A homepage has one job: help the right visitor understand your business quickly and decide what to do next. It is not a brochure for everything you have ever done. The strongest homepages are simple, specific and honest.

Say what you do in the first screen

The top of the page, before anyone scrolls, should answer three questions: what do you do, who is it for, and why should I care. A headline such as "Accounting for independent London restaurants" does far more than "Excellence in everything we do". Support it with one line that adds detail and a button that tells people what happens next.

Avoid clever slogans that need explaining. If a competitor could paste your headline onto their site unchanged, it is too generic. Our guide to website copywriting for service pages goes deeper on writing in the customer's words.

Show proof close to your claims

Anyone can say they are reliable or experienced. Proof is what makes it believable. Place it next to the statement it supports rather than saving it all for a testimonials section at the bottom.

• Client logos, where you have permission to use them

• Short quotes from named customers, with their role and company

• Specific outcomes you can stand behind, described honestly

• Accreditations, memberships or awards that matter to your buyers, such as membership of a body like the Federation of Small Businesses

You can browse how we present proof in our own selected work.

Explain your services in plain words

Give visitors a short overview of what you offer, with each service linking through to its own page. Use the words your customers use, not internal labels. Three to six services is usually enough for the homepage. If you offer more, group them and let the service pages do the detail.

Give one primary next step

Decide what you most want a visitor to do, such as book a call or request a quote, and repeat that single action at sensible points down the page. Offer a softer alternative for people who are not ready, for example a case study or a guide. Too many competing buttons leave visitors unsure what to press. If the action is a form, keep it short; our article on improving website forms without losing lead quality explains how.

Make it fast and usable on a phone

A great message is wasted if the page takes too long to load or is awkward on a small screen. Check your homepage with PageSpeed Insights, compress oversized images and make sure buttons and text are comfortable to use with a thumb. Our mobile-first checklist covers the details.

Keep the structure easy to scan

Most people skim. Use clear headings, short paragraphs and plenty of white space, and keep a logical order: message, proof, services, how you work, then a closing call to action. Leave out anything that does not help someone decide, such as long company histories or stock photography that says nothing about you.