The homepage of your website is an essential aspect of your presence on the web. It is the first thing that people see when they visit your website, and it is the hub all visitors will go and return to as they are discovering you and your product or service.
From a design point of view, the following are the most important elements of a home page:
- An aesthetically pleasing homepage keeps the user interested. Judgment is passed on the site within the first five seconds, so if it does not appeal to them they will stray away.
- An easy to navigate homepage is essential to the entire websites success. Make sure that they see what the site has to offer right away. You can lose a viewer very quickly if the navigation is difficult. The presentation of your home page has to be well laid out, allowing access to your different pages
- You need simple calls to action on homepage and proper placement of a call-out. An easy to find button or text compelling the user to sign up for something or go to a certain page is important. This will drive traffic to the pages you find particularly meaningful and can excite the user.
- Compelling copy. This is one of the first things the viewer takes in when visiting the homepage. If the copy is not intriguing and inviting to your viewer they will click out of your site. If the homepage content is confusing then the rest of the site will be harder to pilot.
- A simple, yet effective way to share information is through social media icons. Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube are all really important to have on your homepage because this is where you can create viral content. If you find the content interesting, “Like” the page, “Follow us on Twitter”, look at the photo galleries in Flickr, and watch videos on YouTube.
- Overall organization is a critical element to any homepage. All content on the page should be distinguishable from one another, allowing nothing to be repetitive. To have a cleanly organized page allows viewers to find content where it should exist.
Think your homepage could use some work? How about the rest of your site? Why not give The Discovery Communications Group a call. Fill out our contact form or give us a ring at 603-685-0111 and speak to one of our design specialists today about how we can make your website more effective.
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The Discovery Communications Group is an award-winning, fully-integrated marketing agency located in Salem, NH, that specializes in professional web design, search engine optimization, and social media marketing strategy. DCG also provides printing and mailing services to meet every advertising need, servicing clients throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
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