It's normal to want to look at your website's home page from a new angle.
But first, let's think about the text requirements for the main page of the site. They are different. Because their tasks are different.
Text on the main page of the site requirements - top 5
The variety of sites is a little scary. But their direction must be taken into account in any case. I will try to be objective and choose the top 5 requirements for texts on home page(I will indicate in brackets for which sites this requirement would be appropriate).
No need for nonsense
Website owners and visitors do not need words. But everyone needs information! It should reflect the theme of the site and from the first moments give the visitor the whole picture:
- who is this site for?
- what can be found here;
- how this site/company will help me.
Lightness of text
Ease of presentation is the main advantage of a good text that should provide information. Text on front door The site must be clear and simple.
Small suggestions and simple words easier to read than cumbersome phrases filled with punctuation marks, numerous ponderous expressions and bureaucracy. Office cliches are so cleverly disguised that they have already become part of our language. But they are unnecessary. This is garbage that needs to be removed.
Keyword optimization
The home page has a better chance of ranking among the top for several key queries. It's stupid to lose him. Therefore, SEO optimization of the main page of the site – necessity.
However, we must not forget about the wisdom of using keys. Overspam can be too expensive, as can the desire to cram 2500 into a text – 3000 characters are all site keys.
Maximum brevity (online stores and websites of well-known companies)
The home page of an online store or a large company does not need a lot of text.
- The main page of an online store is a storefront. Several paragraphs with 3–4 sentences each is the maximum length of text at the top. More text material can be added at the bottom. But this is if you need text SEO optimization.
- The home page of a well-known company can do without text. Websites: “Artemy Lebedev Studio”, “Gazprom”, “Bukvoed” and many others successfully demonstrate this. Of course, you can write a few words. For example: “Yes! This is Gazprom."
Selling subtext (commercial sites and business card sites)
The text on the main page sells the entire project: products, services, blog, group, newsletter, and so on. It is the entry point for customers and an important navigation page.
If the top of the sales funnel is unable to suck in a potential buyer and throw him out at the right stop, then why are these letters needed? For SEO optimization?
Being at the top is not the ultimate goal of businessmen and companies! Their goal: sales and regular readers who repost posts and come for answers to their questions. The home page should advertise, sell, entice and appeal.
If anyone has forgotten what a sales funnel looks like, check out the infographic.
Examples of texts for the main page and analysis of errors
2 examples of texts for the main page and annoying errors
First example: AllianceStroySnab company (problems with SEO, lack of a sales funnel, zero USP): warm corner ( dot) Russian Federation.
There is no text at all. You might think that they have no plans to promote themselves on the Internet. But the assumption collapses. After all, there is a “useful” section where you can find SEO articles of 2000 characters. Funny.
Let's move on to the advantages:
- Own production of lumber. My option: “You save 20% on building materials and do not pay in advance, because we use our own construction lumber. You can appreciate their quality at our sawmill.”
- High-quality material and assembly. My option (we already said about quality above): “Professional assembly in 60 days. We have built more than 150 wooden houses in the Leningrad and Moscow regions. Take a look at the property map, rate our work, or contact the owners. Open map."
- Expanded equipment. My option: “You have more than 50 drawings at your disposal, including 5 unique ones. Download layouts, find the home you want and find out the price. Or send us a picture of your dream home, and we will calculate the cost of the project within 1 week. Download layouts."
What's the idea? A man pumps a kind of marketing whale into PDF format. He can look at drawings and already built houses. It would be ideal if there were customer reviews, a story: “how the house was built,” how long it took, photos from the construction site and the result of the work.
Not just text, but sales - this is how copywriters work.
All sales on this site are based on the slider. But when you click on the image of the house, you are taken to a product card that is devoid of any zest. Price, technical features of the house and that’s it.
Scheme of work and memo to the customer - “tear out your eyes.” It was possible to make normal paragraphs. Somewhere around here, a huge number of potential customers are leaving the site.
How to write text on the main page of a website - example No. 2
Second example (SEO victim): lux-mebelspb ( dot) ru
I found it through a search using the request: “buy furniture in St. Petersburg.” A site in the TOP 3 is commendable. Screenshot of the main page (opens in a new window).
Online store Let's go through the USP. Because everything else can be described with the acronym “SEO”. If you read it, you will understand what I mean.
So:
- More than 10,000 products – no complaints;
- Always low prices: we create competitively low prices without sacrificing quality. How can an online store that is not a manufacturer sacrifice quality? My option: change the dollar icon to a ruble and write: “Lower price - free delivery. We will deliver the furniture in 10 days.”
- The warranty for all products is a void warranty. My option: “If you reject it, we’ll replace it at our own expense!” The quality was checked personally. 1 year exchange guarantee." Well, check the quality of suppliers. Otherwise, our online stores are business in Russian at its finest.
- Constant discounts and promotions - I always thought that the value of discounts is in their inconsistency. My option: “10% discount on wardrobes! The promotion is valid until July 1, 2016.” And run an advertisement for the promotion. It seems like it would be right. After a month, change the promotion and run advertising again.
However, this site does not need advertising. There's a problem with the texts. The advantages of the store can be thrown away and nothing will change. " Best quality at a great price,” they decided for the client. The potential client must make this conclusion himself by reading the text on the main page of the site.
The company seems to be serious, but the impression it makes is so-so. And all because of weak texts.
- The title should reflect the essence of the site or offer.
- Capture the visitor's attention with the first paragraph.
- Think over the main proposition (USP) and give the person reasons to choose you.
- Make the first call to a specific action.
- Don’t forget about SEO optimization, but also the usefulness of information (everyone knows banal things).
- Find ways to avoid templates and clichés.
- Create areas of attention and transitions to the next part of the sales funnel (download: catalog, set of cases, free book, etc.).
- Write clearly, specifically, in the client’s language (even if the language makes you sick) and tell the truth.
- Make a “table”: action - benefit.
- Work through the entire sales funnel (not just the home page).
The main page of the site is the cornerstone of the entire resource, the main landing page. Based on the concept of the main page, the design, structure and other elements of the site are created. This is the face of the project; it is this page that users most often return to while browsing the site. The desires of users and site owners in relation to the main page coincide - they want it to be convenient, simple, understandable, and attractive. However, in reality, not everyone succeeds. In this article, we'll look at 7 tips that will help you create a high-quality and effective home page.
1. Home page design
Yes, according to tradition, it all starts with a concept draft appearance. Design is a very powerful tool that can reveal positive emotions or, conversely, antipathy towards the site from the first seconds of a visit. A resource that can boast modern functionality and up-to-date design can intrigue and retain even a casual visitor, not to mention the target audience who will be more willing to follow the conversion path of a high-quality website. Let's consider the main points that should be taken into account:
- Adaptive layout.
This means that the site should be equally convenient to use on every device with any operating system and all display resolutions. This layout gives a great advantage - you can effectively reach the widest possible audience. Technically, developing such a home page, as well as the entire site, is quite a complex task. Designers must have a good amount of knowledge and skills, and even better experience. But everything is real, and the positive effect will cover the costs.
- Visual blocks.
It is much easier for a beginner to find the necessary information if it is compactly and logically located on the page. The main menu, categories, videos, site search, pictures - everything should be intuitively located on the page, without clutter.
- High-quality pictures and videos.
If appropriate, graphic content can, and sometimes should, be placed on the home page. It can significantly increase your conversion rate. Photography allows you to convey emotions that cannot be conveyed in text. Many experts recommend adding photographs of people to the site if the site concept allows it. A couple of photos of happy customers or positive employees in the right place on the page can seriously increase conversions.
2. Navigation on the home page
Making a lead out of an ordinary visitor, that is, forcing them to perform a conversion action, is the main task of any webmaster. It seems that this cannot be achieved without training, but in most cases it is simply necessary to implement clear navigation on the site. It is necessary for a potential client to easily find what he needs.
Navigation on the main page of the online store has characteristics. It can be arranged as follows:
- By category. This navigation device design is suitable for online stores with a large assortment of products. So, a guest who is not very familiar with your products can easily find what they need in the appropriate section.
- By goods. This scheme is intended for sites with a small number of offers or for projects that aim to sell only the TOP ones from each category.
- Mixed. This is a hybrid navigation system that incorporates the features of the first two options. For example, at the top of the main page promotional products and new items are displayed, and below are all the categories of the online store. This method is quite effective, as it allows you to reach the sympathies of the widest possible audience.
It is imperative to provide an interactive search on the site. The search bar is usually located at the top of the main page in the site header. It is recommended not to get too creative and place your search in this classic location. People are used to it, and will subconsciously search there.
3. SEO - search engine optimization
In this matter, one cannot do without the traditional mantra of optimizers “title, keywords, description”. On the main page, meta tags must be written in accordance with the semantic core of the site. The main page should contain high-quality unique text with keys correctly entered into it.
4. Advantage over competitors
When you think about creating a home page for a website, the issue of pricing and analysis of your closest competitors should already be resolved. At this stage, you need to let the client understand how you are positively different from other players in the market. Don't forget that the home page is the face of the site. Its task is to create a positive image of the company immediately after a few seconds of familiarization. The following elements can be placed on the home page to showcase your benefits:
- Attractive headings of structured texts.
This determines whether a person will stay on the site and continue interacting or leave the resource. A catchy headline should set the tone for the entire content of the page and reflect the essence of the company's activities. In the subheadings, introduce the visitor to the main qualities of your company.
- CTA elements or call to action buttons
should be located in the right places and unobtrusively push the guest to the conversion action.
- Awards, achievements, various diplomas and certificates
All this should be demonstrated to the user, if available. Such documents show that the site employs experts in their field and true professionals, this increases trust and, accordingly, conversion. You can create a block with examples of work or comments from satisfied clients. The home page is perfect for showing off your accomplishments a little.
5. Home page content
Remember that the content of the home page should answer the main questions of potential buyers, while the presentation of the material should be as concise as possible. No one will waste time studying a wall of text about how good a company is when they just need to know delivery details, for example. Content must match main task resource and engage users in deeper interaction. Graphic and video content on the main page is very welcome - it is much better perceived by users.
6. Promotions
Special offers, promotions, loyalty program, prize draw - all these marketing tools simply created for the main page. It is important not to overdo the number of such elements and make each sentence stand out.
7. Contacts
Contact information is information that should always be located in a visible place. It is very disappointing to lose a client for the reason that he could not find contact information and left the site. Use as many channels as possible to communicate with customers. But you need to make sure that they all work properly. The most common means of communication are:
- telephone;
- Email;
- social media;
- online consultant;
- call back form.
We looked at the most important elements of the main page of an online store or selling website. These are not all the nuances that will have to be taken into account, but they will arise in the process of work and as experience is gained.
The text for the main page of a website has always attracted special attention, both from SEO specialists and from web writers. Only here’s the problem: each of the specialists often views this page from their own bell tower, within the framework of a narrow focus. As a result, more than 90% of sites are full of the same mistakes: SEO specialists (especially beginners) constantly strive to insert as many keywords into the text as possible, and web writers either follow the SEO specialists’ lead or try to give something away fresh and creative. Result: the page does not fulfill the task assigned to it, contains a lot of unnecessary “water” and suffers a severe fiasco.
Today we will correct this situation and figure out what texts are needed for the main pages from the perspective of three main areas: marketing, copywriting and SEO. The main difference between this article and all the others is that here we will consider everything systematically and give many successful examples that have proven themselves very well in practice.
You are ready? Then make yourself comfortable, let's begin!
Tasks of the main page of the site
Before we start talking about texts, let's start with the main thing - with the tasks that are set for the main pages. And now, I can already see the hands of people who can’t wait to shout out loud:
- The home page should sell the entire site.
- The main page should put a person in the right state.
- The content of the main page should be catchy.
- The text on the main page should tell about the project.
- The home page text should engage the reader.
- The main page should take a person to other sections, etc.
Do you know why I highlighted this block in red? Because all these recommendations are taken out of the context of the system and they are not of much use.
The fact is that the main page is just one of the functional elements. A kind of transshipment point, which can have a very wide range of tasks (you will see this now). This is why the home page will be different in each case. And it will be very different from the main pages of other resources, both in terms of text and in terms of interface.
In other words, the main page task is a subtask of the global site task.
Global site task
The home page is an important element, but it is just a fragment that performs its task as part of another, more important task. Now I will explain what I mean. See:
Let's say you have a website selling roofing felt. The purpose of the site is sales. On the one hand, the home page should simply take the person to the product page (however, most do not even do this).
On the other hand, the site’s audience may consist of different segments, for example:
- Retail buyers
- Wholesale customers
- Partners
Therefore, the homepage still needs to segment the audience and direct those segments to the page they want. Do you understand now why I highlighted the task in a red rectangle at the very beginning?
Or another example: the site ozon.ru, most of the visits to which come from the main page. Do you see any text there that is catchy and describes what kind of site this is? No, because the main page of Ozone has other functions as part of the global task of the site.
Home page ozon.ru (click to enlarge)
Important: the main page solves the task assigned to it within the framework of the global task of the site.
Or another example - the text on the main page of the website 37signals.com (by the way, the guys from this company once wrote an excellent book - “Rework: business without prejudice” - I recommend it).
Text on the main page of the website 37signals.com (click to enlarge)
On this page you can see that the company's mission comes first, and then redirects to 3 main products: Basecamp, Highrise and Campfire. After this, authority is demonstrated, a block of advantages follows, etc.
This is where the page does its job - leading the user along a predetermined route - to the product pages first, and then to the persuasion.
Another example:
Text for the main page of a one-page website, which is also a sales page. Her task is to sell, and not to transfer the user to other sections.
Text on a one-page website
Strategy and sales funnel
Strategy and sales funnel play a big role in the type of text for the home page. The first determines where a person should go from the main page and why, and the second allows you to visually track performance.
Visual calculation: Let’s say the website’s task is to sell digital equipment. 100 people came to the site. Of these, 30 people went to the section with cameras, from the section to the page with specific model- 15 people. 3 people made a purchase. Total website conversion: 3%, sales page conversion: 20%, home page conversion: 30%.
Therefore, in this situation, the main page loses 70% of the audience, and tests need to be carried out. To keep this figure as low as possible. And here there are a lot of options.
Ways to increase the conversion rate of text on the home page
In order for the text on the home page to be as effective as possible, it must work to solve the main problem of the site and guide the user along the desired route.
Here is an example of a site where both text and interface work to implement the strategy.
Text and interface of the main page of the website 100strahovok.by (click to enlarge)
There are many elements that make homepage text more effective. The main thing is to use them appropriately. Here are some of them:
- Benefits and Advantages
- Cases
- List of major clients
- Mission, beliefs
- Objection processing
- Answers to basic questions
- Videos and presentations
- Guarantees
- Calculators and other interactive elements
The fifth and sixth points imply answers only to those questions that primarily interest the user. This means that there is no need to turn the main page into a portfolio and FAQ 2 into 1.
Typical mistakes when writing texts on the main page
When you clearly understand the tasks and audience of the site, then you no longer need to pour water or write other unnecessary things. However, let's take a look typical mistakes, allowed in texts on the main pages of most commercial sites.
Mistake #1: “about the company” text on the home page
Imagine that you went to a vegetable pavilion at the market to buy apples. And then, right from the door, the merchant begins to enthusiastically tell you how much he sells at the market, who his wife is, etc. Is it interesting for you? Most likely no. You don't care about him. You need apples. The same is with the main page of the site - in 99% of cases, your users are not interested in who you are, but in what you offer and what are your competitive advantages.
Note: V in some cases, if the text about the company is an attribute of authority and works for sales, then the use of its individual fragments can increase the effectiveness of the page.
Mistake #2: describing the industry
There are a lot of sites on the Internet that sell goods and services. Very often, on the home page of such sites, long descriptions are published about what these sites sell and what role their products and services play in life. modern society. In other words, they describe their industry.
There is only one problem here: such text does not work for sales, and no one reads it. Let's say you need to buy auto parts. Tell me, how interested will you be in a text telling you what auto parts are and where they are used?
Mistake #3: Templates
Another very common mistake that, to my surprise, occurs even on the websites of “professional” copywriting agencies. The most common patterns:
Mistake #4: “water”
This is a separate topic. A bunch of meaningless verbal structures that reduce the effectiveness of the main page.
Typical example:“Since you have come to this page, it is obvious that you are interested in supplying high-quality roofing materials at affordable prices, but you do not know which supplier to choose for further cooperation. Relax, we won’t convince you of anything, we’ll just tell you about ourselves... blah blah blah (see mistake #1).”
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The main page of a blog is undoubtedly very important for the perception of its design as a whole.
Just a few years ago, most blogs simply contained a list of posts in the order they were published, with the most recent at the top.
Then separate citations came into fashion, and later the design of the main page in a magazine style.
The purpose of the home page is, of course, not the same everywhere; for example, a personal blog will be different from a work blog maintained by several authors.
In this post, we'll look at the homepage layout options available to bloggers and designers, and the arguments for using each.
Without going into details yet, let's find out the purpose of the main page so that you can choose its option for your own blog was more literate.
The home page is very important as it greatly influences the first impression of visitors.
New visitors expect to get a clear idea of the blog's content on the home page. In addition, they want it to have direct access to the sections that interest them.
Ease of navigation and user friendliness are important since the home page is likely to be the most visited page on the website.
Finally, the importance of the home page is that it contains the most valuable and up-to-date information.
Ways to place data on the main page
Basically, there are three ways to make your blog content appear on the front page: publish the entire post, provide excerpts, or use a magazine style. We will look at the “advantages” of each of them, which should help you assess your own situation and make an informed decision.
1. Publication in full
In this case, all blog posts are displayed in full, without abbreviations, in reverse chronological order. This method is no longer as popular as it was a few years ago. Here are the advantages of placing entire publications on the main page:
* Visitors can read the entire message without going to other pages
Fewer and fewer blogs publish entire posts on the home page, as other methods are more convenient. But the clear advantage of publishing unabridged is that visitors can read the last few posts without leaving the page. The only limitation for them is the inability to comment on individual messages.
* Convenience for publishing short messages
If your blog posts are fairly short (around 500 words or less), displaying them in their entirety on the home page can make your job easier. Excerpts will seem absurd if they consist of half the entire message, and visitors will be annoyed by having to navigate to other pages for two paragraphs of text.
* Does not distract the reader
The need to switch to a separate publication after reading an excerpt from it can distract the reader from the topic, so that he may lose interest in it and leave the site completely.
2. Publishing quotes
Another way is to publish only excerpts of messages with links to the full version for those who are interested in it.
You could put a dozen seed quotes on the home page so that users can choose which articles to read. WordPres creates excerpts automatically, although you can cut an excerpt to your liking directly from a published message or from any other text.
Placing quotes on the main page is now widely used. Advantages of this solution:
* Easy to skim
Most users prefer to quickly skim the contents of the main page to know what is there and what the topics of the publications are. Long texts make it difficult to read through. Extracts allow visitors to quickly and easily find the latest additions and select interesting ones.
Visual theme creators and bloggers can be more creative with quotes than with entire posts. The length of quotes is determined by you, which allows you to more accurately mark up and distribute the content of the page without worrying that long texts will not fit there. As you can see from the examples below, some designers get very creative when it comes to designing quotes. Their placement on the main page simply significantly expands the designer’s design capabilities.
* Compact home page
If your messages are quite long, and you place several of them at once on the main page, it will soon become impossible to work with it. Excerpts allow you to keep the page compact and easy for user navigation. Of course, their number also affects the usability of the page, so take this into account.
* Increased page traffic
Some bloggers use excerpts to increase page traffic: after reading a quote, the user wants to get acquainted with the entire publication, for which he needs to leave the main page and go to another, the viewing of which will also be counted. More views can increase the profitability of some advertising resources. However, such prudence can irritate users. In any case, you should not put quotes on the main page solely for these reasons.
* Prevent data duplication
Search engines don't like duplicates; they may penalize you if they suspect that your blog has this feature. The main page, containing texts without abbreviations, essentially repeats the individual pages of the blog. By replacing posts with citations, you can avoid these problems.
3. Magazine style
The third option is a magazine page design. It looks like taking out quotes, but without strictly observing the chronology of messages. Instead, categorization and publication dates are usually used.
This method is typical for news websites, where headlines and announcements are given within thematic sections such as sports, foreign news, etc.
Magazine style has all the benefits of using quotes in addition to your own. Let's list them:
* More convenient placement of information
The main advantage of this method is that it is easier to place data on a magazine page. Instead of displaying the last five or ten posts at full length, you can set the texts to open by category or even give a special place to the posts that you consider the most important. It's up to you to decide which posts your users will see first. And they may be able to better understand the topic of your blog by reading the section titles.
* More design options
When using a magazine-style home page design, this advantage is even more noticeable than when using quotes. The blogger chooses a specific placement for each fragment, in accordance with its category. In addition, this method allows for many page layout options.
*Typical news look of the website
Dividing the content into categories and presenting it that way gives the home page the appearance of a news website. If your blog contains a lot of information, primarily of a news nature, this can be a deciding factor. This design style creates a sense of volume of the website, which contains so much information and topics.
Examples of blog home page design
Excerpts:
:
This method of displaying quotes with icons on the left is quite popular.
:
A short excerpt from each message, accompanied by a picture. Only the three most recent publications are listed on the main page.
:
The pictures on the main page are located to the right of the quotes.
:
Text excerpts without pictures.
:
Very short quotes and one pictogram from the expanded publications for each.
:
Excerpts from their three most recent publications, each with a picture.
:
Unusual markings with a breakdown in the center. Five quotes from the posts are located on the left.
:
The pictures on this main page are at the top, not next to the quotes.
:
An example of design flexibility achieved by placing quotes on the main page. It would be impossible to place the entire texts here in two such columns.
Excerpts and highlights:
:
A slider moves the user between the five most recent posts, and excerpts from the posts are given below.
:
A similar combined solution was used here.
:
On this main page there is also a place for highlighted messages - at the top, above excerpts from the latest publications.
Magazine style:
:
The four headings are displayed in a row (in their own sections) above quotes from recent posts. The latest news ("Latest Tees") are to the left of the quotes.
:
Excerpts from the "Editor's Picks" are given in the main column, and the titles of the latest blog posts are on the right.
The theater begins with a hanger, and the website begins with the main page and the text on it. Many website owners know about this and try to follow search engine recommendations and fill their resource with useful information.
But it seems that what to write about on the main page of the site is a sealed secret. How else can we explain the presence of all sorts of “Welcome, you have reached the company’s website”, “We are glad to welcome you to the online store website” and canvases of texts along with them? And no, we’re not making this up, the amount of such content is still off the charts, although it’s high time to get rid of it and write for people. However, it’s worth looking into the results, and voila:
Admit it to yourself honestly, did you take away anything useful from this text? And in general, would you read it if it visually attracted you? That's it.
Or here’s another shorter option, but also not of any use:
They welcomed us to the site, wished us a pleasant shopping experience, but didn’t tell us anything useful.
Or another main one with the text:
Replace the word “kitchen” with any other word, and a “welcome” text is ready for any topic - from apartment renovation to a custom-made sofa. But whether it will help keep the visitor on the site and lead him to a purchase is a question.
Once again about the important: why write text on the main page?
Good text on the main page is, first of all, competent and attentive salesman. Who else will tell you about your product or service and literally lead you by the hand to purchase?
But this is the Internet, not an offline point of sale, unnecessary greetings are not needed here, do not waste the user’s precious time on useless scrapings, tired cliches and watery foot wraps of texts.
It only takes a couple of seconds for the client to understand whether the page is interesting to him or not. A bright design, a beautiful logo and a simple listing of products is not enough. “Welcome” or “Nice to see you” won’t help attract a person either. You need to interest the visitor so that he does not close the site and go to competitors. And no one has canceled the importance of the text factor for ranking.
Without high-quality, interesting texts, there can be no talk of optimization or benefits for visitors. I would like to believe that everyone accepted and learned this fact.
What to write on the main page of the site?
You need to give the user the most important information about products, services, benefits of working with your company. That is, in essence, this should be a brief retelling of the site itself: what you offer, under what conditions, at what price, what features you have and why it is profitable for the user to buy or order something from you.
At the same time, it is important not to pour water and not create huge boring foot wraps of text. It will be enough to write a text of about 2000 characters on the main page of the site.
Let us remind you that 2000 characters is an average value, do not get hung up on it. You can write more or less - it all depends on the business, the topic as a whole, competitors in the TOP, the target audience and its needs. Necessarily you need to take into account your specifics, the interests of potential clients and carefully analyze your competitors. And only after that determine the volume.
But in any case, you need to write strictly to the point. Don’t pour water, your users don’t need it and it won’t bring you any effect, it won’t add more customers, it won’t bring it to the TOP. On the contrary, for lack of meaning you will receive a ticket to Baden-Baden.
We hope we have figured out the general vision of the picture - we tell it briefly, but at the same time interestingly potential client about the most important things. Let's get down to details.
How to write text on the home page?
Imagine you are interested in building a house and choose a contractor. Design aside, which text is more understandable and trustworthy:
The first is a stream of consciousness without any specifics, or the second is a well-structured, thoughtful text with facts and a breakdown into semantic blocks? The conclusion suggests itself.
An intuitively composed text about everything at once will not make a good salesperson. In fact, you are pouring a tub of cold water on a person, without explaining anything and leaving him alone with the information. What he will do with her and what he should do with her - this already remains behind the scenes. You can't do that. =)
You need to clearly understand what information the target audience needs, what answers the client wants to receive, and what goal you want to achieve. And based on this, arrange the text according to a certain logical circuit. This approach will help guide the client through all the complexities of choice directly to a purchase, order or call to your company.
At the same time, there is no need to reinvent the wheel; there are proven schemes for selling texts:
- AIDA (Attention - Interest - Desire - Call to Action)
- ACCA (Attention - Understanding, perception of arguments - Persuasion - Call to action)
- PAS (Problem - Attention - Solution)
- ODS (Offer - Restrictions - Call to Action), etc.
In general, it is not so important what the technique is called, you should get the essence: when writing text on the main page of the site, all the information is logically and correctly laid out on the shelves. You need to identify the problem, draw the client’s attention to it, and then offer your solution, convince the person of its effectiveness, give weighty arguments and push him to action. Plus, don’t forget to season everything with specifics, facts, and goodies that are valuable specifically for the client.
What blocks and information should I use?
Let's go back to the example above. So, you live in the Moscow region and want to get your own home.
What interests you more: the reasons why people want to move out of town or a beautiful and environmentally friendly cottage with a 10-year guarantee?
You are already looking for a company that will build housing. Agree, no one will read the text from Captain Obvious about some of the most popular types of cottages, the efforts of builders to create comfortable living conditions and a couple more paragraphs of such information. For an informational article, such information may still be suitable, provided that all the cliches and templates are replaced with something really important, but for the “facade” of the site - definitely not.
And it’s a completely different matter if you immediately see where exactly the company works, what kind of guarantee it gives for the house, what kind of timber the cottage is built from, why such material is better than analogues on the market, and when the builders can begin work.
Unfortunately, in the minds of many people, text is only a canvas of information and nothing else. And the site presented in the second example will cause a lot of indignation - that, they say, this is some kind of nonsense, a cutting of sentences, a nice design and that’s all. So, this is a text =) And just the one that will work - thoughtful, structured, with information that is understandable and useful for the client.
It is the individual semantic blocks that will help put everything into order in the client’s mind. Information must be provided in doses, in small volumes and in a form that is easy to understand.
But there is no single scheme for absolutely all topics and all target audiences. This way, an online plumbing store can almost immediately show off the product, and a site selling some kind of innovative portable grill-oven can first explain in detail what this beast is for, how it differs from a regular grill, and what its value is.
You should write text on the home page only based on the specifics and goals of your business, as well as the needs and behavior of your audience. Otherwise, there will be a walk-through template on the main page, which will not be useful.
Maximum full list blocks when writing text on the main page looks like this:
- headers;
- tagline in the header;
- USP and text in the first screen;
- description of the product/service;
- prices and their justification;
- benefits with a focus on customer benefits;
- guarantees;
- certificates\documents;
- visual and detailed cases;
- scheme of work;
- promotions\discounts\special offers;
- information about company employees;
- reviews;
- additional important and useful information;
- sliders;
- call to action.
However, in no case do you need to use absolutely everything from this list. You should choose wisely and use the 5-6 most relevant blocks. It’s understandable to want to tell everything at once and more, but you shouldn’t overload the page with information, you need to focus on the main thing.
Mastheva or what not to forget to write on the main page of the site
Catchy headlines
This is the first thing a person sees on the page and 70-80% of success depends on this information. If the user is not caught by the title, then he will not read further. Therefore, it is important to clearly understand what you can give to your target audience and present them with the most tempting offer. You also need to remember to use keywords, the era of space search may have arrived, but it’s still too early to give up on competent optimization.
There is no title at all. There is nothing for the eye to catch on in the text; it is not clear where you have ended up and what you can find on the site.
It only takes a couple of seconds to catch the most important thing - we are on the website of a cattery where you can easily buy a pet. Everything is accessible and transparent; there is no need to search for details on the page.
Product or service information
There is no need to force clients to play guessing games and figure out what they can find on the site. Basic information must be provided concisely. However, do not use complex sentences, unclear terms, or lengthy descriptions. There should also be no confusion or water. For the product, indicate parameters, characteristics, dimensions, and important properties. For services - a specific scope of work, a step-by-step description, terms of provision, pitfalls, etc.
Here's a great example of what not to do:
No information about the products, only “More details” and “Buy” buttons. Really, why? The visitors are all psychics, they will either guess it or click on the buttons, and then they will figure it out.
Here we see the opposite picture: it is indicated what the corrector is made of and what it gives the user. It tells how the corrector works and in what case it will help.
And this is not a huge boring description - everything is short and clear. The client immediately gets an idea of the product; there is no need to search or think about anything additional.
Prices
Never hide prices, this will only scare away users. Popular objections from business owners in this regard:
A) “I don’t want my competitors to see my prices, so I will never list them”;
B) “I don’t have a fixed cost, everything is calculated individually.”
All this, of course, is wonderful. Only now competitors will waste their time calling the operator and asking for a price list. And it will be easier for the client to go to another site where information is not hidden, especially since there are a lot of offers in any field.
Imagine, you came to Eldorado to buy a kettle, and instead of price tags on all the products there was a sign “ask the seller for price list.” Do you need it? It’s more logical and easier to go to M-Video, look at the prices and buy.
The absence of a fixed cost is also not a problem - you can always tell how it is formed and what affects it, indicate the price range, place a calculator, etc. It is important to give a person at least a rough guideline, and for accurate calculation offer to fill out an application or make a call.
Some implementation examples for inspiration:
Benefits with a focus on customer benefits
Tell us why the client should choose your store or company, why you are better than your competitors. Good service, extended warranty, fast delivery, free goodies and options, convenient conditions - hook the consumer with something truly useful that will make his life easier and better. At the same time, think for the client, not for yourself. The benefit for the target audience should come first, and only then you.
No “we only have highly qualified professionals” and “we are developing dynamically, and therefore you will get only the best.” Don’t promote yourself and don’t use tired clichés as your advantage:
Solid “we-we-we” and just water. What deadlines and how to check quality are a mystery shrouded in darkness.
Talk about things in the client’s world: “we’ll deliver to your door within 1 day - you won’t have to wait weeks for the goods,” “we’ll give you a 50-year guarantee, because... We are confident in the quality of our product." Sell not yourself, but the benefits. We wrote in detail how to do this in this article.
Call to action
Directly write what the visitor should do after reading the text: call, write, press a button, go to the catalog, etc. Target action, also known as CTA, is actually an element of hypnosis. It stimulates and gives the user clear instructions on what and how to do to receive a product or service.
We often come across a situation when a client asks to remove the CTA and all other “obvious elements” - they say his visitors will already guess what’s what, there’s no need to make idiots out of people. So, they won’t guess: imagine, you came to the site, scrolled through 5 screens of text and suddenly it ended abruptly. No phone number, no link, no form, no button. Where should I go? Returning to the header means flipping and scrolling through something again. And if there are no company contacts there, it’s a total disaster; no one will search on other pages. Therefore, the following picture emerges: it seems that they wrote a text on the main page of the site, and a good one at that, the person was interested in it, but they simply did not indicate how to contact you. As a result, they lost the client.
Here are a few good examples CTA design:
Delivery, payment, work scheme
In a nutshell, indicate the delivery time, indicate how to pay for services or goods.
If you have a complex multi-stage work scheme, be sure to explain each step and guide the client by hand through all stages.
This will remove unnecessary questions and increase trust - everything is clear, transparent, which means no pitfalls or deception.
Delivery times, payment details, details of cooperation are important for every buyer and customer, regardless of what segment you work in - b2c or b2b. Therefore, there is no need to hide them, briefly mention all the main points on the main page, and detailed information place them in separate sections.
What can you immediately and irrevocably refuse on the main page?
Remember, the text should appeal to and be useful to your target audience. Empty highly literary descriptions, information about the company's mission in this world, empty slogans, the history of the company's creation - all this may be wonderful and expensive for you, but the buyer does not need it.
Such information will only distract the user from the most important thing - the order. The customer doesn’t care whether you have combined classical traditions with a passion for innovation or not, whether you are positive or not, whether you want to develop dynamically or not. These are empty words, and they do not characterize your products/services in any way. Therefore, feel free to remove such information from the main page, it has no place there.
Instead of conclusions
In fact, we told you how to write text on the main page and what main blocks to use in it. You can supplement the page with reviews, cases, certificates, information about specialists - but this is all strictly individual. Indicate the main points, do not get carried away with too voluminous texts. Remember, they don't belong on the main page. Everything should be logical, concise and justified.
It’s not so difficult to decide what to write on the main page, but it’s much more difficult to create truly effective and useful material. If you need help, please contact. If you want to prepare the text yourself, work with the USP, put maximum emphasis on the semantic component of the text, but don’t forget about optimization.
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