My former neighbor liked to spit. In fact, the first time I saw him, he was spitting. It made me gag and hunch up like someone punched me in the gut.

My neighbor didn’t have a chance to plead his case. (He probably didn’t care.) I continued to think he was a gross person. 

What does this have to do with your homepage? Like my neighbor and me, you and your site visitors probably don’t know each other. When they hit your homepage, they don’t know if you’re going to solve their problem or if they’re going to leave in frustration. 

What do we know is that your website visitor starts judging you by whether you’re speaking to their pains (or all about yourself). What they can do on your site. What they can or can’t find.  

Do they see a spitting neighbor? Or do they see the neighbor who brings over a cold soda after they’ve been weeding the garden for 45 minutes in the hot sun?