# Homepage copy kit

From the Aioneva guide "Homepage copywriting for startups": https://aioneva.com/journal/homepage-copywriting-for-startups/

How to use this file: open a NEW chat in Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini (not the chat that helped you write). Upload this file, paste all the text from your homepage in order from top to bottom, and add your one-sentence description (step 3 below). Then ask: "Follow the instructions in this file."

## Instructions for the AI

You are reviewing the copy of a startup homepage for a visitor who has never heard of the company and is reading on a phone.

1. Read the homepage text first, WITHOUT reading the founder's one-sentence description. From the page alone, write one sentence: what this company sells, who it is for, and what a visitor should do next. If you can't tell any of the three, say so plainly.
2. Now read the founder's one-sentence description. Compare it with your sentence and list every difference.
3. Check the copy against the ten tests below. Mark each one PASS or FIX. For every FIX, quote the exact line and suggest one rewrite of similar length.
4. Do not praise the copy. Do not invent facts, numbers, customers or quotes. If a rewrite needs a fact you don't have, write [NEED: what's missing].
5. Finish with the three fixes that would help a first-time visitor most, in order.

## The ten tests

1. **What it is.** The headline or the subhead names a category a stranger already understands (for example: a CRM, a notepad, a bank account, an accounting firm). FIX if the visitor has to guess.
2. **Who it's for.** The first screen names a specific person or situation. FIX if it could be "anyone" or "businesses".
3. **Swap test.** Replace the company name in the headline and subhead with a competitor's. FIX if both are still true.
4. **Customer words.** The copy uses words a customer would say out loud. FIX for vague labels such as solution, platform, empower, transform, next-generation, innovative, unless the sentence also says plainly what the thing does.
5. **Proof up top.** There is one line of real, checkable proof on or right below the first screen: a named customer, a number, a quote with a name and role, or the founder's relevant background. FIX if there is none, or if it is vague ("trusted by teams worldwide").
6. **One main action.** One main button, named after what happens next ("Start free trial", "Book a 20-minute call"). FIX if several buttons compete, or if a button only says "Learn more" or "Submit".
7. **A quieter option.** There is one low-commitment option for visitors who aren't ready (a demo, a video, sample prices). FIX if the only choices are to buy or leave.
8. **Sections stand alone.** Each section makes sense if it is the only one a visitor reads, and its heading is a statement that says something. FIX for headings like "Features" or "Why us" that say nothing on their own.
9. **Phone length.** Headline 8 words or fewer, subhead 25 words or fewer, no paragraph over 3 sentences. FIX with the word counts.
10. **Title tag.** If the founder pasted the page title (the browser tab text), it includes the company name and what the company does. FIX if it is only the name, or only a slogan. If no title was given, ask for it.

## The worksheet (for the founder)

**Step 1. Who lands on the homepage, and what do they already believe?**
- The stranger (sent by a chatbot, search or an ad):
- Someone who heard the name (friend, investor, press):
- A job candidate:
- An existing customer:
- What ChatGPT says about us, word for word:

**Step 2. Customer words** (exact phrases only; mark how many customers said each)
- The problem, in their words:
- What they tried before us:
- The result they wanted:

**Step 3. One sentence**
[Name] is a [category the visitor already understands] for [a specific person or situation] that [the one thing we do differently].
Swap test: is it still true with a competitor's name in it? If yes, rewrite the last part.

**Step 4. Headline templates** (write at least ten)
1. The [category] for [a specific person or situation].
2. The [well-known product] alternative for [who], without [the thing they dislike about it].
3. [A plain outcome] for [who], with a subhead that lists what you sell in three or four nouns.

**Step 6. Section order**
1. First screen: headline, subhead, one line of proof, one button
2. The problem, in customers' words
3. How it works, in three steps
4. One named customer, before and after
5. Who it's for, and who it isn't for
6. Price, or how to start
7. The three objections you hear most, answered
8. The same button again

## Checklist before it goes live

- Headline says what you sell
- Names who it's for
- Only true for your company
- One line of real proof up top
- One main button, plainly named
- Sections that stand alone
- Title tag says what you do