Whether you manage a website for a business, a blog, or a portfolio of your work, knowing the fundamentals of good Web copy is important in order to achieve the maximum benefits from your site. The following are some tips that can help you take an already-great website and make it even better just by tweaking and editing the text copy on the homepage.
Think of the homepage as the roadmap to the rest of your site. Nearly every other page such as "Contact," "About Us," "My Blog," etc. is accessed via the homepage. The copy here should first and foremost be engaging - it needs to capture the visitor's attention from the get-go.
Next, copy on your homepage should reflect a little bit of what your site is about. Is it a blog expressing your political opinions? Let visitors know that right from the start. Or maybe your site is for a small business that you run. Regardless of the specifics, you should attempt to answer the following questions on the homepage: "who, what, why, and how" as they pertain to your site. This doesn't mean you provide a literal question-and-answer section, but rather that you weave these key points into your homepage text.
Don't forget search engines. Use keywords that are good descriptors of what your site's purpose is, what it does, etc. This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and it makes your site rank higher in queries of Google, Yahoo!, and the like. For example, if you sell and repair Timex watches, having keywords such as Timex, repair, fix, sell in the homepage text would be essential for good SEO.
Also, consider who the majority of your site's viewing audience will be. Is it targeted toward college students? Baby boomers? Consider your demographics and make sure the writing is in a style that is relevant to them. For instance, if your website is geared toward high-schoolers, making sure the language is at a ninth-grade level and that it "speaks teen" is essential.
Brevity is also important. People don't want to read through long blocks of text, and in fact, often times they won't. You have only a brief window of opportunity to capture their attention. Maximize this opportunity by showing them the vitals of your website in a concise, understandable format. Save the other pages for putting more breadth of content on. Consider highlighting main points by using bullet lists, italics, or bold text. Well-organized text should direct visitors to the appropriate information they are seeking. Like if a user needs your company address, he or she should be able to easily locate it on the "Contact Us" or similar page.
Finally, and this one is obvious, make sure grammar and sentence structure is proofread and free from errors. Even if everything is grammatically correct, read your copy aloud a few times to make sure it flows well.
By taking the time to edit homepage copy, you can see a marked return on investment and increased viewership for your website. The reason for this is simple: visitors often hit the homepage first, and engaging them at this brief but crucial moment is imperative. Organize and demonstrate the vital points of your website, and populate it with keywords and readily visible links to the more in-depth information. Whether you spend your own time in cleaning up the copy on your homepage or hire a professional to do it, it is worth the investment. Good homepage copy will help you to achieve an even better return on your website.