“Home pages” are common online. We need to use them when we’re accessing a new site (and there’s no way to avoid them). Therefore, it would be helpful to know more about how to spell it and which way works best in your writing.
Homepage vs. Home page
“Home page” is the correct spelling variation. Most English users will recognize it as two separate words because “home” and “page” are defined separately. There is no need to group the two words together, though some people do like to do this (especially informally).
According to Google Ngram Viewer, “home page” is the most popular choice. However, there isn’t much of a difference between the lines of either variation. It shows that both are considered acceptable (even though one might not be the official spelling choice).
In The Cambridge Dictionary and The Oxford Dictionary, “home page” is the only recognized spelling variation. Both dictionaries define the two-word option as the correct form, which shows that you should try and keep the words separate if you want to be correct.
Since “homepage” is very commonly written as one word (some websites also call their own home page “homepage”), there is no reason why it’s not acceptable. That’s why the line on the graph is much higher than you might expect at first.
As language evolves, it’s common for two words to group into one if it helps simplify the language somehow. Since “home page” is a word strictly related to the internet and technology, it’s still relatively new.
While it might be written as two words currently, that doesn’t mean it always will be. There may even come a time in the not-so-distant future when the two dictionaries we mentioned above recognize both spelling variations.
Is “Homepage” One Word?
Grammatically speaking, “homepage” is not one word. There is no reason to group the two words because they are not officially defined in any notable dictionaries. However, since it’s very commonly written in this manner, it is correct to do so in more informal cases.
If you’re writing about home pages formally, it’s best to stick to the recognized spelling. That way, nobody can question your knowledge of the subject matter. “Home” and “page” should be defined separately.
However, informally (i.e. if you’re naming the pages on your own website), there is no reason why “homepage” isn’t acceptable. Many websites already call their front pages “homepages” as one word.
Perhaps these examples will help you make more sense of it:
- You should visit the homepage of the website to see what they’re all about.
- I need someone to design a new homepage. Our current one isn’t exactly up-to-date.
- I would love to see a new homepage on this site! It’s looked the same for decades.
- You would benefit from hiring a designer to help you with this homepage.
Is “Home page” Two Words?
“Home page” is officially recognized as two words. You want to write it like this if you want to remain grammatically correct since it’s the only version that is recognized inside well-regarded dictionaries. There is no reason to group the two words.
In the context of websites, “home” means “front,” and “page” is a different tab you can navigate to when exploring a website’s menu. Therefore, it makes sense to keep both words separate when you’re talking about “home pages” on a website.
Some of these examples might help you make a little more sense of it:
- How do you like the new home page? I went with a different artist, but I think it paid off!
- You should visit the new site! The home page is much more welcoming than it was before.
- I thought his home page looked a bit funky! Now that I know he made it himself, it makes sense.
- You shouldn’t waste money on a home page. Make sure you know what you’re getting from it because it’s the most important part of your site!
Tip To Remember The Difference
“Home page” does not need to be grouped into one word. To help you remember the difference, remember that there are multiple “pages” on a website. Therefore, it makes sense to always refer to the first page as “home” (as a separate word).
After all, no other page is linked together:
- Correct: About us page
- Incorrect: Aboutuspage
- Correct: Contact page
- Incorrect: Contactpage
See? You wouldn’t do it with the above examples, so why do it with “home page?”