We Get You

It's apt that we use the very human home to refer to the main page of a website.

Home evokes warmth. Belonging. The place where your Wi-Fi connects automatically.

That's exactly the mindset to get into when write your own business's home page—the web page that is rendered when your business's domain name is typed into a web-enabled device.

The home page is the threshold of your business.

You want visitors to feel welcomed as soon as they step in—to feel comfortable, to sense that you're happy to see them.

And because this is your business, you want them to get a sense of their surroundings in the blink of an eye: an idea of who you are and what you do and why it matters to them.

There's no one way to write. There's definitely no one way to write a home page.

There are many variables—related to the nature of your business and its goals—that will define success for your home page. So as with many chapters in this section, this is a general approach, not a prescription.

• Who's in, who's out? Who is your audience? Whom do you want to attract? And—just as important—whom do you not want to attract?

  All good content is rooted in a clear understanding of your audience.

  That sounds obvious, doesn't it? But it's surprising how often we overlook our audiences and use our home pages to talk only about us.

  You might be tempted to use your home page to say you are “The world's leading business-to-business sales training and research firm.” That might be true, but where is your audience in that description? Why should they care?

  Try instead: “You will make smarter sales decisions and grow your business faster with the help of our training and research.” That tells people what's in it for them.

  I'm using audience and not customers, by the way. That's because your home page should appeal to those who might not yet know who you are, not just your current clients or customers.

• Just like me. Part of understanding your customers is knowing what motivates them. How you can help them.

  The home pages should murmur: “We get you. You belong here. We understand your challenges, your fears, your pain, your hopes, your needs. We shoulder your burdens. We've got your back. We'll give you a helping hand. A leg up. A nudge in the right direction.” All the body parts.

  The main headline on your page should communicate that customer-centric value. (The biggest wasted opportunity is to merely say, “Welcome.”) Remember: Your value is not what you do or what you sell, it's what you do for your customers. That shift may seem subtle, but it's everything.

  Even better if your home page subtly eases objections.

  For example: video is hot. But a big problem for marketers is to prove that there'll be a return on investment. Right on its home page, video marketing platform Vidyard (vidyard.com) makes its value clear with the customer-centric headline: “Get 5x More Responses from Busy Buyers.”

  Beautiful, because it immediately tells us not just what Vidyard does, but also how it helps us and our businesses.

  Or this home page copy from Knak, an email provider:

  “Codeless email and landing page creation for enterprise marketing teams.” Then, as if to ease unspoken fears (like That sounds hard! or Will my email and landing pages look like other enterprise companies'?), Knak adds a subtitle:

  “Build in minutes. Collaborate in real-time. Always on brand.”

• Keep it stupid-simple. Don't be tempted to fill space with lots of copy and graphics, especially above the fold—the part of a web page that first appears in web browsers when it's opened.

  This message takes up the entire screen above the fold on the Dropbox home page:

  “Keep life moving—and work organized. All in one place.”

  There's more below that elaborates on “your stuff, anywhere.” But it's so simple, so calming, so Zen. And it feels like an antianxiety prescription—which, incidentally, is in a sense what Dropbox is all about.

  Your own product or service might warrant a little more explanation, or it might be a little more complex.

  That's okay. Pare your statement of value to the stupid-simple essentials. Squelch the impulse to explain all you are and all that you do right away and up front. That's too overwhelming.

• Use words your audience uses.

  Use words familiar to your potential customer—not the words you might internally.

  Did you notice that Dropbox uses stuff instead of files, data, photos, and so on?

  It could've come up with a more sophisticated-sounding word (maybe assets? property? resources? content?). But stuff really does cover all the things we all have stored on our computers, phones, and tablets. And that's how many of us refer to all that … stuff.

• Use you promiscuously. On your home page, use you more than you use us or we.
• Let your quirk flag fly. The home page of freelance writer Margo Aaron (thatseemsimportant.com) features a large photo of Margo with this headline: “They Say If I Have a Photo Here It Will Increase My Conversion Rates.”

  I love that so much, for three reasons: (1) Because it's self-deprecating and true. (2) Because clients considering hiring her immediately understand that Margo takes a fresh, fun approach. And (3) because there's not a best practices article anywhere that told Margo to use that headline. It's all her. (More on that idea in the box below.)

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Why should Larry and his home page CTA matter to you and your business? Let's break it down.

• The copywriting. Look, you can read every blessed blog post on the Internet about best practices in copywriting and call to action buttons. Not a single one is going to tell you to write “Call Larry” on your CTAs. Not. One.

  The most effective copywriting reflects who you are, not just what you sell.

• The A in the CTA. We already talked about lifting up that A. Look at how Currituck does it here: “Call.” Not “Contact.” Not “Text.” Not “Fax” (LOL). There is no robo-Larry chatbot that pops up.

  No one calls anymore—it's old-school. Takes too much time. Too random. Too interruptive.

  Right? Maybe not.

  You know who wants you to interrupt him? Larry.

  In part because it builds trust and affinity. And precisely because it is folksy and old-school—not unlike Currituck itself.

  From Larry: “People know what you do. You have to sell them on who you are.”

• The CTA copy doesn't thrive in solitary confinement. That “Call Larry” button in isolation would come across as weird. It works because it's expressed implicitly and explicitly across all that the agency does.

  The back of Larry's business card reads “Call Larry.” The agency's collateral and display ads feature the same copy and approach. The newsletter is (you guessed it) a literal letter from Larry.

  No one thrives in isolation. ThinkCurrituck.com is one of the highest-traffic websites among its competitors, Doug Burdett said.

What's your Call Larry opportunity?