The 9 elements of an effective website homepage
Posted on 28th August 2017
The homepage is the most important page of any website. It’s the shop-front of your business online and in the majority of cases, will be the single most visited page on your site.
Your homepage is your best opportunity to make a great first impression.
If your website is to be successful and perform as it should, you need to get it right. It has to appeal to all of your target audience and customers, providing the right information and compelling them to take action.
Include these 9 important elements to create a winning Homepage:
1. A great headline
A great headline is absolutely essential - it’s the first thing your web visitors see, and you need to grab the audience’s attention. If your headline doesn’t grab the readers, they are likely to go elsewhere. A great headline needs to effectively communicate the core benefits of your products or services to your target customers – in clear, simple terms.
2. A descriptive intro
Right below your headline, you need to make it clear exactly what it is you offer. This is a simple, clear description that focuses on what you do, and reinforces what customers will get (and potentially the problems/pain points you address) from doing business with you.
3. Clear navigation
Visitors simply won’t waste time on your site if they can’t quickly and easily find the information that they need. Here, it pays to keep things simple. Well labelled navigation, prominently positioned at the very top of the homepage will help to direct your audience to the pages that they want to visit.
4. Calls to action
Your homepage is the entranceway to your business – it needs to encourage visitors towards the relevant information on other pages in your site. It’s sensible to incorporate a number of calls to action that link to different pages in your site or contact information, so that it works for all your potential customers. When positioning calls to action and structuring your homepage, your most important products and services should be placed above the fold.
5. High quality images/video content
They say a picture paints a thousand words, and quality imagery and/or video content will really benefit your homepage. Wherever possible, use unique, professional photographs, images, illustrations or short videos that are relevant to your business and reflect the homepage copy – rather than stock photography.
6. Benefit driven copy
Features are fine, but benefits are better! Make sure the copy on your homepage communicates some clear, tangible benefits about your business, products or services. Wherever you mention features, ensure that each one is tied to a clear benefit or USP – written with your customers’ needs in mind.
7. A list of features, products or services
A bullet point list of your key products, services or features can provide visitors with a quick, clear view of what your business does. You can also use the list to links to relevant pages where appropriate, helping to funnel relevant traffic towards the right pages on your site.
8. Trust factors
Most customers won’t buy from you straight away. You need to build trust, and the homepage is an excellent place to start this process. Customer testimonials, links to case studies and featuring your accreditations or awards in the footer are all good ways of reassuring website visitors that they’re dealing with a reputable business.
9. Contact details!
In many cases, customers will simply be looking for your contact details, so they can get in touch. Make things as easy as possible, and include them on your homepage, somewhere where visitors will see them. Including a phone number and an email in the header can be an effective way of doing this without impacting on the design.
Further reading
Great minds think alike, and online marketing specialists Hubspot have produced this excellent infographic – setting out their 12 features of a great homepage.
Winning Homepages from it’seeze Ryedale
Get a website (and effective homepage) that will perform for your business online, with expert support from it’seeze Web Design Ryedale.
We’re here to help drive your business performance online with a beautiful, custom-designed website that you can edit yourself. You won’t find industry jargon or tech speak here – just beautiful websites designed to work in the modern world.
Set up your free, no obligation meeting with Rob Davies from it’seeze Web Design Ryedale today by calling 01653 690982, or by emailing rob.davies@itseeze.co.uk.
Tagged as: Online Marketing
Share this post: