Why a homepage needs a plain statement of what you do

A person lands on your homepage after a search, a referral or a link from a friend. They do not know you yet. In the first few seconds they are asking one question: is this the kind of business I was looking for? If the page does not answer that question quickly, many of them leave and look at the next result.

The fix is small and plain. Put one short statement near the top of the homepage that says what you do and who you do it for. This post explains why that line matters, what makes a good one, and the mistakes that weaken it.

Your homepage is a short pitch

Nielsen Norman Group, a research firm that studies how people use websites, advises treating the homepage as an elevator pitch to prospective customers. It should say quickly what the organization does and what a visitor can do on the site.

That advice fits how people really read online. The firm notes that people rarely read online. They scan. A page that makes them work to find out what you sell asks them to do something most visitors will not do.

Do not assume people know your brand

If your business name already explains what you do, you may not need much more. A business called Smith Plumbing tells the visitor the trade. Most names do not. A name made of a surname, a place or an invented word says nothing about the work.

Nielsen Norman Group puts it directly: do not assume visitors to your site know your brand. Unless the company name already explains the offering, add a concise tagline that does. The same article says the homepage should communicate its value clearly, usually through a descriptive tagline, because visitors are asking why they should choose you over others.

What a good statement looks like

A useful statement is short, specific and written in the words a customer would use. It names what you do. It can name where you do it or who it is for. It does not need to be clever.

The firm says a tagline should be simple, scannable and to the point. Its example of a tagline that works is TurboTax's "100% accurate, however you choose to file taxes," which states the offering and points to accuracy and flexibility in one line.

Compare these two lines for a made-up roofing company. "Welcome to our website" tells the visitor nothing. "Roof repair and replacement for homes in your town" tells them the service and the place. The second line takes a few extra words and removes a lot of doubt.

Replace greetings with information

Many homepages open with a greeting. It feels friendly, but it uses the most valuable space on the page to say nothing about the business. Nielsen Norman Group calls cheerful welcomes unhelpful because they give no information about the company, and advises turning them into meaningful taglines.

You can keep a friendly tone. You can say hello further down. The first line a visitor reads should do work.

Use plain words instead of jargon

Plain language is part of the same job. The firm advises using words that resonate with people and avoiding jargon, business terminology and feature-driven language.

Jargon feels normal inside a business because you use it all day. A customer does not. If you describe a service in terms only a colleague would use, the visitor has to translate, and some will not bother. Read your statement aloud and ask whether a neighbor who has never bought this service would understand it the first time.

The same rule applies to links. Nielsen Norman Group says generic labels such as "Click Here," "Explore" or "Learn More" do not tell people what they will get and are hard to tell apart when scanning. A link that says "See our services" or "Get a quote" does a better job.

Keep the statement visible and still

Where the line sits matters. The firm says the tagline should be immediately visible and warns against animating it. Its research found that scroll-triggered text animations delay users. The same article cites Google research that the likelihood of a visitor leaving rises by 32 percent when load time goes from one second to three.

So place the statement where it can be read without scrolling, without waiting and without a click. A short line in plain text near the top of the page is hard to beat.

Clear wording builds trust

A plain statement also helps credibility. In a separate article on trust, Nielsen Norman Group lists four credibility factors: design quality, upfront disclosure, being comprehensive, correct and current, and being connected to the rest of the web.

Several of those depend on clear wording. The firm says to use plain, descriptive labels and to avoid clever or nondescript category names, since visitors may not find what they need. It also says to share pricing, policies and contact details openly, because hiding them reads as concealment. A visitor who can see what you do, and what to expect, is more likely to feel they are dealing with a real business.

A quick check you can do today

Open your homepage on your phone. Without scrolling, can you tell what the business does and who it is for? Ask someone who does not work with you to look at it for five seconds and then tell you what they think you sell. If their answer is wrong or vague, the statement needs work.

Write the line, shorten it, then remove any word a customer would not use. Put it at the top of the page, and make sure the next thing the visitor can do, such as call or request a quote, is easy to find.