My Top 6 Website Homepage Essentials
Your website is the virtual shopfront of your business and your homepage is often the first thing people will see, so it pays to get your website optimisation right to allow your customers to have a seamless experience with your business online. Your homepage is not a one trick pony and will need to serve a variety of purposes. With this in mind, here are my top 6 website homepage essentials.
Clear Headings
A good, clear and concise heading let’s your visitor know that they are in the right place when they land on your website. Use around 10 words to explain what you can do for your customers in a nutshell and try to include your main keywords for SEO. You can add a longer descriptive paragraph under the header if you need to but again, keep it brief and concise.
It’s important to tell people; who you are, what you do and how you help them.
Navigation Options
Your navigation options need to be on your home page so visitors can move around your website and find what they need easily. The majority of websites use a collapsible menu at the top of a website which can be opened and closed through a hamburger icon but whatever style menu you opt for, ensure that the menu titles explain clearly what the pages are and where they will lead.
Imagery / Video
We are visual creatures and a homepage filled with a wall of text will put off even the most avid readers so it’s important to use a quality image or video which supports your message. Always make any images relevant to what you do or how you can help your customers. If your product or service is particularly photogenic you can showcase your best work on your home page. Don’t forget to include any awards, membership badges, partnerships or previous customer logos in prominent areas as social proof.
By the way, the video on my homepage is very discreet but it allows people to think about having a coffee and chat. Well, that’s the plan 🙂
The Benefits of Working with You
Your homepage is the primary place to empathise with your visitors on the problem they have and let them know you have the solution to that problem. What can you help them with? Why should they choose you? What are the benefits? You should seamlessly guide your visitors through the answers to these questions on your homepage.
Calls to Action
So, your website visitor loves your website, your service or product and wants to work with you but where do they go next? This is where your calls to action come in. What do you want your visitor to do next? Do you want them to book a meeting, buy your product or scroll through your latest offers? You will need to tell them in the form of a call to action button on your homepage. Place the button in a prominent area away from heavy ‘noise’ in a colour which contrasts with your website to make it easy to see.
Contact
Finally, you will need to provide a contact button for your visitors. Some customers don’t want to read all about you, they might just want to find a way they can call you for a chat about their specific query, some customers might know exactly what they want from you and just want to contact you to make it happen, others might prefer to chat to a real person. Either way, a contact option is essential and needs to be clearly visible on your homepage.
Do you need help optimising your existing website or do you need to create a brand new one for your business? I would love to help bring your website up to speed with your business. Contact me here for a no-obligation chat.