The home page (or index page) of your website is like the front door or window of a brick and mortar office or store. It is your tool for gaining interest and “reeling” the customers in to see more.
What are the elements of a good home page?
First and foremost an introduction that tells your visitor (quickly yet in detail) what your site is all about-and don’t forget to use your keywords. Ask yourself: What do I want my visitor to accomplish by reading this page? The answer should be a sense of understanding with a dash of excitement. Don’t forget to include an invitation…..you’re not a used car salesman, BUT you do want them to shop or read more! You should never assume that someone will just do that…..invite them to!
How do you invite someone to go further? When it comes to retail, place product photos, links, and descriptions right there on your home page. Have one or more “Featured” products on the page. To make it easy, place the code for a “buy now” button right there for at least one of the products! The fewer clicks to purchase, the better.
Photos…nothing is more important than your graphics….and when it comes to products, nothing is more important than showing them in a professional and clean way. If you’re just starting out, and you create your own products, my advice is to set aside a majority of your marketing budget to have professional product photos made. Why? Because looking professional and legitimate is not possible with dark or blurry product photos. As an important note, your photos will only be as nice as your products….make sure you have professional looking labels on your products! If your office printer isn’t quite up to par…..this is an important addition to your budget as well. If you DO print your own labels, make sure you have high resolution graphics on them…..using the web version of your logo won’t be the same.
What if you have an information site? The best way to draw someone in further is to provide “teasers”. Don’t put entire articles on your home page, choose 3 or 4 articles, and put just a few sentences from each (along with the headline) on the page. Use a “READ MORE” link to guide them to the full article. Be sure to neatly and succinctly divide the articles. Utilize tables with borders to draw the eye to individual “pieces” (sections) of the page. Use color and bolded text to give importance to headlines and specials.
Keep in mind that this page is the “eye candy” used to grab and hold a surfer’s attention. Try not to overload the page, or make it so confusing that they just surf right on by. If you must use banner ads, or links, place them so as not to cause a feeling of “information overload”.
Navigation-The navigation for your website should be the same throughout, whether its on the top, side, bottom, or all three, it should be in the same place on every page. Your home page provides a place for special sorts of navigation….take advantage of the opportunity to draw attention to specific items or sections of your site. And a snippet of javascript and place a “Bookmark Us” link somewhere on the home page.
And lastly….update, update, update! Very important for your search engine rankings and for those visitors who do bookmark your site and return, be sure to update your “store window” regularly to avoid boredom and keep them coming back for more!!
Tags: content • design • graphics • home page • information • logo • navigation • photos • website