The Best Website Copy Examples: Hero Version
Hero copy (aka the headline and subtitle at the very top of your website) is always the hardest ±10 words you or any copywriter will write. How do you condense the essence of your brand into a short headline that also intrigues people enough to ultimately become your customer?
While writing website copy is certainly an art, good website copy stems from content marketing as a science (see below for my value proposition/key message formula. So scientific).
Here are some website homepages that have some of the best hero copy I’ve seen recently. (For tips on what to avoid, check out this post on messaging mistakes.)
Let’s take a look at some websites that have made me think, “Hey, that’s good,” and break down exactly what makes them successful.
1. Best Buyer Persona
Best Buyer Persona starts with a strong hero that clearly and succinctly outlines the problem they solve: Most buyer personas suck. The subtitle elaborates on the problem and makes a pun. Be still my nerdy writer heart.
Then it goes straight into the value proposition. Recall my key message/value prop formula:
[Value] by [how] with [capabilities].
This is a great real-world example of the formula execution:
Value: Win lifelong customer loyalty
How: Discover who your best customers are, how they behave, and why they behave that way
Capabilities: Data-driven
Best Buyer Persona has a strong website that checks all my boxes:
Value-driven copy
Clear setup of the problem (speaks directly to target audience pain)
Direct explanation of how BBP fixes audience pain
Showcase of exactly how they fix that pain
Personality
BBP earns extra credit for puns and jokes. Remember: It’s okay if people enjoy visiting your website. A clear voice and copy that makes them chuckle makes you more memorable.
2. C2Ventures
I just love this hero: “We invest in dirty, dull, and dangerous verticals.”
It’s immediately clear what they do: They’re an investment firm. Who do they invest in? Dirty, dull, and dangerous verticals. We don’t need to have the specific verticals listed up top because they used evocative language to categorize them. We can surmise that they might invest in verticals like construction or oil rig drilling.
They also make excellent use of alliteration, so snaps to their copy writer.
The rest of the website is pretty bare and largely unremarkable, but their hero has stuck with me.
3. Hashtag Monday
For a business that claims to send engaging emails, you’d expect they’d have superior website copy. And boy do they deliver.
Their hero is SO SPECIFIC. Let’s break it down with my formula:
Value: Extra $30,000-$225,000 in untapped revenue
How: With emails, not paid ads
Capabilities: 45 days or less
This isn’t just a value proposition, it’s a brand promise. Hashtag Monday leads with their strongest, most specific information.
They could have written a hero like, “Re-engage your list to maximize revenue,” which is a common direction for B2B websites. But they didn’t. They lead from the concrete value they provide. Most brands are too afraid to do this because they don’t want to be held accountable to a promise they can’t fulfill. That Hashtag Monday is directly and specifically proclaims their results indicates they deliver with confidence.
Hashtag Monday had a clear brand personality (check out their “stripper pole in the White House joke). I especially like this section because so many B2B businesses would just have a button with “Contact Us” or “Schedule a Call to Learn More.”
Instead, we get pertinent information right on the homepage. No filling out a form and wondering how long you’ll get promotional emails. No wondering if a real human will get back to you. Just the information you want freely available.
4. Pam
Yes, Pam is clever. But what I want to fangirl over is their specificity in positioning. While most B2B brands are busy trying to attract a wide pool of leads, Pam leads with all the reasons you’re not the right fit for them. They position themselves as “the advertising agency that doesn’t chase fads and cliches.”
Positioning is such an underused marketing tool, and I don’t think that’s because it’s hard. I think it’s because positioning feels scary. When you do positioning right, you necessarily shrink your pool of potential customers. This is a good thing, because it helps you attract the right customers.
Pam’s sales team isn’t wasting time sorting out good leads from bad; they probably receive mostly high-quality leads because they’ve “scared” so many off on their website.
Don’t be afraid to scare off the wrong type of customers.
5. ClickUp
Here’s a more traditional B2B website that still brings its A game. Their hero play on Lord of the Rings is A-1 because it also accurately describes their service.
ClickUp also harnesses alliteration (teams, tasks, and tools) to help their subhead read smoothly. And while they use common vernacular like “all-in-one” and “platform,” they make it smooth and clear.
Bonus: They’re A/B testing their hero copy! I personally prefer the other one, this one leans more on description and less on value and fun (and I’m a sucker for fun).
If you want to make sure your site copy is 100, the best way to do that is to A/B test like ClickUp. I may like the “One app to replace them all,” but it’s feasible that this more staid version spurs more conversions. Who knows! What I do know is that A/B testing loves to subvert expectations.
What really stands out to me is the simplicity. They’re not making big jokes, just plain phrasing that tells visitors exactly what they get and the value ClickUp provides.
Value: Get more done and simplify work
How: Project management that flexes to your team’s needs
Capabilities: Plan, track, and manage any type of work
In almost every way, writing hero copy is far harder than body copy or product descriptions, where you can write in a more natural, explanatory style. Striking the right balance between pithy and explanatory while actually having a distinct brand voice is a very specific skillset. Hopefully these examples have provided some inspiration and understanding as you start writing your own hero copy or hire a professional agency to help you through it.
