Writing Homepage Copy That Actually Converts (And What I Deleted)

I built ricsmo.com and course.coach from scratch. Both sites went through multiple rounds of homepage copy. I deleted entire sections that sounded perfectly fine but didn't serve a purpose.

My background is in education and course creation, so I think about websites like curriculum design. Every element needs to earn its place. If it doesn't move the visitor toward a decision, it goes.

Start With the Visitor, Not Yourself

Most homepage copy is written backwards. People start with what they want to say, not what the visitor needs to hear. I did this myself at first. You sit down to write your homepage and naturally start listing your credentials, your services, your story. But the visitor doesn't care about any of that yet.

The hero section is not about you. It's about the visitor's problem and whether you're the person to solve it. Every word in that section needs to answer one question: should I keep reading?

If a sentence doesn't help answer that, delete it.

Social Proof Needs Context

I had stats in my hero section early on. "39,000+ trained" sounds great in your head, but it means nothing to someone who doesn't know what you train people in. Context has to come before numbers, or the numbers feel inflated and empty.

I moved the stats down the page where the context was already established. Same numbers, more impact.

"Built by One Person" Backfires

I removed a "built by one person" framing from my site early on. It sounds impressive to the builder. To the visitor, it sounds like you might not have capacity to help them.

Same energy as a restaurant boasting about having a small kitchen. The customer doesn't think "dedicated artisan." They think "long wait times."

Outcomes Over Deliverables

Service sections trip people up constantly. They state the deliverable instead of the outcome.

"I build online courses" is a deliverable. Nobody wakes up wanting to build an online course. They wake up wanting to turn their expertise into revenue.

"I help you turn your expertise into a course that generates revenue" is an outcome. That's what belongs on your homepage.

Don't Put Your Origin Story on the Homepage

The About page is where you earn trust with your story. The homepage is where you earn attention with their problem. Don't confuse the two.

I see people dumping their origin story into the homepage hero, and it kills momentum every time. The visitor is thinking "can this person help me?" and you're answering with "here's where I went to school."

Save the story for the page where the visitor has already decided they're interested.

One CTA Per Section

CTAs should match intent. If someone is exploring, "Learn More" works. If someone is ready, "Book a Call" works.

The mistake is stacking three competing CTAs in one section. One CTA per section. Make the choice obvious.

Navigation Answers a Question

Navigation should answer "what else do you have?" in one scan. Don't bury your services or your contact page in a hamburger menu on desktop. I've seen consultants hide their best pages behind extra clicks.

If someone wants to hire you, make it easy to figure out how.

Delete Good Writing

Less copy, more deliberate copy. I deleted entire sections from my homepage because they didn't move the visitor toward a decision.

Deleting good writing is hard. Keeping only the writing that earns its place is harder. But that's the job.

Think of it like editing a course. Every lecture needs to justify its existence. If a lecture doesn't move the student closer to the outcome, cut it. Your homepage works the same way.

If you're building a consulting business and want help standing out, that's what I do. Get in touch.