Write a homepage headline that says what you do

The headline is the first thing nearly every visitor reads, and for a lot of them it's the last. When a page loses people in the first five seconds, the headline is usually why: it's clever, it's vague, or it's about the company instead of the visitor.

The bar: five seconds

Someone who has never heard of you looks at your page for five seconds. Afterwards, can they say what you do and who it's for? If not, very little further down the page gets read. Everything else on the page depends on getting past this.

Three headlines that fail

"Welcome to Brightline." It names you, but a stranger doesn't know you yet, so the name tells them nothing.

"Solutions for a better tomorrow." This could be a bank, a solar installer or a therapist. Words like solutions, excellence and growth feel safe to write and say nothing to the person reading.

"Work smarter, not harder." Slogans work for brands people already know. To a stranger they're a riddle, and nobody solves riddles on a homepage.

What a good one does

A headline that works says what you do in plain words and what the visitor gets. Who it's for often fits in too.

• "Bookkeeping for restaurants, with your books closed by the 5th."
• "Custom dog portraits, painted from your photo and shipped in two weeks."
• "Find a domain name for your business in two minutes, free."

None of these are clever. All of them pass the five-second test.

Let the subheadline carry the detail

The line under the headline is where the detail goes: how it works, what it includes, what it costs, or why it's different. One or two sentences. If the headline is the promise, the subheadline is the first bit of proof.

Make the button finish the thought

If the headline promises a free domain search, the button should say "Search for a domain," not "Get started" or "Submit." A button that repeats the promise tells visitors they're in the right place. One that says something different makes them stop and think, and that pause is where people leave.

Our review of bizonlinekit.com, one of our own sites, caught exactly this: two orange buttons, "Find your domain name (free)" and "Get a domain," pointing at different first steps. You can see it marked up on our homepage.

Write ten, then cut

Don't try to write the perfect line. Write ten quickly, from different angles: one about the result, one about the problem it solves, one about who it's for, one with a number in it. Cross out every line a competitor could use without changing a word. Read the rest out loud and keep the one you'd say if a friend asked what you do.

Then test it the cheap way: five people, five seconds each, and ask them what you do.

Quick check

• It says what you do in plain words.
• It says what the visitor gets.
• A stranger can repeat it back after five seconds.
• A competitor couldn't use it unchanged.
• The main button keeps its promise.