Creating That Great Homepage – Top 6 Tips.

Your Homepage is where many of your visitors first meet you. And we all know what they say about first impressions – you don’t get a second chance to make a great first impression.

Taking the time to carefully craft your Homepage will pay off, both in terms of first impressions and guiding the viewer in the direction you would like them to take.

1. HEADLINE

Does your headline quickly imply or give an instant impression of why this website/webpage exists? Don’t make your viewer guess or try to figure it out, be short, clear and concise with your headline.

2. SECONDARY HEADLINE

This is typically a smaller headline along with a short sentence or paragraph that should expand upon the main headline. Typically it further describes your products or services or is copy that encourages the reader to further explore the website – or a section thereof.

3. IMAGE(S)

Pictures can relay many messages with a quick glance. Think about what message you want to portray to your audience and what image would best demonstrate that. Does using your product or service imply Freedom? Comfort? Solve a problem? *Hint you may want to relate the image to your headline/secondary headline.

4. CALL TO ACTION

After your visitor skims your text and images then what ? What is it you want them to do ? Sign up to your mailing list, call you, fill out your inquiry form ? It is important that they know what to do next. Make your call to action prominent. You could use color, size, placement or a combination of factors to make your call to action stand out.

5. TESTIMONIAL(S)

You want your visitors to trust you right? Well one of the best ways to build trust is to include testimonials. People want to see that others have tried/used your product or service and were happy. Use of testimonials can be a powerful trust building tool.

6. ABOVE THE FOLD

A term common in the printing industry applies to websites as well. Is your most important information near the top of the page?. Given the variety of devices people use to view websites these days screen real estate becomes even more precious. Interest in a page declines as one scrolls down. Have you waited and put your call to action at the bottom of the page ? You might want to re-think that positioning.

There are by no means hard and fast rules to making a perfect landing page, but by implementing some of these tips you can be on your way to making a great homepage and reaching those objectives you set for it.

Have some other great tips? – please feel free to share them below.