Your Home Page is the most important page of your website, as it's usually the first impression potential customers have of your company. While there are many components of great web design such as layout, use of colour, fonts and so on, when it comes to websites, content, speed and clear navigation take priority over design. Within seconds, your home page needs to engage your ideal customers enough to want to explore your site further.
Every website is different and there are many ways of structuring your Home Page content, but always keep in mind that website visitors want to access information fast and therefore it is vital to locate key elements according to the 'expected norm' within your sector, along with a clear navigational structure that delivers just that. So don't try and re-invent the wheel.
Our top twelve recommendations
- Logo
Your logo should be placed in your header, preferably top left. It's your identity after all and is how customers will connect with your brand. Expected practice is for your logo to be clickable as a link to your hompage, so make it obvious and clear of 'clutter' so that it instantly stands out. - Contact Details
Make sure your contact details are a key part of the header. Just as people expect to see your logo located in your header, top left, your contact details are top right, ideally with your phone number or email immediately visible. - Have a 'Sticky Header'
Make sure your header 'sticks' so that when users scroll, so that your vital contact details and navigation menu remains fixed and doesn't disappear! - Navigation
Intuitive navigation is vital and should be easily visible too, avoiding hamburger menus unless absolutely necessary, such as when viewing websites on mobile or laptop. The navigation is like a roadmap giving users an overview of content and helps signpost them to what they are looking for. Clear, easy to follow navigation will also reduce bounce rates. - Main Hero Area
This will usually be the most important and prominent image on your homepage, located immediately below the header. For the Manufacturing and Engineering sectors, we would encourage you to use this area for 'authentic' Video footage showcasing your company production facilities, scale, products and capability. Keep it to around 20 seconds maximum and ensure that it's the best quality it can be. In other words, nicely composed, professionally lit footage. Combining your image with captions that give context your aim is to inspire the 'right' kind of visitors to be inspired to 'delve' further, while encouraging the 'wrong' kind of visitors to leave your website.
- Headline
Working in tandem with the Hero area is your headline. Your headline should speak directly to your ideal customer providing a benefits-focused concise summary, targeting their needs and how you can help them. Make your headline all about your customer and less about you! - Calls to Action
A call-to-action (or CTA) is an invitation for a user to take action. Your home page should have several calls-to-action. Create visually appealing, colourful 'buttons' that stand out and make it sound like a command, prompting your ideal customers to delve deeper into your website. Ideally locate a key CTA towards the top of your website before scrolling is required. - Social Proof
People buy from people, but only when they think they know, like and trust you! Social proof is the same principle as 'word of mouth' and inspires trust in your potential customers. It's a vote of confidence and creates positive feedback from people who have experience of your products or services. Client testimonials, case studies and reviews are all very powerful ways to inspire a positive first impression. Include these on your website home page, better still, include videos of happy customers - the ultimate in Social Proof! - Trust Indicators
Working in a similar way to social proof, trust indicators build trust and credibility in your company. Include any industry accreditations, years in business, number of projects completed, awards and accolades etc. Ask customers if you can use their logos on your website.
- Imagery
High quality imagery is the most powerful and emotive marketing tool you have giving users the potential to understand context in an instant without having to delve into the detail. So if your business provides products or services that can be delivered through imagery, then maximise on this opportunity. And, where photography doesn't work, try using attention grabbling infographics to allow users to easily digest information. - Video Content
Put simply, people browsing the internet have short attention spans. Video allows visitors to consumer more content faster plus they are more likely to engage with video than with static text. What's more, video benefits your in-bound marketing strategy. Google and YouTube are the largest search engines in the world and Google displays video in search results, so embedding video content using YouTube and optimising for search can bring significant results. - Footer
Your footer will appear at the end of every page on your site, so give it some careful thought as to what elements you would like to include. The following list gives you a few ideas: contact information, maps, links to social media, accreditations logos, email sign up forms, privacy and cookie policies and a final call to action.
