Hero banners are often treated as sacred. That's why you'll find them on almost every homepage.
They sit above the fold, carry brand messaging, support campaigns, and receive disproportionate attention simply because of where they live. Over time, they become a default rarely questioned and even more rarely challenged.
To be clear, this is not an argument to remove hero banners everywhere.
But it is a strong case for challenging whether your above-the-fold space is serving navigation and intent or competing with it.
Sometimes, something more navigational can work better than something more promotional. The only way to know is to question the hierarchy.
The Hypothesis: Less Competition, Clearer Intent
The hypothesis isn't that hero banners are bad for your website.
It's simpler and slightly uncomfortable.
In most setups:
- Category cards already exist
- They already represent the fastest path to relevance
- They just aren't the loudest element on the page
When a hero banner dominates the first screen, everything beneath it becomes a secondary choice by design. Not invisible—just delayed.
This isn't about removing content.
It's about reducing competition for attention.
Why This Is Worth Experimenting
Homepage optimisation often focuses on adding:
- New messages
- Stronger CTAs
- Personalisation
- Promotions
But rarely do teams ask the opposite question.
What happens if we stop asking users to choose between competing paths?
This perspective changes not only what you test but how you measure success.
Start With the Real Objective, Not the UI Change
The goal isn't to remove a banner.
The goal is to increase meaningful product discovery by making category navigation the most obvious next step.
That distinction matters.
Success here isn't about raw interaction volume. It's about whether users move through the site with clearer intent and less hesitation.
Removing the banner isn't about subtracting an element. It's about hierarchy.
Measure the Leading Indicator: Category Engagement
The first question to answer is whether attention actually shifts.
Key signals to watch:
- Category card click-through rate
- Share of homepage sessions with a category interaction
- Distribution of clicks across categories
This is your leading indicator.
If this doesn't move, nothing else downstream matters.
When hierarchy improves, this metric responds first.
Validate Click Quality, Not Just Volume
More clicks don't automatically mean better UX.
This is where these changes are often misread.
To understand intent, look beyond the category click:
- Do users interact with products?
- Do they scroll category pages?
- Do they apply filters?
- Do they view multiple items?
This is where you separate curiosity clicks from directional intent.
A healthy outcome doesn't just increase entry. It creates momentum.
Protect Commercial Metrics as Guardrails
This isn't a conversion-rate experiment, but revenue still matters.
The mistake is treating revenue as the primary KPI instead of a safety net.
Key guardrails:
- Add-to-cart rate
- Product detail views per session
- Revenue per session
If navigation quality improves and these remain stable, the experience is doing its job.
If they improve, even better.
If they decline, the hierarchy may be forcing interaction instead of guiding it.
Evaluate What You Remove, Not Just What You Gain
Removing a hero banner means losing something.
Ignoring that leads to shallow conclusions.
To assess the trade-off, understand:
- How much engagement the banner previously received
- What users did after clicking it
- Whether those clicks contributed to product discovery or stalled it
In many cases, hero banners attract attention without creating action.
Removing them doesn't reduce engagement. It removes noise.
Look for Segments Where the Effect Is Stronger
Homepage hierarchy changes rarely affect all users equally.
They often have a stronger impact on:
- New users
- Mobile users
- Exploratory or non-brand traffic
Segmentation isn't optional here. It's where the insight lives.
Sometimes the takeaway isn't "this works" but:
"this works especially well for these users."
That's how smart rollouts are shaped.
Define Success Before Looking at Conversion
A change like this should be considered successful when:
- Category engagement increases meaningfully
- Product discovery quality improves or remains stable
- Commercial performance is protected
- Removed interactions were low-value or distracting
Flat revenue is not failure.
Flat revenue with better navigation is progress.
Metrics That Don't Tell the Full Story
Some metrics sound useful but add little clarity here:
- Homepage bounce rate in isolation
- Time on homepage without interaction context
- Scroll depth without action
These describe movement, not decisions.
The Real CRO Insight
This thinking reinforces a core CRO principle.
Optimisation isn't about adding persuasion. It's about removing friction.
Before introducing new banners, messages, or personalisation layers, ask:
- What is competing with the action we actually want?
- What happens if we simplify instead of decorate?
- Where does attention go when we stop pulling it everywhere?
Often the biggest gains don't come from what you add, but from what you stop showing first.
Final Thought
Above-the-fold space is powerful. But power without intent creates noise.
Clarity, hierarchy, and restraint convert better than urgency ever will.