If you want to develop a home page with a clear, distinctive message, make sure you get these three things right. Build trust with your visitors and let them know exactly what they can find on your website.
1. Clarify the purpose of your website
When a visitor lands on your home page, what they can do on your website should immediately become clear. And better yet: why they should do it on your site instead of anywhere else.
Identify yourself by placing your logo in the top left corner. Right next to it, add a clear tagline. Your tagline should make a promise only your organization could make. [link @https://green-marketers.com/blog/hoe-schrijf-je-een-goede-tagline] Add a welcome message to your home page as well, in which you outline your value proposition.
Check out our blog How to clarify the goal and purpose of your website for practical tips.
2. Lay out everything your website has to offer
Your home page should lay out the contents of your website, so your visitor knows what to expect. Use the following list of elements to help you make this clear.
- A strong menu structure and clear navigation. The question ‘what can I find here, and what can I do?’ should be easy to answer.
- A search function. A large portion of your visitors will look for a search bar to find what they need.
- Top tasks. The parts of your website that are searched for most frequently need a place of their own on your home page. That way, people can find them more easily. Developing personas will help you decide which pages or services are most important to your visitors.
- Promote your content. You can showcase your latest, best or most popular content. Your latest deals, for instance, or your most read blog posts.
- New features. Invite your visitors to try out different parts of your website, such as any new features you’ve developed.
- Recent content. The success of your website depends on returning visitors. Renew the content on your home page every so often. Even if people don’t visit your site every day, they will expect a sign of life every now and then.
- Highlighted content. Make space for highlighted content, such as deals, ads, or promotions.
Try to keep everyone in your target audience satisfied. Personas will help you do this. Read all about how to create your own personas in our how-to guide.
What exactly do we mean by top tasks?
According to Gerry McGovern, 5% of the things a visitor can do on your site will get 25% of the attention. These are your top tasks. Your visitors must be able to complete these quickly and easily.
3. Prove yourself and build trust
A visitor coming to your site for the first time won’t trust you right away. They will scan the website and look for answers to their questions, such as:
- Will this website help me achieve my goals?
- Can I trust the information on this website?
- Does this site have my best interests at heart?
The more information and effort you are asking of your visitor, the more trust is required.
Asking for personal information too quickly will scare off visitors.
Asking for personal information too quickly will scare off visitors. It’s important to work on building trust before asking for any personal data.
It might be tempting to show a pop-up asking to sign up for your newsletter as soon as a visitor opens your website. But how would you feel if a stranger on the street asked you for your name and email address out of the blue?
To establish trust with your visitors, you must first prove yourself. This proof comes in many different forms, such as:
- Number of customers or members;
- Customer satisfaction;
- References;
- Testimonials;
- User reviews (or expert reviews);
- Awards;
- High-quality images;
- Logos;
- Certifications.
Need some advice?
Do you have any questions about how to build the perfect home page? Get in touch with us. We’d love to chat about your website!
Sources
- Don’t Make Me Think, Steve Krug (2013)