Which homepage sections can you leave out?

Key takeaways

Optional homepage sections are those that do not answer a buyer's main questions, such as news, values, blog feeds, big team grids and long histories. Leaving them out makes the essential sections stronger. Keep the core five, what, who, proof, how and next, then add others only when buyers need them.

• Core sections: what, who, proof, how, next.
• News, values and history are usually optional.
• Test by asking what a buyer would lose.
• Move optional content to its own page.

Which homepage sections are essential?

Five jobs are essential: what you do, who it is for, why to trust you, how it works and what to do next. How you deliver those jobs varies by business, and some sections can do more than one. Everything else is optional, and it should compete for its place.

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Which sections can usually go?

News, company values, mission statements, long histories, blog feeds, big team grids, partner lists and social feeds are the usual candidates. They tend to reflect what the company wants to say. Each could be right in some cases, but most exist because a template offered them or someone asked.

• Latest news: rarely decides a purchase.
• Company values: move to the about page.
• Blog feed: use only if posts are current and useful.
• Social feeds: slow and often stale.
• Long history: keep one line.

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How do you judge a section fairly?

Ask three questions: which buyer question does it answer, what evidence shows that people use it and what would be lost without it? Check click data and scroll depth if you have them. If nobody can answer the first question, the section is there for the business and not the buyer.

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• Homepage scroll depth: how far visitors really go

How do you remove a section without upsetting people?

Move it instead of deleting it. Company history can go on the about page, and news can go to its own page. Show the person who asked for it where it now lives, and explain the buyer's question it was competing with. Most internal objections fade when the content is kept.

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When should an optional section stay?

Keep it when it helps your particular buyers. Values may matter to charities and public sector clients, current news matters to a venue with events and team faces matter in clinics. There is no universal list, so let your research and enquiries decide what stays.

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What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see in established firms: every section has an internal sponsor, so none can be removed, and the page keeps growing. Framing the conversation as 'moved to its own page' rather than 'deleted' usually unblocks it, and the homepage gets shorter without anyone losing their content.

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

Optional homepage sections checklist

• Mark the five essential jobs.
• List everything else on the page.
• Name the buyer question each one answers.
• Check clicks and scroll data.
• Move what fails to its own page.
• Link to it from the footer or menu.

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Next step

Print your homepage and cross out each section that does not answer a buyer's question. Look at what remains: that is the page you should have.