What does your website homepage SHOUT OUT to your website visitors?
What do you want your website homepage design and content to communicate? Is the message you intend to send being received by the people you want to reach?
Right People – Right Message
Good Website Home Page Design
Uncluttered. Your home page is uncluttered and has lots of white space.There aren’t too many colors. Your website visitor is not distracted by too many elements e.g. pop-ups, animated ads, videos that automatically play, rotating elements that move too fast to process.
Easy to read. Your content is easy to scan using left justification, bold type for the first phrase or sentence of a section or paragraph and bulleted lists to draw the eye down the page through the content.
Easy to navigate, making it easy for your visitor to find the specific information they are there to discover.
Good Website Home Page Content
Speaks to the people you aim to reach (target audience) in the language they are ready to receive. Jargon and industry specific terms are eliminated and reading level is a match for your audience.
Right Message –> Right People
Speaks to the issues and problems of a specific (narrow) target audience and suggests solutions tailored for them.
Communicates who you are and the value you offer. Your content needs to compel your visitors to stick around, to spend some time on your site, find out more and engage with your site (instead of quickly clicking away to the next site in their Google search results).
Uses “Calls to Action” to communicate the logical next steps for your website home page visitor to take.
Our advice: DO give your website an update to keep it fresh and timely now and again and DON’T be taken in by the Latest and Greatest gadgets and gimmicks no matter how flashy and shiny and NEW they are.
You only have a quick moment to make a first impression, keep your visitor reading your home page and keep them browsing your site for more.
Website Home Page Design and Content Resources:
Seven Best Practices for Improving Your Website’s Usability. (Mashable.com)
Website Design Tips to Improve Usability and Readability. (ReadabilityFormulas.com) Also see the free Readability Calculators.
Improve the Readability of Your Web Page. (WebCredible.co.uk)
Not Sure What to Feature on Your Homepage? 4 Ideas to Get You Focused. (ContentMarketingInstitute.com)
Essential Tips for Designing an Effective Homepage. (SixRevisions.com)