Although web design of the entire website is important, design of the homepage requires special consideration. The homepage of your company’s website is especially important and should have a special focus in web design. The homepage of your website is often the first page users will visit. It acts as the face of your company. According to renowned web design and usability expert Jacob Nielson, homepages are the most valuable real estate in the world. He goes on to add that the impact of a company’s homepage is far greater than actual sales or revenue generated on the website.

The homepage of a company’s website is arguably the most important part of its website. For most websites, the homepage receives more hits and page views than any other page of the website.

Customers are likely to visit a company’s website before deciding to avail of its services. This is most likely the case even when the actual sale takes place offline. How well your website is designed, especially its homepage can influence this decision.

Following are some tips to consider when designing your homepage:

1. Use an SEO friendly Page Title

The page title is displayed at the top blue bar of the browser and an important part of a website’s branding. It is important to choose the right. On the homepage, the page title of the homepage should provide visitors with an indication of your main services. The page title of the homepage also plays a key role in search engine ranking and as such it should include your main keywords. As the highest ranking page of your website, the title of the homepage deserves special attention.

2. Create a lasting first impression

Majority of your visitors are likely to land at your homepage. It is thus vital for your homepage to stand out create a good first impression. A visually appealing design will help re-enforce your brand and portray your company as a professional business. A professional homepage will inspire trust and confidence among visitors.

3. Use call to action words

The homepage of your website acts as the gateway to the website. Most visitors will enter your website via its homepage. It is the responsibility of your homepage to encourage visitors to dig deeper into your website. Appropriate action words on your homepage such as ‘Browse products’, ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Get a free sample’ can compel visitors to click through to relevant internal pages. This can in-turn reduces the bounce rate of your website.

4. Highlight main areas of your website

The homepage should be to provide an insight into key sections of your website and should act as a gateway for users to find the content they are looking for. It should highlight the main areas of your website. Relevant headings and sub-headings should be included to provide information on the key sections. Try to keep the information on the homepage brief. Visitors can click though to the relevant section for detailed information.

5. Keep the content fresh

This can be achieved easily via self updating features such as ‘Latest News’, ‘Latest Testimonials’, ‘Latest Products’, and other dynamic lists. These features are common on database driven websites and content management systems. Including self updating lists on your homepage keeps the content fresh and content is updated dynamically to reflect updates in respective sections of the website.

6. Keep important elements above the fold

As homepage is one of the most important real estate of your website, the placement of elements should be planned with care. Important elements should be placed above the fold and should not require scrolling to become visible. This is different for different websites and can include elements such as menu, logo, main services, and special offers or perhaps contact telephone number.

7. Use a slogan

A slogan or tagline can help identify the purpose of your website to users e.g. A web design company can use the slogan ‘Affordable web design services in UK’.  Establishing the purpose of your website is an essential web design principle. A good place to position your slogan is next to the logo or somewhere in the header of the website.

8. Use relevant graphics

Images and graphics play an important role on a website. The graphics should help convey the right message to visitors. Graphics also enhance the visual appeal of the website. This is especially important for the homepage. You should choose images on your homepage carefully as you get only get one chance to cast a good first impression. Using images with real people allows visitors to connect better.

9. Make products and services easy accessible from your homepage

One of the main goals of your website is to help sell your products or services. Your homepage should make it easy for website visitors to reach your product pages. If possible the homepage should highlight the main products and services of your company. A link or banner for the products section should be prominently placed on the homepage.

10. Encourage customers to provide contact info

Email marketing is one of the most effective forms of advertising today. An email list of existing or potential customers is a valuable asset for your company and can be used for marketing your products and services and building customer relationships. Register for newsletter is one such method that has proved effective for building an email list quickly. You can even tie in the registration with a special offer to further encourage participation.

11. Reduced load time

Homepage usually contains more content than other pages. It contains information about the main sections of your website. It may also include additional graphics and features which can have an impact on page size and the resulting load time. It is important to keep load time in mind when designing your homepage. Optimised graphics, external java script and CSS files are some ways in which the load time of the homepage can be kept in check. Hand coding the HTML is another way to reduce file size. As far as possible the homepage should be kept below 50kb in size.

12. Special offers and Promotions

If you are offering any special offers or promotions, you should include this information on the homepage of your website. Special offers have a tendency to encourage visitors to read further and click through to the relevant page.

13. Keep external Links to a minimum

Links on the homepage have more weight and get the most attention. By including links to internal pages of your website, you can help pass page rank and authority to your internal pages. However, you should avoid external links as they will not only dilute the page rank of your website but can also allow visitors to navigate away from your website. The goal of your homepage should be to drive visitors to internal pages of your website and not leave your website.

14. Make it easy for customers to Connect with your company

The homepage of your website should make it easy to visitors to connect with your company. It is important to provide ways for your customers to connect with your business. There are a number of ways in which this can be done. May businesses today use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to connect with users. It is better to use more than one social channel for wider coverage. Header or sidebar of the homepage is a good place to position the icons and links.

15. Offer something for both existing and prospective customers

Your homepage should address the needs of both, existing as well as potential customers. E.g. Information on your products and services can benefit potential customers whereas information on technical support can help address the needs of existing customers.

RESOURCES:

Joomla Development

Affordable SEO, London

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