The homepage of your website must pack a punch as it is often the first page visitors land on. This means it must be perfectly designed to make a good first impression. The purpose of a homepage is to engage visitors and make it easy for them to find exactly what it is they are looking for. Use it to tell your story, elaborate brand objectives, and to build a strong brand image.
In all, a homepage should do three main things:
- Fulfill its purpose
- Brand your business
- Engage your visitors
The homepage needs to provide all the basic information about your business. This includes contact info, links to social media, overview of services, and any testimonials or industry recognitions that build your credibility.
Here are 8 elements that of a well designed and effective homepage:
Value Proposition
This is where you will identify the preferences and priorities of your target audience. You will give an idea of what your business does and what it can do for them. Give them a reason to choose your business but do so without overselling yourself.
Links to Social Media
Using a little homepage realestate, there is a great opportunity to get your visitors to engage with your company on social media. Place them in a subtle spot on your homepage to give them that little push they need to visit your social media pages. Check out these 8 resources to amp up your social media content if your own content needs a little boost.
Intuitive navigation
Navigation on your website is obvious, but it needs to be easy to understand and user friendly. Users should be able to easily navigate to all other pages on your site. A successful website will have an intuitive navigation.
CTA's
A call to action on a homepage is important as it helps navigate the visitor deeper into your site and engages them to take a specific action. One call to action is great but even having a few others is great as it provides a little something for all your different customers. Most likely a first time visitor will be looking for something a little different than a returning visitor. Having different options provides a unique and custom experience for both.
Blog highlight
Highlighting your blog on your homepage is a great way to push some additional traffic to it. A lot of time and effort go into those posts to this is another way to get people to see it. Just like with social media buttons you don't want to overstate your blog highlight but you want it to be just noticeable while perusing your homepage. Don't forget that a blog is a great way to provide additional insight and resources about your business and industry and is a way to further engage your audience. If you are wondering how to engage your audience, here are 5 content ideas to get you started.
High quality media
Media could include videos or photos, but make sure they are of the highest quality. Stay away from stock images and misleading photos. Use real and thoughtful images to help build trust. Videos are also a great way to keep your visitors engaged and interested in your brand. It's all about using diverse content to attract new visitors and keep returning ones invested in your company.
Overview of services and contact info
Keeping it simple and to the point, provide a brief overview of the services or products your visitors can expect to see from you. Include a link to each so they can read additional information on what you offer. Also, it is important that your visitors can find your contact info easily from your homepage. Provide all the necessities needed for your customers to contact you easily if need be.
Recognitions or awards
Since your homepage is what makes the first impression, show off any industry recognitions or awards! It ads to your credibility and may help influence visitors to choose you over a competitor.
Make the right first impression with a perfectly designed homepage. Knowing what is needed to properly position your business while making your site intuitive for the user are the keys to success.