Your homepage has an important job to do for your author business, and it has to do it fast. Because when a reader lands on your website, you have only a few seconds to capture their attention, communicate what you’re all about, and guide them toward the critical action you want them to take.

That’s where your hero section comes in.

Done right, your homepage hero section isn’t just fun decoration—it’s one of your most powerful conversion tools. So let’s break down how to approach building the very best one for your author website.

What Is a Hero Section?

A hero section is the very first section visitors see when they land on your website’s homepage. It’s considered to be “above the fold,” meaning visitors can see it without having to scroll.

It typically includes:

• A headline
• Some supporting text (if necessary)
• A visual element (book/series cover, author photo, background image)
• A clear call-to-action (CTA)

Think of your homepage hero as your website’s “opening line.” Like the opening line in one of your books, getting it just right matters a lot.

Why It’s More Important Than You Think

Most visitors to your site will decide within seconds whether to stay on your site or leave. And your hero section is what sets the tone for that decision.

A strong hero section:

• Immediately communicates about you (what you write and why it matters)
• Guides reader behavior (what they should do next)
• Builds trust and intrigue (why they should care)
• Reduces confusion (so visitors don’t have to question if they’re in the right place)

Alternatively, a weak hero section will just lead to hesitation, and hesitation leads to lost readers.

Make Your Hero Section Goal-Driven

Before you jump into any design or even thinking about what content you’ll include in your hero, you have to clearly answer one question: What is the number-one action you want visitors to take on your website?

That goal should shape everything in your hero section, which will in turn affect other parts of your website. So identifying your main goal is always an excellent place to start when preparing to build your author website.

Not sure what goal to focus on? Consider some of these common author website goals:

• Selling your latest book directly
• Growing your email newsletter list
• Promoting a popular series
• Driving traffic to your storefront
• Guiding readers to the right book for them

Once you know your goal, your hero section should completely align with it so as to support it as strongly as possible. For example:

• If your goal is email list growth, your hero should highlight your reader magnet and newsletter signup form
• If your goal is book sales, your hero should showcase your most popular book(s) and link directly to buy
• If your goal is helping readers find the right book in your catalog, you should showcase the genres you write and make them clickable to those pages

If your hero section tries to accomplish a little bit of everything, it usually ends up doing nothing, and then you’ve wasted some incredibly valuable real estate. So identify a central goal, then put your hero to work supporting it.

Crafting a Clear, Compelling Headline

Your headline is the first thing people read, so clarity beats cleverness every time. Your hero section’s headline will also likely serve as your homepage’s “Heading 1” (or H1) designation, which helps search engines to better understand, catalogue, and share your page. So it’s important to make it strong.

A strong headline should:

• Clearly communicate your central goal
• Speak to the reader’s interest or need
• Be easy to understand at a glance

For example:

• “A Small-Town Romance Series That Feels Like Coming Home”
• “Receive a Free Epic Fantasy Story When You Join”
• “The Final Chapter of the Thriller Series Fans Can’t Put Down”

Your headline can work in tandem with other supporting text, but you want to avoid using big blocks that require hefty reading. And it’s always great to add personality and flair that speaks to your style and tone as an author, but avoid doing so at the expense of clarity.

Always Include a Call-to-Action

If your hero section doesn’t tell visitors what to do next, as well as give them a clear and easy way to do it, many of them simply won’t do anything. Then once again, your hero section will have been wasted.

By providing a CTA, you give visitors the exact instruction needed to support your main goal. So a CTA should be:

• Clear (“Buy Now,” “Sign Up,” “Read a Sample”)
• Visible (buttons and/or simple forms)
• Always aligned with your goal

Try to avoid vague CTAs like “Learn More” or “Explore.” They don’t give readers a very compelling reason to act, because they don’t know what to expect when they follow the instructions.

Your CTA can be featured in your headline, but you want to make sure it’s not detracting from the headline’s job of sharing important information or creating intrigue. So if it can’t do both at once, then save your CTA for additional text or a direct button.

Visually Show Readers What to Expect

Your hero section’s overall design should instantly signal your author brand, which encompasses your genre, tone, and style. Its visuals should answer the question: What kind of reading experience will I get here?

Some design tips to consider when approaching your hero section include:

• Featuring your book cover prominently
• Using high-contrast text and background so it’s easy to read
• Keeping the section uncluttered to avoid confusion
• Making it mobile-friendly, as many readers will find you on their phone
• Using consistent branding across your site in fonts, colors, and imagery

Specific visuals can reinforce your brand and quickly relay exactly what genre and tone your books feature. For example:

• Fantasy: dramatic landscapes, magical elements, whimsical typography
• Romance: warm or bright tones, soft or easy imagery, decorative elements
• Thriller: high contrast, darker tones, sharp or intense fonts
• Nonfiction: clean and simple, neutral colors, academic-leaning fonts

Note that the above are basic suggestions based on very broad genre expectations; your website’s hero section (and overall design) should reflect the specific genre expectations of your books, taking into careful consideration sub-genres and their related tones and themes.

Combining it All for a Great Hero Section

The best rule of thumb when it comes to building your website’s hero section is to focus on one primary message and related action. While your website certainly can feature additional goals and information, those can live further down your homepage or on their own pages.

Always remember that your hero section is your first impression, and in many cases, your only shot to guide a potential reader toward a specific action. When it’s done well, it:

• Clearly communicates what readers can expect
• Aligns with your primary goal
• Gives readers a compelling next step
• Reinforces your brand and genre instantly

If you’ve designed effective, on-genre covers for your books, then you should approach your hero section the same way: it’s like the cover of your entire website, so use it to hook readers into taking an action that supports your author business.

Related Questions

How big should my website’s hero section be?

Your hero section should always fit “above the fold” so that visitors can see the entire section without having to scroll on most devices. So keep it concise by providing just enough to communicate value and drive action, but not so much that it overwhelms.

Should I feature myself or my books in my hero section?

It all depends on what your main goal is, and how you’ve built your author brand. Though between the two, it will most often be your books taking center stage, as they provide a natural, strong CTA. However, if your author brand is personality-driven (common for nonfiction, coaching, or influencer-style authors), featuring yourself can be very effective. Just be sure to still give visitors a clear CTA to follow.

How often should I update my hero section?

Update it as often as the primary goal for your author business changes. If you launch a new book and want to focus on its success, update your hero to reflect that. When you’re ready to instead focus on your backlist, adjust it to feature other books, and so on. But also consider giving a hero enough time to create data on how it’s performing (usually a couple weeks minimum) so that you can gain an understanding of what works best.