Your homepage is a huge representation of yourself – and it’a also the most visited page on your website – so making sure it stands out and gets the right information across to your visitors should be the number one goal when figuring out what to put on your website’s homepage.
BUT – what I see way too often is either:
A – People put almost nothing on their homepage and expect people to click through
B – People put SO much information on their homepage, it’s so overwhelming
This is where my 5-part blueprint to a Google-friendly homepage comes in handy.
(This is part 2 of my 5-part site structure series on SEO and website design – so if you haven’t already checked out part 1, make sure to do so, cuz I go over the main navigation/basic layout of your website in part 1.)
5-step blueprint to a google-friendly homepage
Step 1: Unique Value Proposition
The very first thing you want people to see when they visit your website is above the fold (before people even begin to scroll down the page) is your unique value proposition.
Let’s unpack this a bit.
- UNIQUE: If anybody else can put it on their website, it’s not unique
I wouldn’t want to just say, “Helping businesses grow” – because this isn’t unique, and you wouldn’t be able to know that I focus on SEO.
- VALUE: What is the benefit people get from working with you?
We’re talking aboutthe value of your services. What benefit do people get from working with you? What are the outcomes that you’re able to give to them
- PROPOSITION: An offer for a transaction to be considered or accepted
The definition of proposition is an offer of a transaction that can be considered or accepted.
You wouldn’t want to just say, “I am a yoga teacher.” This doesn’t propose or suggest anything. You’d rather say, “Come to a yoga class!” You want people to consider working with you at this point and give yourself a chance to draw them into your world and feel what it would be like to work with you
- BONUS: Make it clear WHO you work with
Let me show you a couple of examples from students who have gone through my Attract & Activate program.
Tina of TRP Design Group is an interior designer in Wisconsin and her unique value proposition is, “Authentic interior design – workplaces that foster opportunities for innovation.”
Another example is Ashley, a travel agent at Alpaca Your Bags. Her value proposition is, “Award winning travel agency for all inclusive destination weddings & celebration travel.”
And this is Kristi of Signify, and her value proposition is, “Strategy and copywriting to help your nonprofit or social enterprise get noticed & grow.”
All three of these are examples of unique value propositions – they set themselves apart from their competitors, they share what value people are going to get, and then they have that proposition which is opening the doors to considering a transaction.
Step 2: Be Bossy!!
The next thing I want you to do on your website is to be bossy. I want you to figure out what the number one thing is that you want people to do when they get to your site, and right beneath your unique value proposition, include a button that tells them exactly what you want them to do.
If you have a specific offer and you want people to book a consultation with you, you could add a button that says “Book your free call” or, “Contact me now.”
If your business is product-based and you have a specific category that people like best or you want to share your most popular products, this is a space to say, “Visit the shop” or, “Check out our best sellers”.
And if you’re running an online business and the goal of your homepage is to get people onto your email list, this is a great place to have a freebie available where you say, “Get your free guide” or, “Take our quiz”.
Tina has a button that says, “set up a meeting!”
Ashley has a destination wedding checklist that you can sign up for, so you don’t even have to click on the button, you can just type your email address right in there to get the checklist.
And Kristi has a free guide to cause-focused marketing for every budget, so you can grab that right below the value proposition.
Step 3: Showcase your services & offers
Now if people aren’t ready to take that step, if they want to learn more about you before they book a consult or they want a better idea of what it is that you do, include an overview of your products and services.
If you’re a service provider, say, “Here are the different ways that you can work with me”.
If you’re an e-commerce business, this might be a good place to say, “Here are our most popular products/our best selling categories”.
If you’re a course creator, maybe you have a webinar that you want them to go to, or you want to show them what your courses are.
Whatever it is that you want them to buy from you long-term, share that with them in this space.
This is also a great place to share some of your best content.
So if you have a “Start Here” page or you have cornerstone content that’s an ultimate guide to what it is that you do, this is a great place to feature one or two really great blog posts or guides that are on your website for people who are just getting started. This way, they can educate themselves more about your industry, and then find out more about working with you as the next step from there.
For example, Ashley has two different outcomes – one is destination weddings, and one is group celebrations. So depending on which one you’re interested in, you can click to find out more just about destination weddings or about group celebrations.
Kristi lists her three specializations – you can work with her on copywriting, consulting, or philanthropy. And at a very quick glance, you’re able to see what those three categories are, and find out more about each of those services depending on what’s most interesting to you.
So we have the first three elements of our blueprint – the next thing we wanna do on our homepage is start building trust.
Step 4: Start building trust
There are lots of copywriters out there – why would you choose Kristi? There are lots of interior designers out there -why would you choose Tina? You want to set yourself apart to give you some personality and show that other people have trusted you previously.
Here are a couple ways you can do that:
Show your beautiful face
Tina has a professional headshot, she’s got information about her experience, and she also has some businesses that she’s partnered with to show that she has a track record of working with clients like you.
Ashley has her smiling face, she has information about why she started a travel agency (and why it always includes of animal puns) – and she also has what we call the “As seen on” section which is a compilation of all the different websites where she’s been profiled.
Social proof like testimonials & reviews
Kristi also has her headshot smiling at you here, along with a testimonial slider from a variety of clients talking about how great she is to work with.
Step 5: Optimize your SEO titles & metadescriptions
You didn’t think I’d go this entire post without talking about SEO, did you?
Well, you want to think about what your website looks like in those search engine results page, so that people are more likely to click on your website versus the other results.
How can you do that? Treat your SEO page title like prime real estate and your meta description like a birthday party invitation (no gifts required).
Focus your page title on your brand name or main product
You want to include the things that people are looking for – this might be:
- Your brand name
- The offers/services you provide
- Your location
- The audience you work with
The bottom line: how can you differentiate your services from everyone else on that search engine results page?
Metadescriptions: include UVP & invites visitor to site
Think of this like a birthday party invitation where you invite your friends and they don’t even have to bring presents, they can just come hang out with you.
You want to include a little bit more of that unique value proposition and also invite visitors over to your site.
Let’s take a look at an example:
You can see her brand name and “Milwaukee Small Office Interior Designer” so if people are looking for small business design or office design or commercial interior design, Google will understand that those are all people looking for something similar. Including Milwaukee is smart, too, because she does offer in-person services.
Her meta description is super clear too: “Interior design studio helping small businesses, solo entrepreneurs and telecommuters design productive office environments in Greater Milwaukee, WI area.”
So here’s a recap. The five-part blueprint for a Google-friendly homepage is:
- Your unique value proposition
- Clear call to action
- Showcase your services & offers
- Start building trust
- Optimize your SEO titles & metadescriptions
Follow these five guidelines to make your homepage it’s BEST version – and let me know what you think! Have you gotten more click-throughs? More conversions? Let me know!