It’s bound to happen.
Maybe not today.
Maybe not tomorrow.
But sooner or later, your clients and potential clients will end up on your homepage. So will your colleagues and potential joint venture partners. Maybe even the editorial staff of popular online magazines.
Or the booking agents for the Today Show or CBS Sunday Morning. (Hey, it happens!)
Your website visitors have questions. And you need to give them the answers. Fast. So they don’t have to spend more than 90 seconds trying to figure out who you are, what do you do, and why they should care.
So, let’s give your homepage a once-over and see if it’s answering the 5 questions your visitors need to know before they decide to contact you. Or work with you. Or book you. Or sign up for your free thing.
Question #1: “Am I In the Right Place?”
Have you ever landed on a home page and thought… “What the heck? What is this? Who is this for?”
I have. And if I can’t quicklty find answers to those questions, I’m outta there!
When your website visitor hits your page, the first thing they need to know is… is this what they’re looking for? Is there something here that is relevant to their situation, problem or desire?
One of my clients specializes in helping people who have an important relationship that’s either driving them nuts, causing them pain, or making them miserable. When you land on her home page, you immediately see her tag line: Taking relationships from crappy to happy.
Perfect! Anyone who’s dealing with a troubled relationship is going to know, “Ah! I’m in the right place.”
Another example is Holly G Studios. When you land on the homepage, it’s clear; this is all about Business Cinema… helping businesses create quality video that promotes their brand.
Question #2: “What’s in it for me?”
Oh, this question. It’s the question that’s always circulating and recirculating in everyone’s mind, all the time. But especially when they’re reading yet another webpage online.
This question must be answered and answered persuasively in all your copy. Not just your homepage. Imagine your potential client staring at your page and asking, “What’s in this for me? Why should I care?”
What’s your answer? Why should they care?
How do you give them what they’re looking for? What’s the transformation you provide? What is the need you fill? And how can you express that so they know, in an instant that, yes! They’re in the right place and you’ve got the goods to help them.
Now, one word of warning.
When you’re writing copy that answers this question (and all the questions we’re covering here) don’t try to come up with an answer that will make everyone in the world think you’re swell. Instead, write only to the 20 to 30% of your homepage visitors who are most likely to actually buy from you. They are your ideal peeps. They are the people you need to engage and enthrall. Not every Lookey Lou surfing the cyber sea.
If you try to address, impress or appease everyone with your copy, it will suck.
No lie. Your message will be so wide, weak and watered down that it will appeal to no one. The more you hone down your message so it only speaks to your best-of-the-best clients, the more alive, clear, and compelling your copy will be.
Now, if we take a glance back at my client’s homepage, the one about relationships, you can see how the copy tells visitors exactly what’s in it for them:
No matter how impossible it may seem
or how helpless you might feel,
you can transform any relationship
from one of hurt, hostility or misunderstanding
to one of incredible love, connection, and caring.
This copy promises the transformation her clients crave.
What promise can you make to the 20-30% of the people who visit your homepage who are ready to invest in you?
Question #3: “What’s unique or different about these services? How are they more ideal for me than someone else’s?”
If you make polka dot pajamas for alpacas, you don’t have to worry about this question. You offer a service no one (or very, very few) do.
But if you’re in a more competitive or saturated industry, like coaching, consulting, or selling Nerium products, you have to communicate what separates you from the other 5 billion people who do what you do.
What’s unique or different about what you offer? Why should your ideal clients choose you over someone else? What makes your services uniquely suited to solve your ideal clients’ problems? Or help them realize their biggest dreams?
A few weeks ago, I did a whole video tutorial on this. So, if you’re wrestling with this question, check it out. It will help you drill down and determine what’s unique about you so you can express it on your homepage.
Oh, and here’s the big Kahuna.
Whatever is unique about you needs to be something that benefits your clients.
Maybe you get results faster or easier. Or cheaper! Or you specialize in a specific area. Or your approach is more creative or more straightforward. Whatever it is, it should be something that will make your ideal clients think, “Yeah, this is great! This is what I’m looking for!”
Question #4: “Who are you?”
Somewhere on your homepage, you need to tell your visitors a little bit about you and why you’re qualified to help them. You don’t have to say a lot; that’s what your About Page is for. You just need to give them a little something that lets them know you’ve got the goods.
For instance, if I were writing this part of my homepage, I might say something like:
For the last 13 years I’ve been making it fun and easy for entrepreneurs attract their ideal clients, sell more of their stuff, and build their business their way. How? By teaching them how to liberate and their unique voice and write cracklin’ hot copy that inspires their ideal clients to buy.
It can be that short. 1-2 sentences. Say something about the results you get for your clients, how long you’ve been doing this, and anything else that might support your credilbity. Like…
Question #5: “Who else is into this?”
There’s nothing more compelling than third-party testimonials or stats that verify the results you get for people. If you’ve got a few hot testimonials from past clients, showcase them on your homepage. In fact, your testimonials can sometimes replace the copy that answers the question, “Who are you?” (above).
For an example, check out Basecamp. They use stats and testimonials right away to emphasize their popularity and power.
Okay, so there you go! The 5 questions your homepage must answer if you want to snag the attention and interest of your ideal clients and keep them reading.
Am I in the right place?
What’s in it for me? (or…why should I care?)
What’s unique about this?
Who are you?
Who else is into this?
Right now, this instant, go take a look at your homepage and see if it’s answering these questions.
If not, tweak it so it does!
And if you need a little help getting your homepage up to snuff, if it could use a bit more power and pizzazz, I invite you to schedule a Quickie Marketing Message Makeover – a 45-minute copy makeover session to turn your so-so copy into a client-attracting masterpiece.
But sign up quick because I won’t be offering these Quickies much longer. I’m morphing this offer into a 2-session, higher-priced package soon. So, go grab a Quickie!
If you have any questions about your homepage or any other copy you’re working on, let me know in the comments below and I’ll get back to you right quick!