Have you put much thought into what actually makes an effective homepage? 

As a business owner, if you haven’t, perhaps it’s time to start paying it some attention! 

The structure and design of an effective homepage couldn’t be more important. More often than not your homepage is the first page your visitors see and your first chance to create the right impression. In this digital age, businesses have literally lived or died over less! ...

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The essential elements of an effective homepage

First things first. There are three things that need to be on point for your homepage to be effective and deliver the results you need. It’s very important you understand these so you can best use them to your advantage. These three elements are:

1.  An eye catching professional logo.

Never underestimate the power your logo holds. It’s the first thing that your customers will focus on and it says a great deal about your business brand. This means investing in a professional design, created by a person who understands both your business vision and the goals of your web presence, is a must.

Consider for a moment how much weight your logo carries when it comes to new customers. If they are making a decision between doing business with your company and others a poorly designed logo could be a deal breaker. Your logo should inspire trust in your professionalism. People obviously prefer to do business with those they trust. This makes an eye catching professional logo something you need, period.

After the logo, be sure the rest of your webpage’s graphics are also creatively and professionally done. While these don’t carry the same importance as your logo they should not be neglected. Depending on their quality, they can paint your business in a positive or negative light.

A great graphic designer can be your best friend when it comes to building a truely effective homepage.

2. Easy website navigation.

An effective homepage is one that can be easily navigated. If your customers are having difficulty getting around your site, the chances of them actually doing business with your company is greatly reduced.

Remember, people on the web tend to be impatient. This makes your website having well designed and structured navigation crucial. Be sure your potential customers have an easy way to become customers. Poor or confusing navigation kills those opportunities. Any complaints or comments on how well your home page functions should be investigated and addressed immediately.

A friendly site inspires friendly visitors! Web analytic tools can be very useful in seeing who came to your site, when and what pages they visited. This will provide some clarity on how easy visitors find your webpage to navigate.

3. Well written copy.

Having original, well written copy becomes more important everyday. Not only does it send the right message to your customers – that you are a professional company who takes their presentation seriously – but it also defends your website against being ranked poorly by the major search engines.

Google has made significant moves to punish sites with poor copy by pushing them further down the search rankings. So, the days of using cheap services to produce poorly written articles for SEO (search engine optimisation) are over.

Original, high quality, content is king when it comes to building an effective homepage.

An effective homepage has clear objectives

Your website is a tool. For your business to get the most out of this tool, it needs clear goals and objectives. Without a clear objective it’s not only a difficult task for your website designer to fulfil his (or her) mission, but it’s also an unenviable task trying to gauge how well your site is performing.

Take a hard look at what you’d like to get out of your homepage. More sales? Lead acquisition? Educating your customers? Whatever it may be, share the objective with everyone involved with the project. This step alone can produce remarkable results. 

A clear objective for your website can be compared to the importance of having well defined goals in other areas of your business or in other areas of life. True success without devoting time to this vital element of an effective homepage can be next to impossible.

An effective homepage makes your business purpose clear

In the end a well designed logo and other graphics, easy navigation, convincing copy and a targeted objective all combine for a powerful purpose. This purpose is communicating exactly who you are what you do. Once your home page communicates this to your potential customers real magic is possible. Miss one or two of these elements and it’s an unrealistic expectation for your site to perform to its true potential.

How do you accomplish this goal? Designing and structuring an effective homepage isn’t something for an amateur when your business is concerned. In most cases, it’s also not a place where you want to trust someone to “learn on the job.” Bringing your business purpose to life on the web is one of the times when using a professional can be a very wise decision.

It’s well worth it in the end

Actually, using a professional for your design is just one of the pillars of ending up with an effective homepage. Be sure to communicate with them along the way about the things that are important to your business and why. Take the time to review your logo and be sure it translates well for what you are aiming to accomplish. Test the navigation of your site while playing the role of a potential customer. Invest in making sure your copy is everything it could be. The demanding nature of today’s internet savvy customer demands all these steps being fulfilled if you hope for an optimised, effective homepage.

With these elements in mind, building an effective homepage can become a quick reality. Knowledge is power and it will all be worth it in the end!