Your homepage is likely to be the first part of your website that customers see. Therefore, it needs to be able to capture them straightaway. By the time someone leaves your homepage you should have in some way got them to do what you want them to do on your website. But how?
The one thing that your homepage should have, above everything else, is a clear call-to-action. They should leave your page (whether they’re leaving your website altogether or whether they’re moving to a different section of your site) having achieved your desired call-to-action, or one of the options you give them.
Firstly, you need to decide what it is that you want people to have done before they leave your homepage; do you want their details (ie/ data capture), do you want them to sign up to your newsletter, do you want them to request a quote for work, do you want them to download a freebie, do you want them to advertise their service on your site, do you want them to create an account/profile on your site? There are lots of possibilities but you first need to decide what it is you want them to do.
Then, make it clear to them. Make sure that if you want them to sign up to your newsletter, that’s exactly where their eyes are drawn to and they’re persuaded that that’s what they need to do. A clear, persuasive reason to sign up to the newsletter could be “sign up to our monthly newsletter for special offers and discount codes delivered direct to your inbox”. This clearly explains what they’re signing up for (a monthly newsletter) and the benefit they’ll get from it (special offers and discounts). Then make the button clear, a boxed “Sign Up” in a colour that stands out. You can A/B test different colour options, but orange is usually a clear favourite, just look at Amazon
Don’t try to fit everything on to your homepage, it will look cluttered and it will put people off. We have a post about the 5 questions your homepage should answer to help keep clutter to a minimum. Keep it concise, remember that there are other pages on your site that people can explore to find more detail.
If you’re having a tough time getting your homepage ‘just right’ and need help getting rid of the clutter and clearing up your call-to-actions, get in touch to see how we can help: hello@webfwd.co.uk
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