Why Your Homepage Isn't Converting (And How to Fix It)

I audit about 10 homepages a month. And the same problems show up every single time — regardless of industry, company size, or design budget. The issue is almost never the design. It's the messaging. Your homepage has one job: make the right visitor feel like they're in the right place, and show them what to do next. That's it. If your homepage tries to do more than that, it's doing less.

The most common homepage mistake is opening with a description of your company. 'We are a full-service digital agency specializing in...' Nobody cares. Not yet. Your visitor arrived with a problem, a desire, or a question. Your above-the-fold copy needs to reflect that back to them. Bad: 'We build custom software solutions for enterprise clients.' Good: 'Ship products faster without growing your engineering team.' The fix: Your headline should describe the outcome your customer wants, in their language. Your subheadline explains how you deliver it. Your CTA tells them what to do next.

When everything is a priority, nothing is. I see homepages with 'Book a Demo,' 'Download Our Guide,' 'Watch the Video,' 'Read Our Blog,' and 'Sign Up for Newsletter' all above the fold. Every additional CTA reduces the conversion rate of your primary CTA. It's not addition — it's division. The fix: Choose one primary action per page. Everything else is secondary. Your primary CTA should appear in the hero, after your key value section, and at the bottom of the page — same action, three placements.

Trust is the single biggest barrier to conversion on your homepage. A visitor who landed from an ad or a Google search has zero relationship with you. They need a reason to stay. Social proof — logos, testimonials, ratings, client counts — provides that reason. And it needs to appear early, not buried at the bottom of a long page. The fix: Add one piece of social proof above the fold. A row of client logos. A testimonial snippet. '500+ companies trust us.' Something concrete that says: 'You're not the first. Others have trusted us and it worked.'

Generic copy that tries to appeal to everyone ends up resonating with no one. 'We help businesses grow' could be written by any company in any industry. It says nothing. The fix: Write for your ideal customer. Use their language, reference their specific problems, and name their industry or situation. The more specific your homepage copy, the more your best prospects feel like you're talking directly to them — because you are.

After rewriting 100+ homepages, here's the structure I use: 1. Hero — Outcome-focused headline, supporting subheadline, one clear CTA, social proof 2. Problem agitation — Name the pain your audience feels (shows you understand them) 3. Solution — How you solve it (features framed as benefits) 4. Social proof — Testimonials, case studies, logos, numbers 5. How it works — 3-step process (removes complexity and uncertainty) 6. Objection handling — Address the top 2-3 hesitations 7. Final CTA — Restate the value, repeat the primary action This structure works because it follows the natural psychology of decision-making: attention → trust → understanding → action.