Homepage hero section: say what you do, for whom and where

A good homepage hero section says what you do, who it is for and where, in one sentence a stranger can understand in five seconds.

The hero is the top of the page: the headline, the line beneath it, a button and usually an image. It is the part everyone sees, and the part most often filled with words that could belong to any firm, such as "Excellence. Integrity. Results."

This article gives you a formula, ten before-and-after rewrites, rules for the supporting parts and a five-second test. It follows from our wider guide to UK web design agencies, and it pairs with the full list in nine things that make a service website convert.

What is a homepage hero section?

The hero section is the first block a visitor sees without scrolling, and its job is to tell them whether they are in the right place.

It normally contains a headline, a short supporting line, a main button and a picture or video. On a phone it may be the only thing on screen for the first second or two. If it does not answer "what is this, and is it for me?", the visitor goes back to the search results.

It is not the place for your history, your values or a clever slogan. Those belong further down, for the people who are already interested.

What is the one-sentence formula?

The formula is: what you do, for whom, where. Add a result or a reason to trust you only if there is room.

We [do this] for [these people] in [this place].

A plumber might write "Boiler repairs and servicing for homes in Northampton and Daventry". An accountant: "Accounts and tax for owner-managed businesses in Milton Keynes". The sentence names the service in the words customers use, the audience and the area. Anyone who fits will recognise themselves, and anyone who does not will leave quickly, which is what you want.

Use the words your customer would type into Google, not your internal names. If people search "emergency dentist", do not write "urgent dental care solutions".

What do good rewrites look like?

They replace a feeling with a fact. Here are ten pairs for typical UK service businesses.

Check the claims you add. "Within 48 hours" or "same-week appointments" must be true on a normal week, or the line backfires. Never write a promise you cannot keep.

What else belongs in the hero?

Add a supporting line that handles the next question, one button that matches the main goal and an image that shows the real thing.

Supporting line. One sentence on why choose you or what happens next. "Fixed prices quoted in writing before we start" works. "We are passionate about customer service" does not. Aim for under 25 words.

Button. One main action, in plain verbs: "Book a check-up", "Get a quote", "Call 01604 000000". On a phone, make the number tap to call. A second, quieter link is fine, but avoid three equal buttons.

Image. Use a photograph of your team, your premises or your work. A law firm with a photo of the partners builds more confidence than a stock picture of a gavel. A clinic or dental practice with a real reception area tells patients what to expect.

Proof. If you have a strong credential or review score, put it under the button in a single line: a line such as "Rated 4.9 from 212 Google reviews" or "Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority". Use your own real figures and keep them current.

What should you avoid?

Avoid sliders, autoplay video with sound, vague taglines, paragraphs of text and a menu that competes with the headline.

Carousels hide most of their messages, because few visitors wait for the second slide. A long block of text in the hero is a wall. Jargon makes people work. A cookie banner that covers the headline on a phone blocks the very thing you want read, so check how the two sit together on a small screen.

Beware the "we" opening. "We are a leading provider of..." puts you at the centre. "Employment solicitors for small businesses in Leeds" puts the customer there.

How does the hero affect speed?

The hero image is usually the largest element on the page, so it often decides your Largest Contentful Paint, the loading score in Core Web Vitals.

Google says good loading performance means the main content appears within the first 2.5 seconds. A big uncompressed photo, a video background or a slider with four large images can push you past that on a phone.

Resize the image to the size it appears at, use a modern format and do not delay its loading. Keep any video short and compressed, or use a still image on mobile.

We cover measurement and fixes in page speed as a sales metric.

What about the hero on service pages?

Each service page deserves its own hero, written on the same formula but narrower.

The homepage tells people what the firm does. A service page tells people you do exactly the thing they searched for. "Boiler repairs in Northampton, same-day callouts" on the boiler page beats a generic banner. This also helps search, since the headline repeats the phrase the page is meant to rank for, which is the logic behind a 15-page service site.

How should the hero work on a phone?

On a phone, the hero is a single column: headline, supporting line, button, then the image, and the button should be visible without scrolling.

Most visits to a small business site now arrive on mobile, so design the small screen first and let the desktop version expand from it. Check three things on a real handset. Can you read the headline without zooming? Can you reach the button with your thumb? Does the phone number ring when you tap it? Cookie banners, chat bubbles and sticky bars can eat half the screen, so look at the page with all of them showing.

Long headlines wrap awkwardly on narrow screens. If your sentence runs to four lines at phone width, cut it down. "Family dentist in Kettering" can be the headline, with "same-week appointments, NHS and private" in the supporting line.

What if you serve several audiences?

Pick the audience that brings most of your income for the hero, and send the others to their own pages.

A solicitor who acts for both employers and employees, or an accountant who serves sole traders and limited companies, faces a pull to say everything. The hero then says nothing. Instead, write for the biggest group and add a short line below the button, such as "Looking for help as an employee? See our employee services". Each audience gets a page of its own, with its own hero on the same formula.

If you operate in several towns, name the main one in the hero and list the others in a line beneath or on dedicated area pages. Our piece on service area pages explains when those pages help and when they become filler.

What mistakes do we see most often?

The common ones are clever headlines, missing locations, no button and an image that tells you nothing.

• A headline that is a pun or a slogan, where a plain description would do.
• No mention of the town or region, so a local searcher cannot tell whether you cover them.
• A button labelled "Learn more" or "Submit" instead of the action.
• A stock photograph of people in suits shaking hands.
• Three or four buttons of equal weight, so the visitor has to choose before they have decided anything.
• A claim you cannot back up, such as "the UK's best" with no evidence.
• A hero that was written once and never revisited, even though services and prices have changed.

Fix the first two and you have done most of the work.

How often should you revisit it?

Revisit it when your services change, when you add a new area or at least once a year, and whenever your enquiry numbers fall for no clear reason.

A hero that was right three years ago can now describe a service you no longer offer. Put a yearly check in the diary alongside your domain renewal. When you change it, change one thing at a time and note the date, so you can compare enquiries before and after.

How do you test your hero?

Show it to someone for five seconds, hide it, and ask what the business does, who it is for and where it works.

Open your homepage on a phone and ask a friend who does not know your business to look at the screen for five seconds. Then ask them three questions: what does this company do, who is it for, and where? If they get all three, the hero works. If they get one or none, rewrite and test with someone else.

Add a second test: ask them what they would do next. If they cannot say "call" or "book" or "ask for a quote", the button is weak.

After the change, compare enquiries for the month before and after, as we describe in nine things that make a service website convert. If you are not sure what to change, the guide on whether small businesses still need a website gives the full list of what a first site should say.

Write it today

Write your sentence, test it with one person and put it live this week. It costs nothing, and it is the first thing every visitor sees.

If you would like a professional second opinion on your homepage, our website design service covers the homepage and the rest of the build, and you can contact us to talk through your current page.