Fix your Homepage's Limp: The Content Mistakes Most Startups Make
- Gil'ad Idisis
- Aug 7
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 19
Remember that scene in Forrest Gump where he breaks away from his leg braces and starts running? What an exhilarating feeling.
Now, be honest — where on that scale is your website? Braces-Forrest? Or free-running, shrimp-mogul, tennis-champion, president-meeting Forrest?
Startups — especially those in the early stages — rarely hire a professional B2B web copywriter. More often, it’s a generalist marketer, a freelancer, or someone on the founding team writing the homepage between fifteen other things.
The result is a decent-enough website. It looks fine. It loads okay. It even gets some traffic.
But it doesn’t convert. Not really.Because the copy isn’t sharp.The structure isn’t thought through. The messaging isn’t built to move people.
So instead of a homepage that comes out swinging, it stumbles out limping.
I’ve seen a lot of B2B startup homepages, and the reasons are almost always the same. They’re also easily fixable.
Let’s go over those mistakes. Let’s fix that limp.
The "We, We, We" Homepage
“We help organizations…” “We provide…” “Our platform enables…”
We get it. You're great. You're solution is brilliant. I came here for me, not to learn about RandomStartup.AI's mission statement. That comes later.
Right now, I want to know how I can fix my problem and make my life easier.
The reader doesn’t care how your company defines itself. They care what they get, how soon they get it, and whether it solves their problem better than the thing they’re already using.
It's semantics, but semantics matter with first impressions, where every word competes for attention and either earns you a deeper scroll or an early bounce.
Fix it: Structure your messaging to a benefit-first, “you”-oriented content — but don’t go full cringe. You’re not Tony Robbins. Write like a peer with an actual solution.
2. The "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" Homepage
There’s a certain kind of homepage that scrolls like a fever dream.
Hero.
Investor logos.
Explainer video.
Features. Benefits.
Team.
Another CTA.
Blog teaser. Social proof. The founder’s cat. Pricing. More logos. Still not done…
That's the "everything, everywhere, all at once" homepage.
I also like to call it the “just in case” homepage: Just in case someone wants to see our tech stack. Just in case they scroll this far. Just in case they care about the founding story.
The result? A homepage that tries to do everything — and ends up doing nothing well.
It's not Moby Dick. It's a homepage. You have maybe four folds before they drop off. Use them wisely.
A homepage isn’t meant to cover 100% of your product’s features and benefits — it’s meant to lay the groundwork for visitors to want to learn more, and eventually book a demo.
Fix it:
Prioritize and distill: Clarify the value. Reduce doubt. Prove it’s worth their time.
Build a flow: From hero to final CTA, guide the reader like you would a conversation.
Use real data: Heatmaps. Scroll tracking. Bounce rates. A/B tests. Cut what’s dead.
The homepage isn’t the whole story. It’s the hook.
Book a consultation to un-limp your homepage, for better engagement and more conversions
The “It’s Good Because We Like It” Homepage
Your new homepage was in the works for weeks. It looks crisp. Feels premium.
The head of design is in love.
The CEO drops a “🔥” in Slack.
The VC guy says it looks “world-class.”
Even a customer chimes in: “Wow, the new site looks great.”
And just like that — everyone assumes it works.
But this is one of the most common validation traps in B2B: Internal taste ≠ external effectiveness.
Nobody’s testing the homepage. No heatmaps. No scroll data. No bounce analysis. No copy testing.Just a polished artifact approved by people who already like the company.
Meanwhile, 82% of users never even make it to that slick $12K demo video. And no one knows — because no one’s looking.
When was the last time you opened Hotjar or Clarity?
Fix it:
Stop optimizing for internal approval. Start validating with real users.
Run heatmaps and session recordings
Cut dead zones with high bounce or scroll drop-off
A/B test copy, structure, CTA placement — not just button colors
The Keyword Sandwich Homepage
Does your homepage feature an H1 that reads like this?
“A flexible AI-powered platform for scalable SaaS automation and B2B revenue optimization.”
Congratulations — you’ve ranked #37 for seven keywords. And every time someone reads it, they die a little inside. But hey, you’re technically optimized!
Here’s the thing: SEO is not content strategy. It’s plumbing. It’s structure. It’s support.It brings people to the door — but it’s not what gets them to walk in. And definitely not what gets them to click.
The moment someone hits your homepage, they need clear, friendly, human copy — not a jargon index.
If your first line was written for Google (or LLM discovery) instead of an actual buyer, you’ve already started the relationship on the wrong foot.
Fix it:
Let your homepage explain value — clearly, in human words
Don’t let your SEO agency write your web copy and take their suggestions with a grain of salt - they're measured by and get paid for traffic, not reader experience.
Use keywords only when they fit naturally — not as the backbone of your message
4. The Coca-Cola/Nike Wannabe Homepage
“Empowering the future of work.”“Changing how teams connect.”“Unleash your organization’s full potential.”
Throw a stone on LinkedIn and you’ll hit a B2B marketing “mentor” with a post that goes:
People don’t buy the product — they buy the feeling
B2B is still about people, and emotional appeal works
Sure. Brand matters. Emotion matters.
But know your audience.
No one is emotionally attached to your B2B scheduling widget. Nobody’s getting goosebumps from your funnel optimization tool.
You need to tell people what you do, how it helps them, and why they should care — in plain English.
I'm not saying that this type of writing never works. It does, when it's done right, as part of a clear content strategy. For a full framework on building a content engine from scratch, see our Startup Content Strategy Playbook.
Emotional appeal only works when it taps into a real emotional soft spot — like frustration, anxiety, or the fear of looking stupid in front of your VP. Not vague notions of “connection” and “empowerment.”
Fix it: Put clarity before inspiration and emotion. Your homepage should:
Show the problem you solve
Show that it’s relevant to them
Show how it works (briefly)
Make it easy to act
If someone’s 8 seconds into your homepage and still doesn’t know what you do — that’s not branding. That’s a missed shot.
The Bottom Line
Your homepage doesn’t need to win awards or get applause. It needs to hold attention, create clarity, and move people one step forward.
If it’s bloated, vague, self-congratulatory, or just blindly following SEO checklists — it’s not underperforming by accident. It was built that way.
The upside? It’s an easy fix.
Follow the tips in this article, and you’ll get a 50% improvement straight out of the gate.
For the other 50%?
Hit me up.
Book a consultation to un-limp your homepage, for better engagement and more conversions
About the Author: Gilad Idisis is a B2B content strategist and marketing lead who’s helped SaaS companies scale authority content through AI-assisted workflows and deep product storytelling. Previously at Melio, Agora RE, currently at Checkmarx, and in my spare time, flying solo as the Logonaut.
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