The roadmap to an effective website
If you don't engage visitors with your home page within seconds, they'll leave your site.
Five Home page must-do's
One
Say what you do in the main heading
The main heading on your home page should summarise what you do in 2 lines or less. Don't write "Welcome to my website" or "Welcome to the website of My Business" as this communicates nothing to your visitor.
Two
Tell your visitors why they should choose you
How are you different to your competitors? Explain the strengths of your product/service in the first paragraph of the page, ideally below the main heading.
Three
First impressions really matter—so make it interesting
Is your site dull, boring, confusing? If people get a bad first impression, they'll leave within seconds. Good quality, relevant photos help add colour and interest to your home page. One large photo is more effective than lots of small ones.
Four
Create a call to action—get them to do something!
What do you want your visitor to do? Call to actions will vary from business to business and could be a button that links to a page, to a shop or a product page, to Facebook or it could just be a phone number in the header. Guide the customer through your site.
Five
Assume that people don't read your paragraph text
Most people won't read long website text unless it's broken up by clear headings. People can quickly skim headings to find content that is of interest to them. Don't put important messages or calls to action inside paragraphs.
Why is trust important?
If there's no trust, the person viewing your website won't make contact and you'll lose a lead.
Build trust with the following things,
Great about us page
Having an image of the owners, uniformed staff, sign written vehicles, business premises etc can help increase trust with visitors.
Detailed testimonials
If you can get testimonials from your customers, this will increase trust. Adding the name, business & town of the person who gave the testimonial adds weight.
You need a logo
A business with a professionally designed logo adds legitimacy and shows that you're a real business that your website visitors can trust.
