The short answer
Find out who actually arrives on your homepage and what they do next. Then make the first screen say what you offer and for whom, give each main type of visitor a clearly labelled route, show real examples and specific proof, and keep everything else off the page. Measure it by the share of visits that move on to a page that matters.
What a B2B homepage is for
Nielsen Norman Group's 2024 homepage principles describe the homepage as "an elevator pitch to prospective customers", and warn: "Do not assume visitors to your site know your brand"1. The same article notes that users "return to it as a safe harbor when getting lost on a site"1. So the homepage is both a pitch for newcomers and a signpost for everyone else.
That makes it different from a landing page, which does one job for one audience (see B2B landing page best practices). A homepage serves many audiences at once and succeeds by sending each of them somewhere useful.
Start with who actually lands there
Before changing anything, look at your own data. Three checks take less than an hour:
- How much traffic starts on the homepage. In Google Analytics, the landing page report shows which pages start sessions. You may find that services pages, guides and pricing start more sessions between them than the homepage does.
- Which searches bring people to it. In Search Console's performance report, filter by the homepage URL and look at the queries. Mostly your brand name means the visitors already know you; category terms mean newcomers.
- Where they go next. The pages visited after the homepage show which routes people use, and which links nobody clicks.
Then list the main visitor types and what each needs. A typical B2B list:
| Visitor | What they need | Where to send them |
|---|---|---|
| A newcomer from a category search | What you do, for whom, and why you | The relevant service or solution page |
| A buyer checking you after a referral or an ad | Credibility: proof, clients, who is behind the company | Case studies and About |
| A buyer comparing vendors | Price signals, scope, how you differ | Pricing and service detail |
| A buyer ready to talk | A fast, obvious way to get in touch | The contact or demo request page |
| An existing customer | Login, support, account contact | Login and help links in the header |
| A job seeker or journalist | Careers or press information | Footer links |
The first four deserve space on the page. The last two need a link where they expect it, not a section.
The first screen: what, for whom, and the next step
Nielsen's long-standing first homepage guideline still holds: "Start the page with a tagline that summarizes what the site or company does, especially if you're new or less than famous"2. The first screen should carry:
- A headline that names what you offer and, where it helps, who it is for. Our guide to B2B value proposition examples covers the patterns real homepages use to write it.
- A supporting line that makes the headline concrete: the main jobs you do, or how you work.
- One primary call to action and one secondary route. For example, a demo or contact button, plus a link for people who want to look first, such as pricing or case studies.
- One piece of credible proof, such as a named client, an accreditation buyers recognise, or a specific result you can document.
Avoid a rotating carousel in this space. NN/g's 2024 principles warn that "parallax, autoforwarding carousels, and scrolljacking can cause disorientation", and recommend letting users pause or stop anything that moves1.
Navigation that matches how buyers look for you
Header navigation does much of the homepage's routing. Label it with the words buyers use, and keep it short.
- Organise services or solutions the way buyers choose: by need, by sector or by role, whichever matches how your clients describe themselves.
- Make labels specific. NN/g advises describing actions "in a way that resonates with your target audience's goals" rather than with generic labels such as "Click here"1, and Nielsen's 2002 guidelines suggest starting each link with a relevant word2. "Payroll for accountancy firms" beats "Solutions".
- Include Pricing if you have a pricing page. When Nielsen Norman Group asked B2B users in 2006 to rank 28 types of website information, prices "scored the highest by far"3. Our guide to B2B pricing page best practices covers what to show.
- Put customer links (login, support) in the header, visually secondary to the buyer routes.
Below the first screen: a section order that works
Each section should either explain, route or prove. A typical order for a B2B company:
- What you do, in more detail. The two to six main services or capabilities, each with one sentence and a link to its page.
- Who it is for. Sectors, company sizes or roles, each linking to a relevant page or case study. Saying who you do not serve is fine here too.
- Real examples. NN/g's third principle is to "reveal content through examples"1: product screenshots, a sample deliverable, the start of a recent guide. Show the thing, not a stock photo of people in a meeting.
- Proof. Case study summaries with the client type and result, client logos used with permission, named quotes, accreditations. Link each to the full case study; see B2B case study page best practices for how to write them.
- How it works or how you engage. Three or four steps from first contact to result, with honest timing.
- The call to action again, with what happens after the click.
Not every homepage needs all six. Leave out anything that would only be filler. NN/g's fifth principle is simply "keep homepages simple"1.
The homepage in search
The homepage is usually the page that ranks for your brand name, and it is where Google looks for your site's name.
- Write a title that names the company and what it does, not just "Home".
- Tell Google your site name. Google's documentation says its site name system considers content in
og:site_name,<title>, headings and other text on a home page, and thatWebSitestructured data, which "must be on the home page of the site", is the most important way to state a preference4. - Keep the main services one link away, so both visitors and crawlers reach them from the homepage. Our guide to internal linking for B2B websites covers the rest of the structure.
A minimal WebSite block for the homepage looks like this:
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "WebSite",
"name": "Example Payroll",
"alternateName": "ExamplePay",
"url": "https://www.example.com/"
}
</script>Speed and mobile
Homepages collect heavy elements: video backgrounds, animated hero sections, several tracking scripts and large logo strips. NN/g's 2024 article includes the example of a company homepage that showed no visible content for the first 6.4 seconds1. Check the homepage on a real phone, and check its Core Web Vitals; our guide to Core Web Vitals for B2B websites explains the thresholds and the usual fixes.
Measure the homepage by where people go next
Because the homepage routes people, its main measure is progression: the share of sessions that start on the homepage and then reach a page that matters, such as a service page, pricing, a case study or the contact page. Track contact and demo requests too, but most will happen on other pages.
- Watch for brand effects. Homepage traffic rises and falls with campaigns, events and press, because people search for your name. Log those events alongside your own changes in a website change log.
- Change one thing at a time and compare equal periods. Most B2B homepages do not get enough traffic for an A/B test to detect a small difference; our guide to CRO for low-traffic B2B websites covers what to do instead.
The checklist
| Check | Pass if |
|---|---|
| Evidence | You know what share of sessions start on the homepage, from which searches, and where they go next |
| Headline | A newcomer can say what you offer and for whom |
| Calls to action | One primary action and one secondary route, with specific labels |
| Proof | At least one specific, attributable proof point in the first screen |
| Routes | Each main visitor type has a clearly labelled path |
| Navigation | Labels use buyers' words; pricing and customer links present |
| Examples | Real screenshots or samples, not decorative stock images |
| Motion | No auto-rotating carousel; any animation can be paused |
| Search | Descriptive title; WebSite structured data present |
| Speed | Core Web Vitals in the good range on mobile |
| Measurement | Progression to key pages is tracked, with changes logged |
Common mistakes
- A headline about your mission or values that does not say what you sell.
- A carousel of five messages competing for the same space.
- Navigation built around your internal team structure rather than buyers' needs.
- Every section of the site summarised on the homepage, so nothing stands out.
- Logos with no case study behind them.
- Judging the homepage on form fills alone, when its job is to send people onward.
- Redesigning the homepage first, when many buyers start somewhere else. Our guide to improving a B2B website without a redesign sets out where to start.
For how the homepage fits into the wider conversion process, see our B2B CRO guide.
Where Artiweave fits
On a homepage, much of the useful evidence is in search data: a homepage title, for example, that does not match the searches that bring people to it. Artiweave spots gaps like that in crawl, Search Console and performance evidence and proposes a specific change, which your team approves, edits or rejects before anything is published.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on a B2B homepage?
A headline that says what you offer and for whom, one primary call to action and a secondary route, clear links for each main type of visitor, real examples of your work or product, specific proof such as named case studies, and a repeated call to action at the end.
How long should a B2B homepage be?
Long enough to explain, route and prove, and no longer. Every section should do one of those jobs. Many good B2B homepages have five or six short sections below the first screen.
Should a B2B homepage have a contact form?
A link or button to a dedicated contact or demo request page is usually enough. A form on the homepage itself can make sense for a simple offer, but most homepage visitors need to look around first.
How do I measure whether a homepage change worked?
Compare the share of homepage sessions that go on to a key page, such as a service page, pricing or contact, over equal periods before and after the change, and note any campaigns or press that could have changed who arrived.
Sources
All sources accessed 3 November 2026.
Improve the homepage you have, one approved change at a time.
Artiweave proposes specific changes from evidence, your team decides what is published, and outcomes are reported honestly. It is in private beta.