Learn how to design a successful home page for your website using 10 proven tips that will boost your conversion rate & business credibility. The design of your website’s home page is more important than you may think. It’s a reflection of your business and of your core work values. Your home page is the first impression your visitors (and potential customers) will have of you and your brand. You have a split second to visually show them what your business is all about and entice them to take some sort of action. In today’s competitive world, it is crucial to carefully put some thought and effort into designing your home page. Design Features Every Home Page Should HaveIf you’re looking for some great, easy-to-implement homepage design tips, read on as we share 2017’s best practices. 1. Make It Clear What It Is Your Website OffersAs soon as people land on your homepage, they should have an immediate impression of what it is you do. Whether you sell a product or a service, make sure that it’s front and center. Put your best seller (or your top service) right up front. Don’t make them dig for it. 2. Add a Call-to-Action Above the FoldTell your site visitors what you want them to do with a good call-to-action (CTA). Putting your CTA above the fold (in the top half of the page) means they can see it without scrolling – and doing so will lead to more sales. Use split testing to play around with the wording of your CTA to see what gets the most action. Use phrases like “Call Now”, “Order Today”, “Sign up for a Free Trial”, “Join Now”, “Book an Appointment”, or “Find Out More” to encourage site visitors to take action. It should be simple, memorable, and unmissable. 3. Use Relevant, High-Quality Images (That Are Still Compressed)The images used on your home page should be big, bold, and relevant to your business. Use photos or illustrations that help to describe what your website is all about. High-resolution images are great, but often large files, so be sure to optimize your images for the web so they load quickly. Compressed images will also help your SEO. It’s best to use pictures of your own product, but if you have no images of your own or it does not apply to your business, choose stock photos. You can find thousands of relevant stock photos from sites like Adobe Stock, Dreamstime, or Shutterstock. Always use an image editor to enhance them to fit your brand’s color and style. 4. Choose Effective Fonts That Match Your Brand & MessageChoosing a look for your website and brand is important. You want to deliver a consistent design and brand message across all of your digital outlets – including social media. Choose a font family that best supports your brand and use it consistently. It should reflect your brand’s personality: bold, purposeful, whimsical, artsy, or retro – the best fonts for your brand are the ones that speak for you. The bulk of your site content should be crisp, clean, and easy to read, so it’s always best to stay away from fancy fonts or non-web fonts that display as images in some browsers. Web standard is Helvetica Neue, but Arial, Times, Courier, or Calibri are all good choices. 5. Choose Effective Colors That Match Your Brand & MessageSimilar to #4, the colors you choose to represent your brand are also important. Try to choose eye-catching, pleasing 3-color themes that are harmonious and won’t distract attention away from the key features of your site. If you are unsure about what colors will work best for you, experiment a little until you find the right color combinations for your theme. Choose three colors: a neutral palette is best, one that contains a strong or bold accent color, along with a darker/contrasting color for your text. Backgrounds should be white or very light to help your content stand out. Steer away from using too many colors and choose a background color that won’t detract from your homepage content. 6. Have Your Logo Prominently Displayed on TopYour logo’s purpose is, in part, brand recognition. It should reflect your brand’s personality, and it should resonate with, or speak to, your target audience through its design. If you are not particularly design-savvy, hire a graphic designer to assist you with some ideas. When a visitor lands on your homepage, there should be absolutely no question as to where they are. Ideally, they will see your logo and realize that they are in the right place. Display your logo in the header navigation. It should be clearly visible on each page and its design should be responsive – meaning it will look exactly the same, no matter what computer or device your site visitors are using. 7. Use Directional Queues to Guide Visitors Where to GoMuch like a CTA, guiding your site visitors to the pages you want them to land on is key to your success. If you have a range of services, for instance, your homepage should give just a teaser (25-30 words) to the full content, followed by a CTA/link to ‘read more’. This will guide them to your service page, where they will find out about your service or product in more detail. Futuramo uses excellent directional queues to guide users down the path of the page. 8. Remove Any SidebarsSidebars in websites are distracting and they clutter up the streamlined design you are ideally going for. They also make your site design look outdated, delivering a negative appearance before your site visitors have even had the chance to give you a spin. Lastly, it takes up valuable real estate on the homepage that can be used to display products or awesome images. Your navigation should be anchored at the top (it should be in the same place on all pages) and homepage content should be scrollable. There are many reasons for this – the most important one being that our natural tendency is to want to read something like a magazine or a book with titles at the top. 9. Make Sure it is Mobile FriendlyAs the bulk of your visitors are going to be checking out your home page on a mobile device, you need to also keep responsive web design in mind. Ensure that your home page (and entire website) is fully responsive – meaning it will look great, no matter what device it is being viewed on. Test your site before launching to make sure your home page design efforts are being displayed the way they ought to. 10. Keep It Up-to-DateLastly, and this should go without saying, ensure that your home page content is up-to-date in terms of what you are doing right now. Keeping it current with periodic updates and fresh products trending for your business. This will contribute positively to your SEO efforts and assures your site visitors that you are active and open for business. ConclusionYour home page is your calling card. It’s the sum total of the impression your site visitors have of you and of your company, product, or service. It is a clear arbiter of your success on the web. A great home page design will lead your business to success and encourage your site visitors to become true brand evangelists. The post 10 Design Tips for Building a Successful Home Page appeared first on Design your way. from http://www.designyourway.net/blog/web-design/10-design-tips-building-successful-home-page/
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorPleasure to introduce myself I am Jamie 27 years old living in Searcy, AR. I am web developer and have developed over 50 sites for clients. Now a days I am focused on designing as I feel I am lacking it. Archives
April 2019
Categories |