Your homepage should tell a story.

Most businesses use their homepage as a sales pitch, focusing on how great they think they are, what they do, and sharing blog posts as if they are a reason to buy from you.

No one gives a sh*t about that story.

Your ideal customers need a story that meets them where they are right now and moves them to the ideal state they want to achieve.

It's far more their story than yours.

Tell that story, and your ideal customers will understand what you do, why they need it, and why they should choose you over the competition.

Easier said than done, I know.
Especially when you don't have a clear reason for customers to choose you.

But telling the right story not only helps ideal customers choose you, but it also helps them convert directly from your homepage.

Something every marketer, CEO, or founder should want.

Why Your Homepage Should Tell a Story

Most B2B companies treat their homepage as a sales tool.

Pitch customers on the company, how great they are, and their services, and BAM, clients will line up wanting to give you money.

Except that's not how people engage with a website.

Your homepage is a positioning tool.

It needs to speak to ideal customers who are in market (ready to buy and searching options) and who aren't in market (stumbled across your name or content and checking out what you do).

If your homepage doesn't stand out and make an impression, customers will have a hard time remembering you.

That's why looking and sounding like your industry, using similar messaging, or copying what your competitors have on their website leads to lower conversion rates.

You didn't own a place in people's minds with your homepage.
So they don't see a reason to buy from you.

Your homepage offers a unique (and brief) opportunity to capture and keep your ideal customer's attention.

Telling the right story in your homepage headers.

The Homepage Story that Converts

We craft homepage copy for every Brand OS client using the Header OS framework.

The framework is simple (but not easy): Use your homepage headers to tell the story of your ideal customers.

Most people skim websites — meaning the copy that stands out on your homepage (eg., your headers) needs to tell the story quickly and succinctly.

Here's the framework we use, with examples from Shft's new homepage copy (coming soon!):

Hero Transformation

The top of your homepage (hero section) should communicate the transformation you bring, for whom, and how in 7-10 seconds.

Think of it as the "hook" for your website.

If you can't capture their attention in the hero section, they won't read the rest of your site.

Take Shft's transformation message:

This is composed of your:

• Tagline: 3-7 compelling words about the transformation you bring
• One-Liner: 1-2 sentences that clarify the unique value you bring.
• CTA Buttons: the steps they need to take next

High-Level Proof

Next, give your visitors high-level proof of your hero claim.

Think customer logos or result numbers (revenue generated, pipeline driven, etc).

These show visitors that others have trusted you and they should, too.

Painful Problem

Next, express their problem in their words.

This will be tough — most customers have more than one problem when they come to you.

You can't express every problem, just the problem that hurts the most or that they need to feel right before they reach out for help.

Take Shft's problem header:

That message comes directly from our customers. They knew they had a decent brand. It just wasn't working the way they knew it should.

Parroting their words back to them makes them feel like you get them.

Solution Methodology

Share the unique methodology that solves their problem.

This is not your product or service. This is the mindset shift they need to make your product or service a viable solution in their minds.

Take Shft's solution methodology:

That's not our service, but it's the mindset behind our service — we don't brand your personality, purpose, or vision. We brand the thing you do that's different.

Outcome

Next, share the outcome your ideal customers experience when working with you.

This could either be a row of stats with a compelling header or a breakdown of how your methodology changes their business.

We went with the breakdown here.

Most of our clients have discounted their services to land clients in the past. So our message explains that they have a choice: differentiate (which is what we help them do) or keep discounting.

Proof Blurb

I'm a big proponent of sharing stories from your ideal customers.

A timely quote that aligns with your story from a customer who achieved a great result from your offer with a short case study teaser does this well.

Process

Share the process you take every client through.

Remember, you're telling a story here. Your ideal customers don't need every step mapped out in detail.

Relate your process to the methodology you shared above.

Take Shft's process header:

It relates back to our solution methodology (branding your how) and frames it in a process.

Offer

Now is the time to share your offer.

You've talked about the transformation. Resonated with their problem. Changed their mindset. Talked about the outcome. Shared the process.

At this point, your offer feels like the best way to round out the story.

Use your branded offer name in the header. It connects the offer name with the solution in their minds.

Extensive Proof

Now's the time to bombard visitors with proof.

Add a testimonial or case study section with a header that ties back to your solution methodology.

Take Shft's:

Our methodology is branding your how. Promises mean nothing if you can't actually deliver, which is the stance we took in this header.

Next Step

Lastly, give visitors a clear next step they should take if the story they just read in your headers resonated with them.

Take Shft's as an example:

Everything in our header story has driven visitors to this next step: You need a brand that competitors can't copy, and that only happens when you have an uncopyable element.

Make Your Homepage Headers Count

Most visitors won't read the copy on your homepage.

They scroll, skim, and read the copy that stands out the most: your headers.

Make sure your homepage headers tell the story your ideal customers need to hear so they understand what you do, why it matters to them, and why they should choose you.

Our Header OS framework does that — and has helped our clients increase conversion rates from their homepage.

Give it a try.

Or book the Brand OS. We'll uncover what makes your business unique and turn that into a story you can tell in your homepage headers so customers get it.

I'm taking on 2 more clients until the end of the year.

Until next week,

#SassyJason out.

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