11 Kickass Blog Homepage Examples, and Why They Work

Your homepage is without a doubt the #1 most important element on your website.

Why?

Because it is the most visited page on your entire site.

Keeping that in mind, you want your homepage to do certain things. Like:

• Describe briefly about your blog.
• Draw readers deeper into your blog.
• Get the email addresses of visitors.
• Build trust with visitors.
• Get your homepage to rank high in Google.

But let’s face it:

Your home page is still far away from that goal. And you’re not very happy with it.

And like Mr. T, sometimes you even get confused about it.

That is why, I’ve got 11 kickass blog homepages that you can model from. Plus, there’s a bonus at the end of this post, so look out for that.

1. Smart Passive Income

When it comes to building an online business, Pat Flynn is a familiar name.

And when you visit Smart Passive Income, it instantly shows his personality and expertise.

Why does it work?

So, there are a ton of things going on here. Let’s talk about them one-by-one.

1. First of all, there’s a big image of Pat Flynn smiling at you, which right away makes him look trustworthy.
2. Pat is sending most of his homepage traffic to a ‘start here’ page, and this is where he introduces himself and talks about his blog.
3. If you scroll down to the end of the page, there’s a big call to action to capture email subscribers.
4. Finally, you can’t remove your eyes from his web design. Its elegance and uniqueness easily illustrates his expertise.

2. Bryan Harris

I’m a big fan of Bryan Harris and his simple solutions to solve complex problems. The same is true for his homepage as well.

He has a unique and simple take to design a homepage that converts. He calls it an “Upside-down home page”.

Let’s see why it works.

Why it works

First things first, this homepage has only one purpose: Convert visitors into email subscribers.

If you look clearly, there are five different calls to action throughout the home page to serve that purpose.

Second, there’re no navigation links. He deliberately removed them and added them in the footer so as to remove any kind of friction.

He also uses a story to get the attention of website visitors. This story then leads those visitors to a huge call to action in the end.

To sum it up, I’d say Bryan has made his homepage look more like a landing page. And this is probably one of the reasons he has built such a huge audience.

3. Timothy Sykes

When you’re building your blog, you want to create epic content like:

• 95 Awesome Social Media Facts You Should Not Ignore
• How to Optimize Your Social Media Posts for Search Engines
• The Complete 101 List Building Strategies

So as to get more traffic.

But in the meantime you should also consider increasing your conversion rate. And your homepage is a key to that.

Take Timothy Sykes.

Timothy Sykes might not be a familiar name in the blogging world, but he’s a ridiculously successful penny stock trader (think Wolf of Wall Street).

Why his home page works

Like Bryan Harris, Timothy’s home page also focuses on list building.

This is clearly depicted by a huge benefit-oriented headline: “I Turned $12,415 Into $4,520,000 Trading Penny Stocks”.

And then there’s a call to action that seduces website visitors to click on it.

Besides that, Timothy also used social proof here.

Look at “Top Trader out of 60,000+” and the “As seen on” bar below it.

So it may not be a fancy homepage design, but it serves its purpose and converts most of the traffic.

If you’re someone who doesn’t want to invest too much money in homepage design, consider adding a feature box.

Create a super-valuable offer and throw in some social proof. Believe me, your homepage will start rocking and rolling again.

4. Jeff Goins

Up until now, we have been looking at websites with really good web designs that may cost you several hundred dollars.

Jeff, without a doubt, is one of the most renowned writers.

But Jeff Goins’ homepage is very simple, affordable, and eye-catching at the same time.

Here’s why I love this homepage:

There are not many things going on here. The homepage has just:

1. A feature box that simply wants to get your email address.
2. Some quick testimonials from top industry influencers to build trust.
3. And finally, links to the blog, podcast, and social media sites.

Bottom line

The reason I included Jeff’s example here is to show you that you don’t need to go crazy with your website design.

Like Jeff, focus on building your email list with your homepage and watch your business grow.

5. Derek Halpern

Derek Halpern is one of the smartest Internet marketers. On his blog, Social Triggers, he talks about building his business using proven principles of psychology and persuasion.

And so, the Social Triggers homepage is all about building connection with the visitors and getting them to subscribe.

Here’s why it works

1. Most of us pay more attention to faces than we do to anything else. And Derek has fully utilized this psychological principle by showing his image.
2. Again the focus of this homepage is also on list building. There are four to five different calls to action throughout the page.
3. Derek is also influencing people by showing social proof. There is a big testimonial and also “As featured on” bar.

6. Growth Lab

According to Influence: Science and Practice, from Robert D. Cialdini:

“People generally look to other people similar to themselves when making decisions.”

And what better way to do that than by showing customer stories.

Ramit Sethi, the founder of Growthlab, is super aware of this.

So when you visit Growthlab for the first time, you’re going to see the big images of Ramit’s customers, with a persuasive headline showing you the result the customer got, and a tempting call to action to read the whole story of that customer.

Man, can you stop your craving to read those stories?

I can’t!

And then there’re signup forms like this throughout the homepage.

Besides that, I also love how Ramit uses social proof all over his homepage.

Like this:

In short, this whole homepage is filled with social proof. This immediately influences visitors to convert and become a subscriber.

Similarly, if you’ve helped any customer accomplish their goals, reach out to that customer and feature their testimonial or story on your homepage.

It’s the best way to get the attention of any visitor.

7. Paul Jarvis

From The Telegraph:

“The attention span of an average human being has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000, to 8 seconds.”

Which means visitors coming to your website may close the tab or hit the back button within just a few seconds.

That’s why you need to quickly explain your website, share your story, and then get them to sign up.

And boy, look at this homepage.

Paul Jarvis’ homepage is tailor-made for today’s generation. Here’s how:

1. The headline instantly answers the question, “Who is Paul Jarvis?” and “What does he do?”
2. Then the sub headline explains, “Why you should sign up” and “What are you getting?”
3. The call to action is also irresistible. Paul is inviting you to join “28,836 other folks.”

Finally there is tons of social proof here. There’s a testimonial, a big bar showing the site logos, and the call to action is also social proof in itself.

Smart, isn’t it?

8. Smart Blogger

You don’t need to hire expensive web designers to design your homepage.

At least, not when you’re just starting.

The purpose of your homepage should always be

1. To get an email subscriber
2. Build trust

And if your homepage does those two things you’re good to go.

Take Smart Blogger.

Their homepage is far from being fancy.

However, they’ve put focus on building their mailing list and it’s evident from the feature box.

This homepage serves its purpose pretty well.

As soon as a visitor lands, they want to see the content, and this homepage straight away provides that.

Plus, they’ve used a feature box. Using it, they’ve featured an irresistible lead magnet to building their email list.

Anyone can build a homepage like this. It’s easy.

First, just set your blog page as your home page, and second, install the “Plugmatter’s Feature Box” plugin.

Pretty simple, right?

9. Enchanting Marketing

If you’re running tight on budget, you may want to consider adding a feature box like Smart Blogger.

But in my experience, you should stretch your budget a little further and get any landing page builder like LeadPages or OptimizePress and then, set a landing page as your home page with a small link to the main blog.

Take this example from Enchanting Marketing.

The homepage is a simple landing page with a small link to the main page at the bottom of the landing page.

Here’s why it works

1. Since everyone wants more conversions, a landing page is the best way to do so. There’s no other option that beats the landing page when it comes to convert people.
2. Unlike other generic landing pages, Henneke uses her image, which immediately builds trust with people and gets them to subscribe.
3. Finally, she has sprinkled social proof all over this page, which makes her trustworthy.

And if you ask me, this is what your homepage should look like if you want more email subscribers.

It doesn’t disappoint because there’s still a link to the blog, and it also converts those visitors who might be interested in getting your lead magnet and hearing more from you.

10. Razor social

The purpose of your homepage should always be to get each of your website visitors to visit your website whenever you want.

The best way to do that is by capturing their email address so that you can connect with them whenever you want.

Razor social is all about this.

There’s a big header with Ian’s image on the left and a signup form on the right that’s asking for your email address.

Here’s why I love this home page

1. As I told you earlier, a big image instantly builds a connection. It shows that there’s a person behind this blog and he is not hiding under a rock.
2. This is not a very fancy design. It’s a simple design that anyone can implement.
3. Finally, all those elements that you need on your homepage are present in this homepage. There’s social proof, a signup form, seductive offer to make people sign up, and also Ian’s image to build connection.

Again, this is just an example. You can create your homepage however you want, but it’s a great starting point.

11. Neil Patel

Neil Patel needs no introduction.

He is a content marketing giant churning five to six quality content pieces out every week, and using that he has built many companies.

So looking at the homepage of those companies is out of the question, as they’re much more than just a blog.

However, the homepage of his main blog, NeilPatel.com, is pretty much what your home page should look like, if you just want to capture more leads for your business.

When you visit the homepage, there’s nothing to do. Neil just wants you to register for a free webinar, and here’s how he achieves this using his homepage:

1. There is a big video that auto starts itself. Using this video, he immediately catches the visitor’s attention. Also, there are no controls provided for that video, so there’s no friction whatsoever.
2. The homepage is a masterpiece of what your conversion optimized home page should look like. A big persuasive headline, countdown timer for scarcity, no friction in the whole header section, and two big call-to-action buttons loudly asking you to click on them.
3. Neil also knows the power of building connection. And his video does that job pretty easily. Besides that, he also uses a big section to introduce himself.

This is not a website that is “pretty” or “cool”, yes, it may be. But it’s much more than that, it’s a website that actually CONVERTS more email subscribers.

And if this is your aim with the homepage, then it’s the perfect example to model from.

Bonus: Email List Launchpad

Do you want to know how to take your blog to another level?

Of course, everyone does.

As a bonus to Jeff Bullas readers, you can get my 3-part email list Launchpad, which will highlight every nitty-gritty detail you need to focus for building a profitable email list.

And the best part?

It’s absolutely free.

So if you’re a blogger or an entrepreneur looking to grow your business via your blog, this course is extremely invaluable.

Get the 3-part email list Launchpad!

Guest Author: Aman Thakur blogs at Email Field. He is bad at drawing, but that doesn’t stop him from using simple cartoons to illustrate big and complex marketing concepts.

Signup for his free Course – Email list launchpad

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