What should be on your homepage?
What a homepage actually needs, in what order, why the first screen decides whether anyone reads the rest, and the things most homepages include that do nothing.
A homepage needs six things, in roughly this order: a clear statement of what you do and who for, visible without scrolling; a primary action you want visitors to take; proof that you can do the work; a short explanation of how working with you goes; a way to reach you; and navigation to everything else. Anything beyond those six should earn its place, because every extra element competes with the ones that matter.
The homepage is the page most businesses agonise over and most visitors spend the least time on. People arrive, decide within seconds whether they are in the right place, and either continue or leave. Almost everything worth doing to a homepage is about making that first decision easy.
The first screen does most of the work
Whatever appears before a visitor scrolls carries more weight than the rest of the page combined. It should answer three questions immediately: what is this, is it for me, and what do I do next.
That usually means a headline stating what you do in plain language, a supporting line naming who it is for or what problem it solves, and one clear action. What it should not be is a slogan. A large elegant phrase that could belong to any business in any industry is the most common homepage mistake there is, because it spends the most valuable space on the page saying nothing.
The test is blunt: show the first screen to someone unfamiliar with your business for five seconds, then ask what you do. If they cannot say, the first screen has failed regardless of how good it looks.
One primary action, not five
Decide the single thing you most want a visitor to do. Book a call, request a quote, view the work, buy. Make that the most prominent action on the page and repeat it further down.
Offering five equally weighted options feels generous and performs badly, because a visitor who has to choose between options often chooses none. Secondary actions can exist, they should just look secondary.
Proof, early
People believe evidence more than claims. Client logos, a short case study, real testimonials with names, numbers you can stand behind. For services in particular, this is often what converts, because it moves you from saying you are good at something to showing it.
Put at least some proof high on the page rather than saving it all for the bottom. A visitor who is unconvinced by the time they reach the footer has usually already gone.
What you actually offer
A brief overview of your services or products, in the words your customers use. Not the full detail, that is what the service pages are for, but enough that someone can tell whether you do the thing they need.
This is where a lot of homepages go abstract. Describing your work in terms of transformation, journeys, and partnership tells a visitor nothing about whether you can build what they need. Say the concrete thing.
How it works
A short outline of what happens if someone gets in touch. Three or four steps is plenty. This does more than it looks like it should, because a large part of what stops people enquiring is not doubt about quality, it is uncertainty about what they are committing to.
Contact, and a footer that works
A clear route to contact you, and a footer with the practical details: address if you have one, phone, email, links to the important pages. The footer is the second most used part of most sites, so it is worth treating as navigation rather than as a dumping ground.
What most homepages include and should not
A carousel or slider. Visitors rarely see past the first slide, and the rotation makes the page feel unsettled. If something matters, put it on the page.
A long about section. Your story belongs on the about page. On the homepage, a line or two is enough.
Stock photography of people who do not work for you. It is instantly recognisable and it quietly signals that nothing here is real. One honest photograph of your actual work beats ten polished ones of strangers in a meeting room.
A wall of text before anything else. Visitors scan before they read. Give them structure to scan.
Everything. The strongest temptation with a homepage is to include all of it, because everything feels important. That is precisely what makes homepages fail, since a page that emphasises everything emphasises nothing.
The order matters as much as the contents
Most homepages contain roughly the right elements in roughly the wrong order. Proof buried at the bottom, the actual offer three screens down, the contact route hidden behind a menu. Sequence it the way a visitor thinks: what is this, is it for me, can you prove it, how does it work, how do I start.
Get that sequence right, and you can afford a simple design. Get it wrong, and no amount of design saves the page.
See also: What makes a website feel cheap, What is a good website conversion rate, What content you need for a website.