Is my homepage trying to do too much?
By Dylan Bartie, Founder of DrivnLast updated
Probably, if a visitor can't tell what you do, where you do it and how to contact you within a few seconds on a phone. A local business homepage has one job: get the right people to the right next step. Everything that doesn't help with that, such as sliders, long histories and every service at equal weight, gets in the way.
What is a homepage actually for?
Sorting. Most visitors land on your homepage with one question: "is this the right business for my job?" The homepage should answer that quickly and send them somewhere useful: a service page, your work, or straight to a call or quote. It isn't the place to say everything about you; that's what the rest of the site is for.
What are the signs a homepage is doing too much?
Hold yours up against this list:
- A rotating slider at the top. Each slide fights the others, and most people never see past the first.
- A headline that could belong to any business, like "Quality you can trust", instead of what you do and where.
- Every service given equal space, so nothing stands out, including the work you most want.
- Three or four different buttons competing: call, email, quote, book, follow us.
- A long company history or mission statement above anything a customer needs.
- Pop-ups before the visitor has seen anything.
- On a phone, the number or quote button only appears after a lot of scrolling.
What should be at the top of a local business homepage?
Three things, before anyone scrolls: what you do, where you do it, and one clear way to get in touch. "Electrician in Leicester and Loughborough", a call button and a quote button beats any amount of clever copy. Proof comes next: a few reviews, real photos and any accreditations you genuinely hold.
How many calls to action should a homepage have?
One main one, repeated where it makes sense. Pick the action you most want, usually a call or a quote request, and make it the obvious button. Other options, like WhatsApp or email, can sit beside it quietly. When every option looks equally important, people hesitate, and hesitation on a phone usually means going back to the search results.
Where does everything else go?
Onto its own page. Each main service gets a page with the detail that wins that job. Your story goes on the About page. Your projects go on a work or gallery page. The homepage links to all of them briefly. That structure is also what helps search engines and AI tools: a clear page for each thing you do gives them a clear match for each search. My checklist of what a trade website should include lists the pages most local businesses need.
If you'd like a second pair of eyes on yours, the free SEO audit checks the technical side in seconds, and I'm happy to look at the rest on a call.
Who this is for
- Local business owners whose website gets visits but not enough calls.
- Anyone briefing a designer on a new homepage.
Who it's not for
- Large organisations with many audiences. Their homepages have a genuinely harder job.