7 homepage mistakes that lose you customers
Your homepage has a few seconds to make its case before someone bounces. Most homepages waste them. Here are seven mistakes I see constantly, and the fix for each.
1. It's not clear what you do
The number one killer. A visitor lands and can't immediately tell what you offer or who it's for. Clever headlines that make people guess lose. Say the plain thing at the top: what you do, for whom, and why it matters. Clarity beats cleverness every time.
2. No clear next step
If there's no obvious button or action, interested people just leave. Pick the one thing you want visitors to do, call, book, get a quote, and make it prominent. One clear action beats five competing ones.
3. All about you, not the customer
A wall of "we're passionate about excellence" says nothing to a visitor worrying about their own problem. Lead with what they get, the outcome, the solution. Talk about them first, yourself second.
4. Too much, everywhere
Cramming every service, offer and message onto the homepage buries the important stuff. A cluttered page has no focus, so the eye finds nothing. Cut it back to the essentials and give them room to breathe.
5. No trust signals
No reviews, no real photos, no proof you're legit. People buy from businesses they trust, and trust has to be shown. Add genuine reviews, real images of your work, anything that says these are real people doing real work.
6. Slow to load
If the homepage takes five seconds, especially on a phone, a big share of visitors are gone before they see anything. Speed is the price of entry. Optimise images, cut bloat, keep it fast.
7. Broken or clunky on mobile
Most visitors are on phones. A homepage that's fiddly, cramped or broken on mobile fails most of your audience. It has to look and work great on a small screen first, not as an afterthought.
The pattern
Every one of these loses the customer right when they were interested. The fixes aren't complicated, they're just often skipped. If your homepage isn't pulling its weight, send me the link and I'll tell you which of these it's doing.