The 10 Most Important Elements of Your Home Page

The challenge for a website home page is to meet several objectives: 

 

 

Some home pages have too much information, leading to confused visitors. Others don’t contain enough details or haven’t included the ten most important elements needed to convert traffic into leads and ultimately into customers. 

 

The main aim of a home page is not to tell your visitor all about your business or organisation; it’s to persuade your visitors to go to their second page. So, what elements will make your home page traffic move to the next page? 

 

1. Headline and sub-headline – you have just 3-5 seconds to convince your visitor they’re where they need to be. Your headline should be simple, concise and clear – the ideal length is 6 – 10 words, preferably nearer six than 10. Your sub-headline is a bit longer in that it is a summary of what you do. Focus on how your product/service can resolve your audience’s pain point. Avoid jargon and any ‘me, me’ words. Also, remember that your headline and sub-headline must be easy to see and read on mobile devices. 

 

2. Navigation – navigating your home page should be easy to understand, use and be intuitive. Basically, it should be easy for your visitor to find what they’re looking for. For websites with lots of pages or products, such as an e-commerce site, add a search box at the top of the home page. Think about why they have visited your website, what they’re looking for and what you want them to do, like book an appointment or make a purchase. 

 

3. Call to actions (CTAs) – there are two types of CTA; primary and secondary. Your primary CTAs should be before the page scroll down point to guide visitors to each buying cycle stage. You want your customer to move to the second page to channel them down your sales funnel. Secondary CTAs offer ‘bonus’ opportunities, such as downloading a white paper or signing up for a newsletter. These should be placed in the bottom half of the home page, giving visitors a reason to act no matter where they are on your home page. Make sure your CTAs are clear, easy to find and give your visitors an action, i.e. ‘register here, ‘buy now’ and ‘start shopping’. You may find that the people who click on secondary CTAs have bypassed your primary CTAs; that’s not a bad thing. They have still joined your sales funnel and are likely to return to your website later. 

 

4. Highlight your content – we don’t mean packing your home page with content; we’re talking about highlighting where your visitor can find your blogs, ‘how to’ videos, events or webinars, and any other content that demonstrates your skills and knowledge. This is also the time to highlight a content offer, such as an eBook, newsletter or white paper. 

 

5. Social proof and/or testimonials – there’s no better recommendation than testimonials and online reviews from existing customers and peers. Whether you gather testimonials via a dedicated review site, your social media platforms, or your online directory listing, link them to your website’s home page. Alternatively, include 3 – 4 of your best testimonials (keep them to just a couple of lines, if possible) and include a name to add credibility and trustworthiness. You could also link to any case studies – create a dedicated landing page for each case study (a good idea if it highlights how your product/service solved a customer’s problem) which can be used in marketing and email campaigns. 

 

6. Set out the features – what are the main features of your product/service? Listing these will give your visitors a quick overview of what you offer. Keep each element short, simple and easy to read. 

 

7. Highlight the benefits – as well as summarising what the features are, you also need to demonstrate the benefits, how will your product/service solve your audience’s pain points, and why buying from you is the best choice. Again, keep them easy to read, not too long, and ‘speak’ to your customer. 

 

8. Simplify and visualise the buying process – set out in a simplified, easy to understand, visual way the steps your visitor needs to take to buy your product/service. 

 

9. Imagery – the power of visuals to generate emotion and cause an action should never be under-estimated. Whether it’s static or rotating images, a video, podcast or graphic, make sure it’s relevant to your home page content and your product/service. It’s ok to use stock photos but make sure they are not ‘cheesy’, and it’s a good idea to do a quick internet search to see who else might be using the image. 

 

10. Contacts – how often have we seen this missing from home pages; too many! It’s becoming harder and harder to find contact details on home pages, such as customer service or tech support. Make it easy for visitors to find out how to contact you by telephone, email and even your address. Don’t forget to add your social media links – more and more people are connecting with businesses and organisations via social media platforms. 

If you’re experiencing high bounce rates or you are struggling to convert visitors into customers, your home page could need an overhaul. 

 

It’seeze Twickenham web design company deliver affordable, professional custom-designed websites that promote your business and brand successfully. As a local web designer, we are able to provide a highly personalised service and ongoing expert support. Opt for a free Website Health Check that will ascertain the areas where improvements can be made to your existing website, or we can build a new website that matches your needs. Call us today to create the website of your dreams and turn your business into a success. Contact us for more details.