As we approach 2022, a new year, a fresh start, a chance to put new strategies in place for the upcoming year and to update our existing marketing tools. Here, we’re looking at what makes a great website homepage going forward.
In 2022, your website will still be the most important asset in your online marketing toolkit. With this in mind, we’ve outlined the essential elements that are key to making your homepage fantastic and really work for you.
Why is your website homepage so important?
Well, your homepage is essentially the ‘front door’ to your business. Obviously, not every visitor will land on your homepage first, but mostly it is still the most common initial point of contact.
As this is the case, then your homepage obviously needs to explain the essence of your business in about 8 seconds with beautiful imagery and compelling content in order for your visitors to want to find out more about you and your business.
Here are our 12 key elements that make a great website homepage
1. Your Logo
Your logo is probably one of the most important images on your website. It needs to be visible immediately, explain your business and identify your brand. It’s usually placed at the top and sometimes also at the bottom of your homepage. It strengthens your business credibility and underpins your branding.
2. Your navigation
Great UX, commonly known as ‘user experience’ is essential for a great homepage. Your navigation bar should be visibly located and easy to understand and use. Mostly, navigation bars are placed in the centre at the top of the page and should also include a search bar, which will help your visitors get to the information they require quickly. Navigation bars can also be duplicated at the bottom of the page too.
3. Headline sections
These are important elements because they can quickly translate to your visitors what your website’s about and can provide powerful information quickly and with impact.
4. Calls to Action and Messages
The aim of a call to action button is to get people inspired and motivated to learn more about your business, its products and services. They’re placed on your homepage in order to get people to take some sort of further action, instead of just leaving your site within seconds. CTA buttons are powerful sales tools and can be used for a myriad of reasons – to grow your email list, download e-books, newsletter sign-ups, and encourage people to watch your latest video or podcast.
CTA buttons should stand out from your website enough for people to be directed to them easily and be motivated enough to fill them in.
5. Testimonials
Testimonials from existing customers are highly important on your website. Firstly, they provide your business with credibility and secondly, people want to hear other peoples’ experiences about your company. They can underpin your company messages and give new visitors confidence in your business. Very often a horizontal slider is used for testimonials which provides a dynamic user experience.
6. Photos and Galleries
As they say ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ and this is especially true when it comes to creating an exceptional website homepage. People are visual creatures and they identify with imagery very quickly. Plus the fact that you can get your message over quickly and effectively with the right imagery. Try to use people in your imagery, where appropriate and hire a professional photographer for the really important product shots.
7. Text Content
Engaging text copy is imperative to your homepage. The tone of voice, the sentence length and the vocabulary should be considered and aligned to your specific target audience. If content writing isn’t your ‘thing’, it’s a really good idea to engage the services of a copywriter because they’ll understand your target market, can write with SEO and keyword optimisation in mind and will create compelling sales copy.
8. Colour Scheme
Consider your colour scheme carefully! Think about what image you want to project. Different colours project different emotions – for instance, dark blue evokes professionalism and dependability, whilst orange evokes energy, vitality, cheer, excitement and warmth. We suggest you play around with a colour scheme and work out which colours represent your business best and which work well together.
9. Typography
The style of your content is important too. Firstly, it really MUST be easy to read, not only on pc’s but on all devices, including mobiles and tablets. Google actually penalise businesses if their typography isn’t mobile friendly, so it’s important to make sure that the style you use works well across all devices. You can use 2 different fonts, but we would suggest no more than this because it gets messy. However, there are many different font sizes that you can use to highlight important messages or headings.
10.Team Section
It goes without saying that your team is probably the best business asset you have, and as such, it’s important that you let your visitors know the people who are behind your products and services. Remember that ‘people buy from people’, so a good image, a short bio and their position in the company of each team member is important for visitors to establish who they’re actually dealing with.
11. Footer
The footer of your homepage is as equally important as your header. This is where you put your contact information, links to any social media platforms you use, latest Twitter and Instagram feeds, links to blogs or newsletters etc. You can also put your navigation bar in your footer too, and any privacy/returns/delivery policies you may require visitors to know.
12. Animation
It’s stated that you only have around 4-8 seconds to impress your visitor when they land on your website homepage. Keeping them engaged and interested to know more is the key to a great homepage. Consider using parallax animation, motion plugins or Lottie json animation files to enhance your user experience, portray your message and motivate your visitor to take action.
So there you have it! Our 12 key elements that make a great website homepage. We are Dynamic Sales Solutions – Website and Design specialists in Gloucester. We are experts in all aspects of marketing with over 20 years’ experience and hundreds of customers in and around Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas. Take a look at our website for more information on what we do and how we can help you, or give us a call on 01452 534 860 – we’d be happy to help!