If you think of your website as the online office of your business, its homepage would be the reception area. You wouldn’t make the mistake of leaving your visitor confused and abandoned at the reception: instead, you’d make an effort to welcome your visitor, make this area comfortable for them, and make sure it presents your business in the best possible light.
The same rules work for your homepage. It should represent your company and its services, welcome your website’s visitor, and help them find their way on your website. So, here are 5 most important elements for a homepage that do all of these.
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The Right Images
If you create something that can be captured on an image and showcased on your homepage, it is a crime against your business not to do so! Let your work speak for you and display the samples of your design or photography works, photos of bouquets you have created or interiors you designed right on the homepage. Of course, some businesses offer services that can’t be showcased, and in that case your task is to pick the right stock photos that will communicate your message to the visitor.
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Contact Information
The whole point of your website is to persuade the visitor to contact you and buy from you. So they shouldn’t be struggling to find your contact information. A good way to make it easily available from every page, including the homepage, is to place your phone number, email, and address in the footer. That way it won’t overcrowd the page, but will be visible at all times.
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Sign Up Form
If you send a regular newsletter – and you should – you want to grow your mailing list. It’s very unlikely for the customers to contact you personally and ask you to put them on the list, but with a sign up form on the homepage you encourage them to join it. Make sure the form is well visible, but doesn’t interfere with the rest of the content (pop up forms can be annoying sometimes), and communicates the benefits your visitors get when they sign up.
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Clear Navigation
These days your website can have a fresh and fancy navigation style, but the important thing is to keep it obvious enough. If the visitor doesn’t figure out how to move to other pages of your website, they will just leave. So make sure the menu items are clearly marked, and if your website uses scrolling, include a subtle arrow to show the viewer what to do.
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Social Media Buttons
Social media are great for gaining more visibility and getting more traffic, so don’t forget to add social buttons on your homepage and other pages of the website. One option is to add social share buttons to let your visitors share the content with their friends and followers. Another idea is to put icons of the social networks your business has accounts on and link them to your accounts. So that people can easily find and follow you.
Now your homepage is ready to welcome and engage all the visitors, turning them into customers! What other elements do you think are a must-have for a homepage? Share your thoughts in the comments.
