As the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. That is particularly true with websites.
Think about it: your visitors are the silent masses — you will never meet most of them, which means you won’t get to show them your company’s wonderful offerings if they won’t go past your home page.
In the world of the web, there is a website analytic called bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percent of visitors who arrive at your home page and then hit the back button and leave. Bounce rate has very much to do with the home page design, and as you can imagine, we want to do everything we can to keep the bounce rate as low as possible.
The more time folks are on your site, the more likely they are to engage you or take action. Your home page typically gets more page views than any other page of your website; it should make your website visitor want to engage more with the rest of your website.
So here are 7 tips to keep in mind when creating or revamping your home page:
1) Clearly and succinctly tell the visitor what you do.
2) A logo and tagline should be present in almost all sites.
3) Use relevant visual metaphors.
4) Contact information is critical, you don’t want you visitor to have work to get in touch with you. Most people look in the upper-right corner.
5) The home page should be easily scannable.
6) If at all possible, have a call to action. What do you want them to do? Call you? Email you?
7) Strive for simplicity.
We always say your website should look, sound and function like your best sales person. You home page is most often that first handshake with a prospect. Make sure it’s a good one.
For more help with your site, contact the Department of Marketing:
More questions? Send them our way via Twitter, Google+, Facebook or email: info@deptofmarketing.com
