Why your H1, page title, SEO, and AEO all suffer when you do

There is one pattern we still see far too often.

Homepage H1s and page titles that say things like: “Welcome to Our Website”, “Home”, “Welcome...”

  • It is polite.
  • It is well-intentioned.
  • And it is quietly holding a lot of websites back.

Your homepage headline and page title are some of the most valuable pieces of digital real estate you have. They are often the first things users see and the first things search engines use to understand what your site is about. Using them to say hello instead of explaining what you do is a missed opportunity.

What page titles and H1s actually do

Your page title is what appears:

  • In browser tabs
  • In search engine results
  • When your page is shared

Your H1 is the main visible headline on the page.

Together, they help:

  • Users understand what your organisation does
  • Search engines understand what your page is about
  • Improve click-through rates from search results
  • Set expectations before someone scrolls

They are functional elements, not decorative ones.

Why “Welcome to” causes problems

It tells search engines nothing useful

Search engines rely heavily on page titles and headings to understand relevance. A generic phrase like “Welcome to Our Website” contains no keywords, no context, and no signal about what you actually offer.

That weakens your ability to rank for the things you care about.

It does not help users decide if they are in the right place

People scan quickly. They want to know, within seconds:

  • What you do
  • Who you help
  • Whether this is relevant to them

A greeting delays that understanding and forces users to work harder than they should.

It wastes limited space

Search engines only display a limited number of characters in titles. Using that space on “Welcome to” means you are not using it to explain your service, your sector, or your value.

It also hurts AEO, not just SEO

As search increasingly moves toward Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), clarity matters even more.

Search engines, voice assistants, and AI-driven results are looking for clear, direct answers to questions like:

  • What does this organisation do?
  • Who is this service for?
  • What problem does it solve?

Generic titles and headings make it harder for your content to be surfaced as a clear answer. Clear, descriptive headings make it easier for your site to be understood, summarised, and recommended by answer-driven systems.

In short, vague language performs poorly in an answer-first world.

A simple rule of thumb

If your homepage title or main heading could belong to almost any organisation, it is not doing its job.

  • Specific beats polite.
  • Clear beats clever.
  • And simple almost always performs better.

A practical checklist

Before you sign off a homepage:

  • Does the page title clearly describe what you do?
  • Does it include the words people would actually search for?
  • Is it under around 60 characters?
  • Does the H1 reinforce the same idea in plain language?
  • Would someone understand your purpose within five seconds?

If the answer is no, revise it.

The blink test

We often use a simple test.

  • Show someone your homepage for five seconds.
  • Close the laptop.
  • Ask them what you do.

If they cannot answer clearly, the problem is not them. It is the content.

Final thought

  • Being polite is not the problem.
  • Being vague is.

You can still welcome people after you have clearly explained what you do.

Your homepage H1 and page title should work as hard as the rest of your site. When they do, users understand faster, search engines perform better, and answer-driven systems are far more likely to surface your content.

Clarity is not just good UX. It is good SEO. And increasingly, it is good AEO too.