What should you put on the homepage of your business's website?

A visitor arrives on your website. They may not know you yet, they have just found you on Google, on a map or through a friend’s link. Before clicking elsewhere, they will look at your homepage for a few moments and ask themselves a single question: is this for me?

Your homepage does not need to say everything. It must say the essentials, clearly, and make people want to go further. Here is what it must contain, in the order in which the visitor discovers it.

At the top: who you are and what you offer

The first thing the visitor sees, even before scrolling the page, must answer three questions: what your business is, what you offer, and where you are.

A simple sentence is often enough. “Artisan bakery in the heart of the old quarter, bread baked on site every morning.” The visitor immediately knows where they are. Avoid overly vague slogans that could apply to any shop: your customer should not have to guess.

Right next to this sentence, a beautiful image of your business. Not an illustration photo found on the internet, but your shop window, your room, your flagship product. That is what creates the first impression.

An image that really looks like you

People often talk about a website’s text, much less about its images. Yet it is first through the eye that a customer decides whether they want to come.

A blurry, dark or badly framed photo at the top of the page gives an impression of neglect, even if your establishment is spotless. Conversely, a bright, carefully made image of your place or your know-how reassures straight away. A short video, a few seconds showing the atmosphere, the gesture, the welcome, can also do a lot to make people want to come.

Your flagship products or services

There is no point displaying your whole catalogue on the homepage. Choose three or four products or services that represent you best, the ones your customers ask for most or that you are proudest of.

For each one, a photo, a name, one or two lines of description and a link to the page that says more. The visitor understands at a glance what your speciality is.

Practical information, easy to find

This is often what the visitor looks for first, and what they find least easily: your opening hours, your address, a way to reach you.

Put this information in plain sight on the homepage, and not only in very small print at the very bottom. A number that can be tapped directly from a phone, a link to your directions, a button to write to you. The simpler it is to contact you, the more people do it.

Do not forget to keep this information up to date. Festive opening hours or an exceptional closure that do not appear on the website means a customer who travels for nothing, and who remembers it.

A reason to trust you

A visitor who does not know you needs to be reassured. A few reviews from satisfied customers, a few words about your story or your team, a photo of you behind the counter: these simple elements show that there are real people behind the shop.

You do not need to do much. Two or three well-chosen reviews and a short introduction are enough to create this connection.

A single clear action

What do you want the visitor to do when they leave your homepage? Book a table, place an order, call you, come to the shop? Choose the action that matters most to you, and make it obvious with a clearly visible button.

Too many buttons that all say different things end up losing the visitor. A single clear call, repeated at the top and bottom of the page, works much better.

What is better left aside

An effective homepage is a page that breathes. Long paragraphs, animations that slow down the display, images that are too heavy and take time to load on a phone drive people away more than they impress. Keep the detail for the other pages of your website.

A shop window that works for you

You know your trade and your customers better than anyone. Your homepage is simply your online shop window: it must show what you do best, as well as you do it in real life.

If your current website no longer looks like you, or if you do not have one yet, Agence PowerCom can support you: creation or redesign of your website, showcasing your photos, editing short presentation videos. Everything you need to make your homepage a real entrance to your business.