SEO of the Main Page: Importance
For website promotion in search engines, the main (home) page plays a crucial role. It is the only page on any website with the first level of nesting and often carries the highest weight.
Search engines primarily focus on the home page—its structure, content, and external link profile. Internal links on the home page that lead to key site pages pass part of its authority, enhancing the overall SEO performance of the website.
One of the most important factors search engines use to evaluate both the home page and the site as a whole is textual content.
Important! The text should be written in a way that encourages users, after landing on the homepage, to explore other pages as well.
But first, users must find the site through search results. This is where the search engine bot comes in, determining whether the home page is relevant. The bot uses a set of tools to compare and rank pages accordingly.
Ranking: Text Parameters
Whether a user sees your site in search results directly depends on how well the homepage's text matches nine key parameters:
1. Semantic Core of the Home Page
To build an effective semantic core, it’s essential to accurately select the words and phrases potential customers might search for. Numerous tools can automate this process—simply enter the main keyword reflecting your site’s content, and the tool will generate multiple suggestions. You then select the most relevant ones, paying attention to keyword competitiveness and search frequency.
Important! The text should include not only high-frequency keywords but also low-frequency ones, as long as they accurately describe the site’s purpose.
Once the semantic core is collected, keywords must be distributed naturally throughout the content—within headings, under images, and within the body text. Ideally, this process should be handled by SEO professionals during the website development phase.
2. Content Alignment with User Intent
Intent (or user intent) refers to the purpose behind a user’s search query. When content matches the intent, search results are maximally relevant.
Intent types include:
- Informational: Answers user questions like "How?", "Why?", or "What?" (e.g., "Why drink water?" or "How to lose weight?")
- Navigational: Targets specific search parameters such as brand names, movie titles, medications, or catalogs.
- Transactional (commercial): Indicates the user’s intent to purchase a product or order a service (e.g., "buy", "order", "cheap").
The best intent for a homepage depends on the site type—news, catalog, service site, e-commerce, entertainment, etc. Navigational intent is usually primary. Informational and transactional intents should only be used if they align precisely with the site’s content.
3. LSI Semantics
Keywords alone are not enough for content evaluation. Search engines use Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) to analyze the context around keywords. This involves semantically linking primary keywords with related thematic (LSI) terms, enhancing content relevance.
4. Keyword Density: Relevance vs. Spam
Another ranking factor is keyword density—search engines calculate the percentage ratio of keywords to total words in the text.
Important! Ideal keyword density is <1%—indicating relevance. If density exceeds 3%, it may be flagged as spam.
Another SEO metric is "tediousness"—an index measuring keyword repetition. It’s calculated as the square root of keyword repetitions and should not exceed 7.
5. "Fluff" Content
Text dilution ("fluff") is another relevance factor. It’s measured as the percentage of meaningless words (e.g., prepositions, particles, conjunctions, adverbs, adjectives, greetings, introductory phrases, pronouns) relative to the total word count.
Balance is key. Removing all emotional language turns text into a dry manual, while too much "fluff" makes it unengaging. Aim for no more than 60% "fluff." Numerous online tools can analyze text "fluffiness."
6. Logical Structure
Search engine algorithms rely on logical structure, so well-organized content helps bots identify key information.
Home pages rarely feature long texts, but even short content should be logically segmented. This improves readability for both users and search engines.
Key structural guidelines:
- Include at least two subheadings;
- Use one or more lists (bulleted or numbered);
- Keep paragraphs under 500 characters (including spaces);
- Avoid complex sentences with participial or gerund phrases (ideal sentence length: up to 250 characters).
7. Character Count (Including Spaces)
Text volume should align with its purpose—two main goals:
- Convey key information about the site’s benefits, uniqueness, and value;
- Incorporate keywords as "beacons" for users.
The shorter the text (within reason), the fewer keywords are needed to avoid over-optimization.
Recommendation: No more than 4 keywords per 1,000 characters (including spaces).
Conclusion: Optimal home page text length: 1,500–4,000 characters (with spaces).
8. Importance of Text Uniqueness
Unique content increases user trust. Many online tools (e.g., advego.ru, text.ru, etext.ru) can quickly assess uniqueness.
Recommended uniqueness: 100% for the home page; 88–90% for topic pages. Lower scores are acceptable only for product cards and category pages.
Important: Uniqueness checkers flag matches of four or more consecutive words. After analysis, improve uniqueness by rephrasing or using synonyms.
Key tip: Avoid duplicating homepage text in social media descriptions—rephrase it instead.
9. Grammar Reflects Site Quality
Spelling, grammatical, and syntactical errors reduce user trust, creating an impression of unprofessionalism and carelessness.
Well-structured, error-free text signals quality to search engines. This applies to all language versions of the site—translations must also be accurate and should be handled by skilled copywriters or native-speaking translators.
Bonus: Text Ideas for the Home Page
Content varies by site type: company, news, service, or e-commerce.
Text ideas for a brand or company:
- Describe the mission’s uniqueness and highlight core goals and values;
- Explain how the brand stands out from competitors;
- Showcase team expertise and company achievements.
Text ideas for a service or e-commerce site:
- Exclusive products;
- Unique product range;
- Service quality with proof (reviews, certifications);
- Competitive pricing and promotions;
- Differentiators from competitors.
Summary:
A well-crafted, comprehensive text on the home page is a key factor in strong search engine positioning.