What Belongs on a Company Homepage
By CodexierPublished 5 min read
Most company homepages are assembled from what the company wants to say: a slogan, a carousel, three icons, a news feed. A first-time visitor wants something narrower. They have five questions, in a fairly fixed order, and they leave as soon as one goes unanswered. This guide lays out the homepage as a sequence of those answers and shows what to cut so the answers are visible.
The five questions a visitor asks
| Visitor question | Where it is answered | Common failure |
|---|---|---|
| What do you do? | Headline, first sentence | A slogan instead of a description |
| Is it for me? | Sub-headline naming the customer or situation | Speaking to everyone |
| Why you? | Offer, differentiators, proof block | Adjectives instead of facts |
| Can I trust you? | Case studies, named clients with permission, credentials, photos of real people | Stock photos and unverifiable numbers |
| How do I start? | One primary button, repeated at the bottom | Five competing buttons or none |
Headline and offer
The headline has one job: tell a stranger what you do in the words they would use to search for it. 'We build websites for Swedish clinics' beats 'Digital experiences that inspire' every time, because the second one requires the visitor to guess. The line beneath it says who it is for and what changes for them. The offer is the concrete thing you sell, with its shape visible: a fixed-price package, a first consultation, a menu of services.
- Write the headline last, after the rest of the page; it is a summary, not an opening.
- Test it on someone outside the company: can they say what you do after reading it once?
- Put the offer above the fold in words, not in an image. Images can decorate; they cannot explain.
- If you sell several things, name the main one on the homepage and link the others. A homepage that lists everything sells nothing.
Proof you can actually show
Proof is anything a visitor could check. A named client with a logo you have permission to use, a case study with a real outcome, a certification, a photo of the team in your actual office. Claims like 'hundreds of satisfied customers' are not proof, and visitors know it. If you have little to show yet, show what is true: years in business, the people, the process, a few honest examples of work, as we do on our portfolio page.
Case studies
One paragraph each: who, what problem, what you did, what happened. Link to a full page if there is more. Two real ones beat ten vague ones.
Client names and logos
Only with written permission. A row of logos without permission is a legal problem and a trust problem when a client objects.
Reviews
Pull from Google Business Profile or a platform that verifies them, with the source visible. Invented or unverifiable quotes are worse than none.
The team
Real names and photos. Visitors buy from people, and a company that shows none looks like it has something to hide.
Clear next step
Choose one primary action for the homepage and make every button that matters do it. For most service companies that is a booking or a contact form; for a shop it is the main category or bestseller. Secondary actions can exist as text links. The button says what happens when it is pressed, not 'Learn more'. Ours says exactly what you get: a free fifteen-minute call, via /book.
- One primary button in the first screen, in the brand colour, with a verb: book, request, order.
- The same button after the proof section, where the convinced visitor is ready.
- A line next to it that removes the fear: what it costs, how long it takes, what happens next.
- A form that asks for little; see our guide to contact forms that get filled in.
What to leave off the homepage
Everything that competes with the five answers is a candidate for another page. Image carousels rotate past the message before anyone reads it. A news feed with a post from last year signals neglect. A wall of icons with one-word labels explains nothing. Pop-ups interrupt the visitor before they know why they should care. Long company history belongs on the about page; job openings belong on a careers page; awards from a decade ago can go.
When you do not need to restructure: if your homepage already answers the five questions in order and the enquiries come in, the next gains are elsewhere, and a redesign would risk what works. If visitors reach the homepage and leave without going anywhere, the structure is the first suspect. We build the homepage this way as part of our website launch package; if you would like us to look at your current homepage against these five questions, book a free 15-minute call.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a homepage be?
As long as it takes to answer the five questions with proof, which is usually four to six screens on a phone. Shorter pages that skip proof underperform; longer ones that repeat themselves lose the button in the noise.
Should the homepage have a video?
Only if it explains something words cannot and plays without sound with captions. A background video behind the headline slows the page and rarely adds meaning. A short, real walkthrough further down can help.
Do we need the homepage in both Swedish and English?
If you sell to Swedish customers, Swedish comes first and should be the complete version. Add English when you actually have non-Swedish visitors or buyers, and make it a real translation rather than a shortened one.
What should the navigation contain?
Five to seven items at most: services, about, examples or cases, prices if you publish them, contact. Everything else goes in the footer. A menu that lists every page pushes the visitor to hunt instead of read.
Does your homepage answer the five questions?
Send us the address. In fifteen minutes we tell you which question goes unanswered, what to move and what to cut.
Book a free 15-minute call