The homepage of your website is like the lobby of a hotel. Visitors are not going to linger there, but they expect it to be attractive, comfortable and properly signposted. So how do you create a homepage that invites a visit?
Your homepage plays a big role in conversions. In just 8 seconds, your visitors have already formed their first impression. They decide whether to continue browsing on the homepage or go elsewhere.
The first thing to know is that the content of your homepage should give them a clear idea of who you are, what you do and what your values are. This way, you’ll encourage them to keep exploring… until they convert.
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How do you create a striking homepage that will dazzle your visitors? Here are our tips!
1 – Avoid clichés from image banks
Pretty smiling people, brightly lit backgrounds, fake situations… Photos from image banks are not very convincing and hardly elicit an emotional response. On the contrary, they can damage your credibility.
Use original and authentic visuals to captivate your visitors. Opt for real images of your team, on your premises. If you market products, highlight them with high quality images.
2 – Segment your targets
Upon arriving on your homepage, the visitor must immediately visualize the help you can provide. Even more so in B2B! The potential buyer has no time to lose, he wants to know if he is in the right place or if you have an offer specifically dedicated to his needs.
Here are the answers to show on your homepage:
Do you help companies of his size?
In his sector of activity?
Do you have offers for different professions?
It’s simple, effective and easy to understand for visitors. They know immediately if the solution corresponds to them and where to click to continue their visit.
3 – Present your value proposition
Your value proposition answers the question of why. Why should a visitor choose you over your competitors?
To answer this question, play on feelings and emotions. What can a user feel before and after using your product or service? Emotion is a powerful trigger for action.
4 – Provide evidence and credibility
Do you know what social proof is? It’s about providing evidence of user satisfaction. According to Hubspot, 88% of Internet users trust reviews from other customers as much as they trust recommendations from their friends and family.
Surf on this need for prescriptions to improve your homepage. For example, you can:
Incorporate statistics, testimonials and short case study summaries into your homepage content.
Use namedropping by adding the logos of your best-known customers.
Indicate awards obtained from legitimate and recognized sources.
5 – Present your offer in less than 2 minutes
The idea here is to make a product demo or introduce your team in a short way, right from the homepage. The best way to do this is through video.
Give an overview of how your product can help the customer, in a video of less than 2 minutes. Beyond that, attention may wane and the visitor may leave the site.
If your service can’t be put in video, you can always opt for an animation.
6 – Include contact information
Most customers use the website, during the initial research phase (the awareness phase in the online buying journey), to evaluate potential providers, suppliers or products.
After their research (and thus their navigation on the site), they may be tempted to contact you. To do so, they will return to the home page! So make sure that this information is visible and actionable.
7 – Promote job offers
Are you hiring? Post it on your homepage. Firstly: this increases the number of applications, and therefore your chance of finding the rare pearl.
Second: a company that is hiring is often growing. If it is growing, it means that it offers quality services. This sends a positive message to visitors and improves their first impression.
8 – Direct visitors with call-to-actions (CTA)
Like a hotel lobby, you need to guide visitors. Where should they go according to their needs? Think about adding call-to-action buttons adapted to each step of the conversion tunnel.
Make sure your call-to-actions are clearly visible. If they blend in too much with the design of your page, they may not be clicked. Use colors that attract the eye, while integrating with your graphic charter.
Beyond the design, work carefully on the texts of your CTA. A button that simply says “Contact” or “Contact Us” is not enough incentive. Try more engaging phrases.
For example, at SLN you can find call-to-actions like:
“Get to know the SLN Team”.
“Download your Free Guide”.
“Your Free Inbound Marketing Audit”.
9 – Personalize the content
From the home page, the customer must know that your site is designed for him, and only for him.
Work on your design in a dynamic way, so that the entrance of the site changes according to the type of visitors (prospects or identified customers), their origin (social networks, sponsored ads, organic traffic…) or their previous behaviors.
It’s likely that you can’t implement this level of personalization yet. Still, make sure that each visitor type feels taken care of with adapted content. Use the terms and jargon used by each target audience in a section dedicated to them.
This multiplies your chances of keeping them on your website.
10 – Avoid aggressive pop-ups
To convert visitors into leads, they need to leave their contact information, that’s a fact. But if you ask them for their email address as soon as they arrive on the homepage, they will run away.
Instead of a pop-up that opens immediately, add a CTA directing to a landing page to download your latest white paper or subscribe to the newsletter. You can also set up an exit pop-up, which is only triggered if the visitor wants to leave the site.
11 – Avoid sliders and carousels
Sliders and carousels have been trendy for several years. But this is not the case anymore! While they allow you to present all your offers, they weigh down the loading time (an important SEO factor, you know).
Moreover, they display too much information in a short period of time, which can create confusion.
The solution? A clear and relevant call-to-action! Present your value proposition, what sets you apart from the competition and invite visitors to learn more.
In this example, QuarksUp does not detail all the features of its tool. The company presents, in one sentence, its solution and encourages users to directly request a demo.
12 – Optimize the footer
Often forgotten, the footer acts as a safety net! It catches visitors before they reach the bottom of the homepage… and decide to leave the site.
Very effective in helping users find their way, optimize it by including your most important sections: request a quote or a demo, contact, main products or services, etc.
13 – Simplify navigation
Simplicity is often the key word when it comes to the homepage. This is also true for the menu! The visitor must quickly identify the tabs and information that can help him solve his problem.
Avoid proposing a too deep navigation and prefer to highlight the most consulted pages, through a striking and intuitive design.
In general, try not to put too much information on your homepage. You can be easily tempted to present everything you offer in detail on your homepage.
This is not its role! Think of it more as a mix between the introduction and the summary of your site. The homepage should be used to redirect each visitor to the right section of your site, according to their profile and their needs.
14 – Integrate keywords
The work concerning keywords is different in the context of SEO for the homepage. You need to go beyond a single term approach and avoid those related to your business.
The solution is to extend your reach with several thematic phrases, containing your location and/or your main services.
Include them in your business descriptions on your homepage, in titles and subtitles, in meta descriptions as well as Alt attributes of images.
Give Google a global view of your site’s thematic by using a large part of the semantics of your activity sector.
15 – Choose a strategic title tag
The title of your homepage is the ideal place to highlight the value of your business. Ideally, address a need, while including your company name.
This allows you to capture both prospects who don’t know your company and those who are specifically looking for it. In any case, the objective is to interest a mature and qualified target.