strip away the trends and every homepage that actually sells is built from the same five signals. miss one and the others carry it — badly. get all five and the page quietly does the work of your best salesperson, around the clock.
1hero — one promise, above the fold
say what it does and who it's for before they scroll. one line, one action, zero scroll. everything else on the page exists to back this line up. if the hero is vague, no amount of beautiful sections below it will recover the visitors who already left.
2proof — receipts, not stock smiles
trust is earned with specifics: real client logos, real numbers, real reviews. one honest result beats ten adjectives. and keep it honest — invented numbers and borrowed logos get found out, and the trust never comes back.
3one clear cta
the only loud button on the page. one job. contrast does the asking — if everything is bold, nothing is. secondary actions ("learn more", "see work") stay quiet and stay out of the way.
4speed — under two seconds
fast loads convert; slow loads lose them at the door — especially on paid traffic, where every visitor cost you money. when we rebuilt one client's site, load time dropped from 8.4s to 1.9s — a lean build, no app bloat, no page-builder overhead. they stay when the door opens instantly.
5mobile — where they actually meet you
most of your visitors arrive on a phone, usually straight from instagram. the hero has to reflow clean, the cta has to sit within a thumb's reach, and nothing should require pinching. we design phone-first for exactly this reason — see how it plays out in the beneath build, where the whole page is designed around a thumb.
✓score your own page
- hero: can a stranger repeat your offer after one glance?
- proof: is there one real, specific receipt above the fold?
- cta: is there exactly one loud button?
- speed: does it load in under two seconds on a phone?
- mobile: does the hero survive a small screen untouched?
how many does your site have? if the honest answer is "not five", that's your roadmap — start at the top.