Ranking homepages with non-branded keywords

Ranking homepages with non-branded keywords

Let's face it, homepages are very difficult to rank, especially for non-branded keywords.
Google usually tends not to rank homepages for non-branded keywords because homepages usually don't have much content to offer, that's why article pages, listing pages or landing pages will always do better in organic traffic compared with the homepage.

This is why I usually tend to focus the homepage on the brand name and potential brand keywords, especially for already established brands that people already are searching in Google.

What is your take on this? Should homepages be optimized for non-branded keywords, should they have text containing those keywords?