Write a first homepage draft in one sitting

Key takeaways

A homepage first draft only has to be complete, not good. Block out 90 minutes, work through your sections in order, write as if explaining to one customer and skip the headline until the end. Editing a rough page is much easier than perfecting one line while the rest stays blank.

• Allow 90 minutes, with no interruptions.
• Write to one real customer.
• Leave the headline until last.
• Do not edit while you draft.

Why write the draft in one sitting?

One sitting keeps your argument connected, because each section follows from the last. Drafting in scattered moments produces a page that reads like separate notes. Ninety minutes is usually enough to produce a complete rough version, and it stops the task from growing to fill the whole month.

• How to create a high-converting homepage for an SME
• How long does it take to create a homepage?

How should you start when the page is blank?

Start by writing a short email to one real customer explaining what you do and why they should contact you. That email is your raw material, with natural language already in it. Then paste your notes on buyer problems under each section heading, and turn them into sentences.

• A homepage copy template you can fill in
• Research your buyers before you draft a homepage

Why leave the headline until last?

Headlines are hard because they compress the whole page into one line, and you cannot compress what you have not worked out. After you draft the rest, the strongest idea is usually obvious. Use a rough working line at the top, and do not let it stop you moving down the page.

• Choose between two homepage headlines without an A/B test
• The homepage subheadline: where the explaining happens

What should you do when you get stuck?

Mark the gap with square brackets and keep going. A note such as '[need a client example here]' costs nothing and keeps the momentum. Being stuck usually means you lack a fact, not the right words. Collect the missing facts afterwards, then return to the section once you have them.

• Gather your homepage content before design starts

What should a finished first draft look like?

It should have all sections in order, with real facts wherever possible and a few marked gaps. It will be too long and a little clumsy, which is fine. Leave it overnight before you edit. Fresh eyes spot padding and unclear thinking that seem perfectly reasonable on the day you write them.

• Edit your homepage draft: cut it by a third

When should someone else write it?

Hand it over if you have tried and keep stalling, if the page carries high-value sales or if nobody on the team writes clearly. Your own rough draft is still valuable as a brief, because it gives a copywriter your knowledge and language, which they cannot get anywhere else.

• Hiring a homepage copywriter: what to expect

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern worth noticing: an owner spends three weeks on the headline and has nothing else written. The same owner, told to explain the business aloud into a phone for ten minutes, usually has most of the page's content in the recording and often the headline as well.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Homepage first draft checklist

• Block 90 minutes in your diary.
• Turn off notifications.
• Write to one real customer.
• Work through sections in order.
• Bracket the gaps and keep going.
• Leave the headline until the end.
• Sleep on it before editing.

• A short about section for your homepage
• Edit your homepage draft: cut it by a third

Next step

Book a 90-minute slot this week, and treat it like a client meeting. A rough page by Friday will teach you more than another month of planning.