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Tuesday, 13 March - 19:10 (Category: Design, e-marketing )

5 Easy Things To Improve Your Home Page

SYNOPSIS: Build a better homepage with 5 quick wins. They are; how not to use your business name, locating your phone number, creating a compelling headline, using 'next' links and experimenting.

First impressions count. In fact statistics indicate that you have approximately 8 seconds to impress your visitor before they leave your website. I thought I would give you 5 things to test and check on your homepage. You should be able to do the majority of these without too much effort or cost. Let's dig in...

#1 -- Your business name is the least important thing on the page

Strangely enough your company name (unless you are a major well-known brand) is of least significance because it is unlikely to convey the benefits of what you do. Think of your homepage as real estate. Every square inch has to earn you money. And the further towards the top of the screen the information is, the more valuable the space because it is the first thing seen. So my suggestion here is to minimise your company name and logo, push it out of the way, and make way to something more relevant. (People are visiting your website to see how what you do can benefit them. They are less interested in you logo.) Just imagine someone is on your website which would you prefer them to find more easily your business name or your telephone number? Which leads me onto...

#2 -- Make sure your telephone number is clearly visible

Browsing habits support the fact that people often return to the homepage during the navigation of your site. Therefore, it makes sense to put your contact details on the homepage because you never know when somebody is going to make the decision to get in touch. If you really want to follow the science of this most people read in an F or E shape so your top left-hand corner will be viewed very often.

#3 -- Is the headline on your homepage compelling?

Cool design is all very well but ultimately your visitors will make their decisions based on what they read and the first thing they'll see is the headline. Statements like this abound on business websites:

"Old Business & Co have been established since 1977 and sell a wide range of widgets to suit customer's needs, etc’¦"

But this information could be far more compelling if written like this:

"With over 30 years experience we can guarantee you the perfect widget. In fact we know you'll be so happy with our service we'll..."

Headlines sell newspapers. Most people don't read the body copy before they decide to buy the paper. So, if you are asking your browser to invest time in reading your website give them a knockout headline that will make them read on.

#4 -- Don't leave your browser hanging

If your browser takes the trouble to read to the bottom of your page they have already part-qualified themselves as interested in you. It makes sense then to give them something to click on so they can learn more. It could be a link to your contact page, a specific service you are pushing, a free report, your online shop, the list is only limited by what’™s on your website. This can be particularly relevant if they have need to scroll down the page and may have lost some or all of the navigation in the process. (It gives them something to click on!)

#5 ’“ Experiment

Don’™t be afraid to move things around on your homepage. If you have a big graphic at the top of the page, move it to the middle or the bottom. Left justify your headline, right justify your headline, centre it or even delete it! The fact is you will only know whether you have made a positive impact by testing but above all don't be afraid to try.

I hope this gives you a starting point from which you can build a better homepage.

Posted By:Jed Wylie at 19:10, 13-03-07