THE IMPORTANCE OF A WEBSITE HOMEPAGE
A website is the digital and often e-commerce foundation of a business. It needs to showcase your business story, your purpose, your products and/or services and establishes you as an industry leader who can be trusted. Both the website and website homepage should be enticing and appealing to new or existing clients.
More often than not, people research and get a sense of a business from their social media first. If/when they want more information or to engage the business, their next step is to view their website. Your homepage is their first impression, it has the power to convert or lose clients.
In order to keep clients engaged and ultimately convert them, your website needs to have the following:
It needs to be visually appealing, easy to navigate and contain relevant information.
The homepage should showcase your most important information while simultaneously consciously thinking about the ease of use for potential clients. If people are required to search for information, it becomes hard and they’ll lose patience, ultimately leaving the website and finding another website - potentially a competitors.
Most importantly, tell clients who you are, what you do and/or what you sell:
While reviewing websites, we regularly find that our clients are intimately entwined with their business, their services and offerings. Because of this, what often happens is a disconnect in communication. Potential customers or clients can’t easily or clearly identify what it is the business does, the problem they may solve and ultimately, how engaging this business will make their life better. One way to eliminate this is by using your brand bio on the homepage; a summary of your business story, services and your values in one or two easy to understand sentences.
Call to actions
Gentle but direct prompts allow clients to delve deeper into your website and your business. This will encourage them to find out more, buy from you or contact you for more information. You can link these call to actions to internal pages, contact forms, booking forms, subscriptions, product collections and more. Alternating call to action messages help to avoid a feeling of repetition as well.
Company or business information
People want to know who you are and who is behind the business. You can put a face to the business and share relatable information for your potential clients. They also need to know where you are located, and how they can contact you. These can be a short intro with a call to action that links to an ‘about’ and ‘contact’ page.
Brand photos
We are visual creatures! People like to see who is behind a business, how to use a product or who they’ll will be working with. Professional brand photos enable clients to begin forming a connection with you and help communicate your message, values and purpose.
Customer focused messaging
Often businesses focus on their story and forget to include how a client will benefit from engaging them. Your messaging should explain how the client will feel, what they will achieve or experience when working with you or purchasing your products.
Testimonials + social proof
This is a powerful way to establish you as an expert in your field. Commonly known as the ‘know, like and trust factor’, testimonials and social proof from previous clients will help to reassure and encourage new clients to engage your business. They also establish you and/or your products in a positive way.
Footer
An often overlooked feature is the footer, however it is just as important as your header navigation. Your footer should provide a summarised version of the above with links to internal pages, contact information, a email subscription, social media links etc.
When designing you homepage and website, it is important to remember the purpose of the website. That is, to communicate your story while leading the client on a positive experience that invites them to get to know you and/or your business. Make the journey as easy as possible and you will have engaged clients who contact you for more information, subscribe to your email list and have repeat sales.
If you need help with any of the above, minimal but effective websites are our jam. With a simple and responsive template, you’ll be able to communicate your message and effectively serve your community. Having worked with Wordpress, Wix, Joomla and Squarespace, we are able to update or create a new website for your side hustle, new business or brand.
