Homepage copy source checklist

01 / SOURCE PACK

Collect the facts a visitor would act on.

Use buyer-owned or buyer-authorized files only. Give every accepted source a stable ID, filename, effective date, current-status note, and precise locator. If an existing homepage is being rewritten, capture an authorized export rather than granting live CMS access.

Identity

Business name, public description, ownership language, and approved geographic or service boundary.

Offer

What is provided, for whom, in what format, and where the service or product stops.

Process

The actual sequence, prerequisites, handoffs, timing conditions, and customer responsibilities.

Proof

Credentials, awards, counts, statistics, affiliations, reviews, testimonials, case studies, or results—only when current, authorized, and precisely sourced.

Commercial terms

Prices, availability, guarantees, refund language, cancellation conditions, and material limitations.

Destination

What the primary CTA does, where it goes, what happens next, and any capacity or confirmation boundary.

Keep these inputs separate.

• Facts: statements that need evidence, including service areas, features, process steps, credentials, prices, availability, guarantees, and outcomes.
• Preferences: tone adjectives, vocabulary, preferred section order, words to preserve, and phrases to avoid.
• Decisions: the primary audience, one primary offer, one main CTA, and the boundary of what this homepage should not try to sell.
• Open questions: missing, contradictory, old, or ambiguous material that the owner must resolve before it becomes copy.

02 / CLAIM LEDGER

Map the clause, not just the paragraph.

A broad citation at the end of a section can hide an unsupported detail. Break each factual or comparative sentence into clauses and identify the source for each one. Use an omission log for facts that cannot be safely used.

Do not soften a hard claim into something that still implies the same unsupported conclusion. “Trusted by many” still needs evidence. “Fast,” “leading,” “best,” “proven,” and “guaranteed” can carry factual or comparative meaning even when they look like ordinary marketing language.

03 / PAGE ARCHITECTURE

Give each section one job.

1. 1
   Hero: identify the offer and audience.

   Use a clear eyebrow or context line, headline, supporting paragraph, and primary CTA. The opening should not require a visitor to infer what is sold.

2. 2
   Trust: reduce a specific uncertainty.

   Use verified process, boundary, credential, or operational facts. Do not manufacture social proof, authority, demand, or popularity.

3. 3
   Offer cards: define real choices.

   Each card should explain a distinct service or offer, its useful boundary, and the relevant action. Avoid creating three labels for the same vague promise.

4. 4
   Process: show the actual sequence.

   Keep steps observable and preserve prerequisites, acceptance gates, human review, and customer responsibilities.

5. 5
   FAQ: answer genuine pre-action questions.

   Use only questions supported by policy or approved business facts. An FAQ is not a place to invent a favorable exception.

6. 6
   Final CTA: restate the next step.

   Match the button to the real destination. If purchase, capacity, approval, or scheduling is conditional, say so near the action.

04 / DRAFTING SEQUENCE

Write the plain version before the clever one.

1. Write one sentence for audience, offer, boundary, and next step.

   If these four lines are unclear, more copy will usually multiply the ambiguity.

2. Draft section claims from the ledger.

   Place claim IDs beside the working copy. Preserve conditions and qualifiers while the language becomes more readable.

3. Add connective language.

   Transitions, rhythm, and tone may organize verified material; they may not imply evidence the sources do not contain.

4. Make the CTA destination explicit.

   Describe what happens after selection: request, checkout, booking, confirmation, or review. Do not use false urgency, hidden terms, or a button that overstates availability.

5. Draft image alt text from what is visible.

   Describe the actual buyer-owned image and its function. Do not add marketing claims, identities, or context the image does not show. Decorative images may need empty alt text in implementation.

PRIMARY AUDIENCE:
PRIMARY OFFER:
SERVICE / GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARY:
PRIMARY CTA + DESTINATION:

SRC-001 — filename — effective date — current status
FACT-001 — approved fact — SRC-001 exact locator

HERO FACTS:
TRUST FACTS:
OFFER CARD FACTS:
PROCESS FACTS:
FAQ FACTS:

ASSUMPTIONS / OMISSIONS / CONFLICTS:

05 / BLOCKING QA

Review the page as a set of decisions.

• The hero identifies one audience, one primary offer, its relevant boundary, and one primary action.
• Every factual, comparative, credential, number, price, timing, guarantee, availability, and outcome clause has a current approved source and locator.
• No testimonial, review, count, award, affiliation, location, certification, case study, scarcity, or result has been invented or broadened.
• Process steps match reality and do not hide a prerequisite, acceptance step, human decision, material term, or customer responsibility.
• The CTA label matches its actual destination and does not promise immediate access when confirmation is required.
• FAQ answers stay inside approved policy; missing answers are omitted or returned for clarification.
• SEO title and meta description are within the chosen length limits, readable, and free of ranking or search-volume claims.
• Alt-text drafts are checked against the actual images before publication.
• The owner verifies the final facts, links, names, claims, disclosures, and implementation in context.

06 / LIMITS

What a source checklist cannot decide.

This guide does not provide legal, trademark, regulatory, compliance, accessibility, analytics, conversion, or SEO advice. It does not research facts or keywords, certify claims, design or code a page, choose a CMS, configure tracking, publish content, or determine whether a regulated or high-risk offer may be marketed.

It also does not guarantee ranking, traffic, leads, conversions, customer trust, revenue, sales, or any business outcome. The business owner remains responsible for the offer, claims, rights, privacy, final implementation, destination behavior, and publication decision.