What 203 business websites have in common
Ten sections, one button in the bar, proof before prices: what 261 pages from 203 business sites do.
Over the past month we studied 261 pages from 203 business websites: how many sections each page has, how it opens, what it shows as proof, and how it uses type, colour and motion. This post is the count.
No site is named here, and nothing below is a judgement of good or bad design. It is what these pages do, with the whole beside every number, so you can decide what to borrow for your own.
Who is in the count
The 261 pages are 160 home pages and 101 other pages from the same kinds of sites. By the business behind them: 80 pages come from software products, 60 from agencies and consultancies, 33 from design studios and portfolios, and 27 from local services such as gyms, accountants, law practices and clinics. Online shops account for 11, property 8, nonprofits 7 and restaurants and cafes 6. The remaining 29 come from smaller groups, from events and publications to travel.
Software companies are the largest group, so where a pattern belongs mostly to them, it is said below.
A home page has about ten sections
Leaving out the bar at the top and the footer, the median home page has 10 sections. Half of them have between 8 and 12. The shortest has 3 and the longest has 24. The other pages are barely shorter: a median of 10 as well, with half between 8 and 11.
| Sections | Home pages |
|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | 9 of 160 (6%) |
| 6 to 8 | 33 of 160 (21%) |
| 9 to 11 | 75 of 160 (47%) |
| 12 to 14 | 34 of 160 (21%) |
| 15 or more | 9 of 160 (6%) |
Ten sections sounds like a lot until you see what fills them. What the business offers usually takes three (half of home pages use two to four), and proof, questions and a last call to act take most of the rest. Very short and very long pages are both rare: 9 of 160 at each end.
Almost every page opens with a hero
241 of 261 pages open with a hero, the first screen with the headline and the main button. The other 20 open with something else, such as a gallery of pictures.
How that first screen is arranged varies more than you might expect. We sorted 235 of the heroes by their arrangement:
| Arrangement | Heroes |
|---|---|
| A picture or video across the full width, words over it | 79 of 235 (34%) |
| Words centred on a plain or tinted ground | 61 of 235 (26%) |
| Words beside a picture or panel, in two columns | 42 of 235 (18%) |
| Words set to the left on a plain ground | 21 of 235 (9%) |
| Something else: collages, panels, very large type | 32 of 235 (14%) |
A full-width photograph needs a strong photograph. Without one, centred words on a calm ground is the next most common choice, and it asks nothing of your picture library.
The bar at the top: about five links and a button
248 of 261 pages put a button in the bar at the top, for the one thing the business most wants a visitor to do: book, buy, ask for a quote, start. Where the menu could be counted, on 230 pages, the median is 5 links, and half have between 4 and 6.
Most menus are simple. Of 256 pages, 121 have a flat row of links, 67 open small dropdowns and 68 open large panels. Software companies, with more to list, account for 24 of those 68 large panels.
Proof is the rule, prices are the exception
Of the 160 home pages, 131 show some kind of proof: words from customers, the logos of clients, or a row of figures. Here is how often each kind of section appears at least once on a home page:
| Kind of section | Home pages |
|---|---|
| What you offer, as features or picture and words | 145 of 160 (91%) |
| Words from customers | 83 of 160 (52%) |
| A row of client logos | 83 of 160 (52%) |
| A gallery of pictures | 74 of 160 (46%) |
| Questions and answers | 71 of 160 (44%) |
| A closing call to act | 55 of 160 (34%) |
| A row of figures | 54 of 160 (34%) |
| Latest articles or news | 48 of 160 (30%) |
| Prices | 22 of 160 (14%) |
| The team | 22 of 160 (14%) |
| How it works, step by step | 22 of 160 (14%) |
| A contact form | 14 of 160 (9%) |
| A newsletter sign-up | 12 of 160 (8%) |
Prices appear on 22 of 160 home pages, and 11 of those 22 belong to software companies. A contact form is on 14 and a newsletter sign-up on 12. Most home pages send people on with a button rather than asking them to fill something in where they stand.
Light pages, sans serif headings, gentle motion
232 of 261 pages are light, with dark words on a pale ground, and 29 are dark. Headings are set in a sans serif face on 208 of the 259 pages whose type we could tell, in a serif on 50, and in a typewriter face on one. Body text is sans serif on 253 of 260.
Both choices change with the kind of business. Of the four largest groups, design studios are the most likely to go dark, and local services the most likely to use serif headings:
| Kind of business | Dark pages | Serif headings |
|---|---|---|
| Software products | 8 of 80 | 16 of 78 |
| Agencies and consultancies | 8 of 60 | 6 of 60 |
| Design studios and portfolios | 9 of 33 | 3 of 33 |
| Local services | 0 of 27 | 10 of 27 |
Motion is common and mostly quiet. 168 of 261 pages bring sections in with a small movement as you scroll down. A plain fade is by far the most common (98 pages), then a short rise (30); slides, zooms, drops and blurs make 40 between them. The other 93 pages do not move at all. 16 pages run a row that moves slowly across the screen on its own.
What this means for your site
- Aim for about ten sections on the home page, and give each one a job. Fewer is fine when each earns its place; fifteen or more is rare (9 of 160).
- Put one clear action in the bar at the top. Nearly every page does: 248 of 261.
- Show proof on the home page: a few words from customers, the logos of people you work with, or a figure you can stand behind. 131 of 160 home pages show at least one.
- Keep prices on their own page unless price is your main argument.
- Choose the hero for what you have. A full-width picture needs a strong photograph; centred words on a calm ground is the next most common choice.
- Use motion lightly. When pages move, most simply fade in, and a third of pages do not move at all.
None of this is a rule. A bakery that leads with a full-width photograph of its bread is doing what a third of these pages do, and a design studio with a dark page is doing what 9 of the 33 studio pages do. The count tells you what visitors are used to, which is useful whether you follow it or not.
Briks reads pages like these whenever you show it a site you like: it looks at how the page is put together, then builds yours in that spirit with your own words. You can read how on the Build from a site you like page, or start free and try it with a site you admire.
Every number here was counted on 21 October 2026, and each is written with its whole, so you can see what it is a share of.