Skip to content 
You have decided to hire a homepage copywriter, smart move if your homepage matters. But the quality of the copy you get back depends heavily on the brief you give. A vague brief produces generic copy; a clear, detailed brief gives your writer everything they need to nail your message. The brief is where you set your project up to succeed or fail, so it is worth getting right. This guide walks you through how to brief a homepage copywriter so you get copy that genuinely converts.
A good brief is not long for the sake of it; it is focused on the few things that matter most, your customer, your value, your proof and your goal. Get these across clearly and your writer can do their best work, building on the decision to hire and the structure of a good homepage template.
Explain Who Your Customer Is
Start your brief with your customer. Tell your writer exactly who you are trying to reach, who they are, what they want, what problem brings them to you, and what outcome they seek. This is the single most important thing your writer needs, because homepage copy must speak to a specific person, and your writer cannot do that without knowing who that person is.
Be specific and real. Share customer types, common questions, the language they use, anything that helps your writer picture them. Conversion research from CXL consistently shows that customer-focused copy outperforms business-focused copy, so the more your writer understands your customer, the better your copy will be. A clear customer picture is the foundation of a great brief.
Clarify Your Core Value
Next, explain your core value, the main reason customers choose you over alternatives. What do you do, what makes you different, and why should someone pick you? This is the heart of your homepage, so your writer needs it clearly. If you are not sure what your core value is, working it out is part of the briefing process, and a good writer will help.
State your value plainly and back it with specifics: real differentiators, concrete outcomes, particular strengths. The clearer you are about what makes you valuable, the more sharply your writer can communicate it. A muddled sense of your own value produces muddled copy, so invest the time to get this clear. Your core value is what your homepage exists to convey.
Provide Proof and Specifics
Give your writer the raw material for credibility. Share real testimonials, results, case studies, numbers and any evidence of your value, so they can weave proof into your copy. Visitors are sceptical, and proof is what turns claims into credibility, but your writer can only use what you provide. The more genuine proof you supply, the more convincing your homepage will be.
Specifics matter too. Instead of saying you offer great service, give concrete details, response times, success rates, particular outcomes, that your writer can turn into compelling copy. The Nielsen Norman Group notes that specific, credible content builds trust, so feed your writer the specifics. Rich proof and detail are what let a writer produce a homepage that persuades rather than just asserts.
Define the Goal of the Page
Tell your writer what you want the homepage to achieve. Should it drive enquiries, sales, sign-ups or calls? The goal shapes everything, especially the call to action, so your writer needs to know the single most important action you want visitors to take. A homepage with a clear goal converts; one that tries to do everything converts no one.
Be decisive here. If you list five goals, your writer cannot prioritise, and your homepage will lack focus. Choose the one action that matters most and make it the page’s primary goal, with secondary actions clearly subordinate. A clear, single goal lets your writer build a focused page that guides visitors toward what matters most to your business.
Share Voice and Examples
Help your writer match your brand by sharing your voice and examples you like. Describe how you want to sound, professional, friendly, bold, and point to homepages or copy you admire and explain why. This guidance helps your writer hit the right tone, so your homepage sounds like your business rather than a generic template.
Examples are especially useful. Showing a writer two or three homepages you like, and one or two you do not, communicates your taste faster than paragraphs of description. Combined with a clear sense of your voice, this helps your writer produce copy that fits your brand from the first draft. Voice and examples turn good copy into copy that sounds unmistakably like you.
Give Useful Feedback on Drafts
Briefing does not end when you hand over the brief; how you respond to drafts matters too. When you get the first draft, give specific, constructive feedback, what works, what does not, and why, rather than vague reactions like I do not love it. Specific feedback helps your writer improve the copy; vague feedback leaves them guessing.
Focus your feedback on whether the copy achieves the goal and speaks to the customer, not on personal stylistic preferences that may not serve conversion. Trust your writer’s expertise on what persuades, while ensuring the copy is accurate and true to your business. Good feedback is a collaboration, and it is how a strong first draft becomes a homepage that genuinely converts.
Gather Your Material Before You Start
The briefing process goes far more smoothly when you gather your raw material before the project begins, rather than scrambling for it once your writer is waiting. Pull together your best testimonials, any results or case studies you can share, links to competitor homepages, notes on common customer questions, and any existing brand guidelines or tone documents. Having this assembled up front means your writer starts with everything they need, and you avoid the stop-start delays that drag projects out and dilute momentum.
It also pays to think through your own positioning before you hand anything over. Jot down, in your own words, why customers choose you and what you would never want your homepage to say. This short exercise surfaces the differentiators and red lines your writer most needs to know, and it often clarifies your own thinking in the process. A writer working from rich, well-organised material produces a stronger first draft, which means fewer revision rounds and a faster path to a homepage you are proud of.
Common Briefing Mistakes to Avoid
A few predictable mistakes weaken otherwise good briefs. The most common is being vague about the customer, handing over a brief that says we help businesses without specifying which businesses, what they struggle with, or what they want. Another is listing too many goals, which leaves your writer unable to prioritise and produces an unfocused page. A third is supplying no proof, then wondering why the copy feels thin, when in fact you simply did not give your writer the evidence to work with.
Watch too for over-controlling the words while under-explaining the substance. Telling a writer exactly which sentences to use, while withholding the customer insight and proof behind them, undercuts the expertise you are paying for. The better approach is to be generous with context and goals, then trust your writer to translate that into persuasive copy. Avoiding these briefing mistakes is often the difference between a homepage that converts and one that merely reads well.
How Content That Sales Can Help
A great brief makes for great copy, and we make briefing easy. Our process guides you through sharing exactly what we need, your customer, value, proof and goal, so we can write a homepage that converts. Explore our homepage content service to see how we work with you to turn a clear brief into copy that drives real results, and read more on the hire-or-DIY decision if you are still weighing your options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a homepage copy brief include? Cover four things: who your customer is, what your core value is, the proof and specifics behind your claims, and the single goal you want the page to achieve. Add voice and examples too.
How detailed should my brief be? Focused rather than long. Concentrate on the few things that matter most, customer, value, proof and goal, and be specific. A clear, focused brief beats a long, vague one.
What if I don’t know my core value? Working it out is part of the briefing process, and a good writer will help. Share what you can about why customers choose you, and refine it together.
How do I give good feedback on drafts? Be specific and constructive, what works, what does not, and why, and focus on whether the copy achieves the goal and speaks to the customer rather than personal stylistic preferences.