The key to getting people to navigate your website is gaining their interest. And the key to gaining people’s interest is to ensure that the very thing they see first is a well-laid, well-thought-out homepage that is easy to navigate and is filled with information that they find engaging. Let’s look at the 4 Keys to a Successful Website Home Page.
4 Keys to a Successful Website Home Page
- Pick a Hero
- Put their hat on
- Summarise!
- Less is more
A good homepage should instantly feel intimate and engaging to the user. It should feel personal. Many businesses forget that the user of their site is one person engaging with their business one-on-one. So make sure your site is personal.
Imagine sitting down to dinner with a friend. There are only 2 of you there. They talk, and you hear every word they are saying. It’s personal, and you are engaged.
Now imagine sitting down at a table of 10 friends. All 10 are suddenly talking to you at the same time. Do you hear anything? Just noise. Far too many sites that I see online are overly cluttered with front-page information. All the user gets is noise.
Remember, the average web user only gives a site 3-5 seconds to determine if there is anything of interest for them before moving elsewhere. Don’t let your business fail to capture their interest during that time.
A successful homepage drives a successful website!
So What makes a successful home page?
Here are my tips for having a successful homepage: One that will drive the rest of your site.
4 Keys to a Successful Website Home Page
1. Pick a Hero
The best sites you will find always seem to have one central image, theme or featured message. One that is larger than the rest and the ‘hero’ of the page. This is key to drawing the user’s attention to a single area on the page and engaging with them.
2. Put their hat on
Try and think from your customer’s point of view. What do they want to see and hear? More times than not, you will find it is pretty different to what you are trying to say. The key is to find a balance between these. The content should draw their attention by sparking their interest, and then when they read more, they are directed to the information you want to deliver.
3. Summarise!
Avoid the mistake most businesses make on their homepage. Remember, you do not need to tell everything in one go. Put up some exciting highlights in the form of pics or catchy headlines with links for the user to read more if it sparks their interest. Don’t feel the need to overload the user in the first 3 seconds of visiting your page. Spark the Interest, and then they will want to read more about your business.
4. Less is more
This is an old design term (Also phrased at times as K.I.S.S – Keep it simple Stupid). But it really rings true in almost every occasion. The easy option is to fill every page with copious amounts of information. But the truly successful sites will be the ones who strategically pick out their key points for their homepage, gain the attention of the user and then direct them cleverly through their site. 3 key points will be clearly read by a user and remembered in much more than 10 detailed paragraphs.
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