It’s no secret that first impressions are essential. And today, they’re just about as important online as they are in person.
If your business has a website (as it should – it is 2018, after all!), it’s essential to consider the impression you’re giving first-time visitors. Every time someone new visits your website’s home page, they form an opinion of your website and brand and decide whether or not they want to make a purchase or request additional information.
One key to improving your first impression is ensuring that your website is easy for users to navigate and use.
However, if you want to continue making long-lasting, positive impressions, there are other factors and features you should focus on, too. Here are eight things all of the best home pages have in common.
1. A Succinct Menu
There are many different ways to improve your website, but one of the easiest is cleaning up your menu.
Just think about it for a second. Most of the time, visitors come to your website for a specific reason. So whether they’re looking for information, want to make a purchase, or want an answer to a question, they’re coming to you for a reason.
Help them find what they need by keeping your menu concise and clean. For example, clearly label each header, and ensure that all dropdowns contain only links to necessary pages and are organized logically.
Your visitors will thank you! Or they’ll at least come back for more.
2. Information on the Products and Services You Offer
This one should be a no-brainer by now, but we’re going to mention it anyway.
All good homepages include a brief description of the company’s products and services. Visitors want – no, they need – to understand what your company does and what differentiates you from other, similar providers.
It doesn’t need to be super specific, either. All you need to do is make it easy for visitors to move forward with the buying process…if they choose to, that is.
And guess what? Including information on your products and services on your homepage can even help improve your ranking on search engines like Google.
3. An Email Subscription Option
Whether it’s your blog homepage or your regular homepage, giving visitors the option to sign up for e-newsletters from your business is crucial.
The reason is two-fold: you get to stay in touch with visitors and remain at the forefront of their minds, and you can also target them with digital marketing tactics like ads.
Thanks to email automation systems, adding a signup or opt-in form is easy to do. And then, once you have their email information, you can target new visitors and customers using almost any medium.
4. A Call to Action
Every website should have a Call to Action featuring a headline that piques visitors’ curiosity and makes them want to continue browsing below the scroll.
Sure, it might sound too simple and like it won’t make much difference either way, but that’s not true. Instead, a good headline and CTA can further influence visitors and encourage them to continue moving down the marketing funnel.
Additionally, if visitors end up on a page that doesn’t have a strong CTA, they will be more likely to leave your website because you haven’t given them a good reason to stick around.
5. Answers to Visitors' Most Pressing Questions
There’s always a question or two when you’re visiting a website, isn’t there?
Be proactive in helping visitors by including an FAQ page and touching on some of the most critical questions your business receives. As a result, you’ll connect with visitors more quickly, answer their questions, and satisfy them before they even commit to making a purchase.
After all, anticipating your customers’ needs can go a long, long way.
6. Contact Information
Your visitors should be able to find your business’ contact information quickly and easily. Many businesses include this information in the footer on their website, but you can include it in the header or on a sidebar, too.
Be sure to include the address of your business, email information, and a phone number in the event that someone wants to contact you.
Providing your contact information will help make a positive first impression because it establishes credibility and provides visitors with the reassurance that they’ll be able to if they wish to contact someone. In addition, this legitimizes your brand further.
7. The Ability to Search
If visitors are coming to your website, they want something. So make it easy for them to get the information, product, or whatever else they’re looking for by enabling a “Search” function on your homepage.
And if you want to engage visitors even further, you can recommend other products, resources, or pages based on what they have searched for. This will keep them on your website for a more extended amount of time and may even positively impact your website’s ranking on Google.
8. Links to Social Media
If you want to increase the size of your audience, it’s essential to get people to follow your company and engage with your posts on social media. You can use whichever sites or platforms you wish, but pay close attention to where your audience is – as reaching them where they already are can be hugely beneficial.
Add social media icons or widgets to your website in a logical place so visitors can easily find your profiles.
When your following grows, you’ll undoubtedly increase the size of your audience – and more people will see your content as a result. That’s what social sharing is for. And the more people you get to see your content, the more hits your website will likely get.
Create One of the Internet's Best Home Pages Using These Tips
The best home pages have helpful features and functions like those described above.
You can slay the website homepage game by making it easy for visitors to find the information they need, the products they want, or contact information for someone who can help them.
Just follow these tips, and you’ll be on your way to becoming one of the best homepages in no time.
