Your homepage copy has a lot to achieve: show off your best work, introduce your brand, explain why you’re a must-book vendor, and build trust with clients.
When I map out a client’s homepage copy, I usually break it into 8 sections that cover everything above—while telling a cohesive story and weaving in SEO keywords.
As an example, I’m using the site that I wrote for wedding planner Ashley Peraino, in partnership with Ava and the Bee (who did the brand strategy and design, as well as the website).
The sections are shown in the order they appear on Ashley’s site, but there’s some flexibility, especially when it comes to where you put testimonials and logos. If you’re using a template, you can follow the order they give—and where it’s essential to put a certain section first, I’ll let you know.
Hero
First of all, if you’re wondering what a “hero” is, I’ve got you: it’s the section right at the top of your homepage copy that’s visible before they scroll.
In addition to images or video, your hero needs some copy that answers your reader’s most pressing questions:
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Where are you located?
In my experience, most people cover the first two in their hero—but they sometimes forget to say where they’re based.
In the hero above, Ashley’s logo covers the who. The what and the where come into play in the subheadline “NYC Wedding Planner”—which is also the SEO keyword we’re targeting.
From there, we have a headline that hints at Ashley’s approach, and a call-to-action button (CTA for short).
You don’t have to have a CTA in your hero, but it never hurts. Some readers are coming back to your website because they’re ready to inquire, so you’re helping them out.
Storytelling
If you’ve covered the basics well, they’ll start scrolling. Now your homepage copy needs to intrigue them with the how or the why of what you do.
If your marketing directly addresses a problem they’re having, this is where you’ll describe how they’re feeling right now—then shift the focus to how you fix it. The example below from Dubsado’s homepage does a great job of exactly that.
In the wedding industry, though, our clients don’t always have a “problem” to be solved. If that’s the case with your business, then I would use this section to show how they’ll feel in the future when they work with you.
On Ashley’s site, we started by flipping a myth about wedding planning on its head. Then we described exactly how you’re going to feel if you choose to work with her. The aside about cake tasting is there to give some specifics (and add a little personality).
As seen in
One of the most compelling forms of social proof in the wedding industry is where your work has been published.
An “as seen in” section usually features the logos of publications where you’ve been published (or quoted). That’s it!
If you’re a wedding industry speaker or educator, you might choose to show the logos of podcasts or conferences where you’ve spoken (you can see an example on my Press page).
Services
Your homepage is all about guiding your reader to the information they need—and most of them are there to learn about your services.
This section is also ideal for SEO-focused copy. In the example above from Ashley’s site, we worked in mentions of the two locations she serves, as well as the keywords “wedding planning & design” and “wedding planning services.”
If you’re aiming for a more minimalist approach, you can simply list your services in clickable form, as in the example below from Tonic Site Shop’s Fitzgerald template.
Be strategic with what you include here. For example, if you’re a planner who offers both full-service planning and wedding management, you may want to make that clear on the homepage.
On the other hand, if you want to minimize the number of wedding management clients you get, don’t mention that offer on the homepage.
No matter how much copy you write here, be sure to close with a button that takes the reader to your services page (unless you’ve already done Tonic-style links, of course).
About (aka your mini-bio)
Every homepage I write for my clients has a bio or about section. But here’s the twist: it doesn’t get a spot super high up on the page.
Your homepage is mainly about addressing your clients and what they need from you. It’s not your LinkedIn profile.
So you’re going to write about yourself and your expertise, but using it to show how you’re positioned to serve your clients. Then if they click through to your About page, they can learn more about you.
That said, this is a good place to slip in another mention of your primary keyword for the page, and also your name—especially if your brand name isn’t your name. You want your site to be findable in a search for your name, too.
This section wraps up with a CTA to your About page, so they can get more details about you (as a person) and the credentials we didn’t cover on the homepage.
P.S. If you’re a personal brand, don’t forget a photo of you! It builds an instant connection.
Real Weddings or Blog
Here’s where you have a choice: you can share weddings from your portfolio, relevant blog posts, or both.
If your blog isn’t fresh or relevant to the work you’re doing now, then you don’t have to include it. However, if you have up-to-date content that positions you as an expert, then you may want to share it here—like Ashley does, with posts on NYC City Hall and popular venues for South Asian weddings.
The other option is to feature real weddings. This is some of the most important content on your homepage, because what you display here shapes clients’ impression of the work that you do.
(Note: you might post your real weddings on your blog, and that’s totally fine. Both are types of blog posts—one’s informational, the other’s a portfolio piece.)
In this example from my client Olivia Yuen’s site, we included photos as well as headline and a line of copy that gave context for the wedding. As a bonus, you can fit in a few more keywords here.
Whichever you choose, make sure to include individual CTAs so they can click directly through to read—don’t make them search for a post.
Testimonial(s)
They’ve heard plenty about you from you by this point. Now we’re going to let your clients do the talking.
Every homepage should have at least one testimonial from a client. If you want to include two, I won’t complain—but try to select ones that address different aspects of your work. Maybe you choose one that talks about how easy you were to work with, and one about how well you executed their design.
By the way, you can—and should—edit your testimonials. Happy clients tend to gush about you, and that means they repeat themselves. We’re looking for one or two punchy, powerful sentences here.
Final call-to-action
When writing a homepage, I like to include one last call-to-action. That way, if they’ve already seen everything they need from you (fingers crossed!), they can go straight to inquiring.
This is usually a simple, short section with 1 line of copy and a button that links to your inquiry form.
And that’s it—all the sections you need to include in your homepage copy so that your ideal client can learn about you and your services, then move on to the logical next step.
