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What Every Small Business Homepage Needs

· 3 min read · 6 sources

What Every Small Business Homepage Needs. A small business homepage needs to say who you are and what you offer, and it
Made with AI for this guide.

A small business homepage needs to say who you are and what you offer, and it must be easy to grasp in seconds. It is the page most visitors see first, so it should state your identity and value[1]. It should work on every screen size[2] and show visitors where to go next[4].

Why does the homepage matter so much?

The home page is the main page of a website, usually at the root of the domain[1]. Visitors often land on it from a search engine, and it can work as a landing page[1].

A poorly designed home page can overwhelm and deter visitors[1]. So it is worth the time to get right.

What should it say about your business?

One important use of a home page is communicating the identity and value of a company[1]. Say plainly what you do, who you do it for, and why someone should choose you.

Keep the wording short. Skip slogans that could fit any business.

What should it say about your business?: One important use of a home page is communicating the identity and value of a c
Made with AI for this guide.

Can visitors understand it in seconds?

Jakob Nielsen's point is that people do not want to learn how to use a home page, and most casual users simply leave the site if it is hard[5]. That means simple layout and familiar patterns.

Users also prefer sites that follow recognised design norms[5]. Put your logo, menu and contact details where people expect them.

“People have to be able to grasp the functioning of the site immediately after scanning the home page—for a few seconds at most.” [5]

How should navigation be organised?

A study of home pages found that a cognitively designed home page helped both low-knowledge and high-knowledge users[4]. The authors suggest this is probably because it gives a clear and broad view of how the whole site is organised[4].

In practice, group your pages under a few clear menu labels, such as services, about and contact. Link to the most important pages from the home page.

Does it work on phones?

Responsive design makes pages render well on many devices and screen sizes[2]. It uses fluid grids, flexible images and media queries[2].

This became more important as mobile users came to account for the majority of website visitors[2]. Google has recommended responsive design for smartphone websites[2]. Check your homepage on a phone before you launch.

What next step should it offer?

Decide what you want a visitor to do: call, book, request a quote or fill in a form. Make that action easy to find without scrolling far.

A contact form is one simple way to turn a visit into an inquiry. Lead generation, in general, means collecting inquiries from forms or calls[6].

  • What you do and who it is for
  • A clear menu
  • Contact details or a form
  • A layout that works on phones
  • One main next step

Try it in InksForm

  1. Write one sentence on what you do and for whom.
  2. List the three to five pages visitors most need.
  3. Build the homepage with that sentence at the top and a clear menu.
  4. Add a contact form or a call button as the main next step.
  5. Open the page on a phone and fix anything hard to read or tap.
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Questions

Is the homepage the most important page?

One source calls it the most important page on any website and says it receives the most views of any page[1].

Do I need a separate mobile site?

Not necessarily. Google has recommended responsive design for smartphone websites[2].

How long do visitors give a homepage?

Nielsen says people should grasp how a site works after scanning the home page for a few seconds at most[5].

Should I copy how other sites look?

Following familiar norms helps, since users prefer sites that conform to recognised design norms[5].

Sources

  1. [1] Home page, Wikipedia, 2025-12-05
  2. [2] Responsive web design, Wikipedia, 2026-05-20
  3. [3] Library Home Page Design: A Comparison of Page Layout for Front Ends to ARL Library Web Sites, College & Research Libraries, 1998-09-01
  4. [4] EFFECTS OF COGNITIVELY DESIGNED HOME PAGES WITH READER'S PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ON THE WEB, HAL, 2004-01-01
  5. [5] Usability, Wikipedia, 2026-09-22
  6. [6] Website monetization, Wikipedia, 2026-10-11

How this guide was made

Written with AI from the 6 sources listed below, which it read in full; every number and quote was checked against its source in code before it was published. Pictures marked as AI were made for this guide. Published without a person reviewing it first; tell us at info@inksform.com if something's wrong.