There are several factors when building or re-building a website to consider.
The first thing to think about is what type of website you have or are going to have. Is it going to be informational only or for selling purposes – direct and indirect, and/or will it have a demo or trial of your product or services?
Even though all websites differ in style, content and offerings, there are a few standard elements that all home pages need to have to be effective.
Unique value proposition
- What are the 2-3 things that only you do or can provide that differ from your competitors?
Company overview
- A blurb about your company – it can be either your mission statement or a brief synopsis of who you are and what you do
List of your products and services
- Highlight either your most popular or your most profitable products or services
- If you provide several different lines of products or services, make sure there is a enough of a sampling of the different types so the viewer has an idea of your full scope of capabilities so they can find what they are looking for
Conversion tools
- A short form requesting basic information to capture leads visiting the website
- Examples include: Sign up for a newsletter or subscription to your Blog, download a white paper, sign up for a demo or trial, or it can be as simple as a request for more information from your organization
Ways to connect with you
- People often forget to add phone numbers and addresses—it makes it easy for people to contact you and it enhances a small business’s credibility
- Easily recognizable icons for social media – if your organization isn’t active yet, get to it because social media is here to stay
- An easy to find link to your full contact information if it’s not all on your homepage
Credibility builders are a good way to make visitors comfortable and to build confidence right up from that you are legitimate and can provide the products and services they are looking for. A few items you may want to have on your home page are Testimonials, Quotes, and a news feed to either publications you’ve been in, company news, events or recent blog posts.
Always make sure to research keywords and present them throughout your site, but most importantly on your home page. These keywords will increase your standing on search sites and provide you with more qualified prospects who are finding just what they are looking for.
A home page shouldn’t be crowded and confusing, but it should have enough basic, yet enticing information to capture a visitors’ interest and to engage them in furthering their connection with you – whether through a request for more information, downloading a white paper, signing up for a trial, or contacting your organization directly.
Remember, your website is today’s business card, company overview and product brochure all in one. Utilize the home page as you would a storefront window display, door to door product demonstration and yellow page ad all combined to entice a prospect to walk through the front door, stick around to browse and eventually, hopefully make a purchase and come back in the future.
You only have about 6 seconds to capture your audiences’ attention and for them to decide if you are worth taking more of their time to move forward and learn about your offerings.
