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What should be on your homepage

A homepage has one job: a first-time visitor knows what you do in five seconds and can act without hunting. The sections that earn their place, in order.

In this series
Matte ceramic totem photographed straight on: a tangerine open triangle crowning a black open cube, seated in an ivory bowl

The short answer

A small business homepage needs, in order: a header with your name and a way to act, an opening section that says what you do, for whom, and where, one piece of honest proof, a short tour of your main services, a brief who-we-are, a closing ask, and a footer with hours and contact details. A first-time visitor should know what you do within five seconds and be able to book, call, or order without hunting. Everything else is optional.

Here is the mistake almost every small business homepage makes: it talks about the business the way the owner sees it, not the way a stranger arrives at it. A visitor lands on your homepage with three questions. Do you do the thing I need? Do you do it near me? Can I trust you with it? If the answers aren’t obvious in the first screen, they hit the back button and try the next result.

The good news: a homepage that answers those questions is not a design problem. It’s an ordering problem. You almost certainly have everything you need already.

The five-second test

Show your homepage to someone who has never heard of your business. Give them five seconds, then take it away and ask: what does this business do, who is it for, and what were you supposed to do next? If they can’t answer all three, the top of the page isn’t doing its job.

“Passionate about excellence since 2009” fails the test. “Dog grooming in East Sacramento. Book online.” passes it. Clever taglines can come later, once the plain version is on the page.

The sections that earn their place, in order

Think of the homepage as a stack. Each section answers the visitor’s next question, in the order they ask it:

  1. Header. Your business name, a short menu, and a way to act (a phone number, or a Book or Contact button). It stays visible on every page.
  2. Opening section. One sentence that says what you do, for whom, and where, plus the single most useful action a new customer can take. This section decides whether anyone reads the rest.
  3. Proof. One honest signal that you’re good: a couple of real customer quotes, a review score, or photos of actual work. Strangers don’t take your word for it, and they shouldn’t have to.
  4. What you offer. Your three to six main services or products, each in a line or two, each linking somewhere with more detail. Not the full catalog. The full catalog is what the services page is for.
  5. Who you are. Two or three sentences and a real photo. People hire people, especially locally. Save the full story for the About page.
  6. The closing ask. Repeat the action from the top. A visitor who read this far is interested; don’t make them scroll back up to act.
  7. Footer. Hours, address, phone, email. Boring, and among the most-read parts of any local business site.
The homepage stack, top to bottomHeaderyour name, short menu, one actionOpening sectionwhat you do, for whom, where, plus the one actionProofreal quotes, reviews, photos of your workWhat you offer3 to 6 services, each linking deeperWho you aretwo sentences and a real photoThe closing askrepeat the one actionFooterhours, address, phone, emailfirst screenthe five-second test

Notice what’s not in the stack: a mission statement, an animated slideshow, the history of the company. None of those help a stranger decide, and everything on the homepage should help a stranger decide.

Pick one action, and repeat it

Every business has one step that turns a visitor into a customer. A restaurant wants the reservation or the order. A plumber wants the call. A consultant wants the intake form. Decide what yours is, put it in the opening section, and repeat it at the bottom.

The trap is offering every action everywhere: call us, email us, follow us, subscribe, read the blog. A visitor facing six buttons picks none of them. Secondary actions belong further down the page or on other pages, styled so the main one is unmistakably the main one.

What to leave off

  • The welcome paragraph. “Welcome to our website” tells the visitor nothing they don’t already know. Open with what you do instead.
  • Sliders and carousels. Almost nobody clicks past the first slide. Pick your best image and commit to it.
  • Generic stock photos. A handshake photo from a stock library makes a real business look less real. A slightly imperfect photo of your actual shop beats a perfect photo of someone else’s.
  • Everything about everything. If a section only matters to existing customers, it belongs behind a link, not on the homepage.

A homepage built this way is not exciting, and that’s fine. Homepages don’t win awards from strangers. They win phone calls.

Common questions

How long should my homepage be?
Long enough to answer a stranger's questions, short enough that every section earns its place. For most small businesses that's five to seven sections. If you're padding to make it feel substantial, cut instead: a short page that answers everything beats a long one that repeats itself.
Should my homepage show prices?
If customers always ask about price before buying, answer it, at least as a starting range. Hiding prices doesn't make anyone assume they're low. If exact pricing varies too much, a 'from' figure or a link to a pricing page keeps trust without boxing you in.
Do I need a video or animation at the top?
No. Video backgrounds slow the page down and rarely say anything a sentence couldn't. If you have a genuinely good video, give it its own section further down where interested visitors can choose to play it.
What image should go at the top?
The most honest one you have: your storefront, your work, you or your team doing the job. It should confirm what the headline says. If you don't have a good photo yet, a clean page with no hero image beats a generic stock photo.