What Does Your Homepage Say About You?
Most people will make their judgments of a website based on its homepage. This is akin to judging a book by its cover; we know we shouldn’t but more often than not, we will. For this reason, your homepage is one of the most important branding images you will create for your small business.
Take a moment to analyze your existing website. What does your homepage say about you? Is your design quirky or traditional? Is the information simple and direct? Is it easy to navigate? The quality of these components alone will send your customers a message about the quality of service they can expect to receive.
Your homepage will also become a central communication hub and will often be found through online searches, direct referrals and revisits. You can create a positive and lasting impression on your customers by incorporating these simple techniques that provide an impressive homepage experience.
Keep Your Homepage Simple
A comprehensive homepage should include these basic principles and not much else: contact information, your company overview or message and a logo. These factors should build trust and encourage readers to click around for more information. The purpose of the homepage is not to sell to your customers but to entice them into seeking more information.
While many well-known brands may have a jam-packed homepage, keep in mind that they have had years of research and experience to understand exactly what works and what doesn’t for their own website and market. Save yourself the headache, and keep your design simple when launching and maintaining a company website.
Optimizing Your Homepage
Article and blog content are both an importance factor within SEO, but optimizing your homepage is an essential step that many webmasters miss. Your homepage should be one of the most visited pages of your site, and it is important to make sure that you have some simple data entered into your code to ensure that the page is identified easily by Google and other major search engines.
Optimize your website with the inclusion of meta-tags, a page title and appropriate location-based keywords within your code and homepage content to boost your online presence. This information will identify your website as an expert within your field, and consequently, search engines will recognize your site more quickly.
If you are unsure of how to complete these final all-important homepage steps, please contact an expert on SEO for more information.
Navigating to and from Your Homepage
Once your visitor knows that they are in the right place, make it easy for them to freely navigate your website. This is also great way to build your site’s reputation; websites that have consistent user interaction are often ranked higher. Don’t over complicate this process. Your readers should be able to land on the page that they require within three clicks from the homepage or less.
Finally, do not leave your homepage creation to the last minute. This often results in a dizzying design that confuses readers or lacks purpose and navigation. If you feel your homepage must include a more complex design theme or you are unsure of where to start, Pinpoint Digital, LLC offers a free website consultation service to help get you started. After all, the last thing you want to do is create a negative impression!
