These 10 website homepage best practices are a great place to start to make sure your homepage is elegant, informative, and compelling.
Do you know why they call it a “homepage”?
Our home is our starting place. It’s where our journey begins each day. And on your website, your homepage is just the same: where a user’s journey begins.
So as such, it’s important to get it right!
Get your homepage in tip-top shape with the following website homepage best practices.
A Headline that Says What You Do and Who You Do it For
When a person arrives at your website, the first thing they are going to ask themselves is: “Am I in the right place?” By making it crystal clear right off the bat what you do and who you do it for, you can answer this question right away so they can take their next step in engaging with your content.
A Strong Call to Action
What do you want your website visitor to ultimately do while visiting your website? Do you want them to sign up for a video series opt-in, book a complimentary consultation on your calendar, subscribe to your blog – or something else? Whatever your objective, get clear on that first, and then make sure you’ve got a nice big, bold, and colorful button on the upper portion of your homepage that allows them to do just that.
Compelling Photographs
A picture is worth a thousand words, but I think a picture online is worth two thousand. Why? People don’t read every word when they’re online – they merely skim – so your photos play an even bigger part in creating a visitor’s impression of you, your brand, and your quality of service. Choose photos that convey how people will feel if they choose to work with you. Choose photos that evoke the emotion you want your visitors to feel. Do you want them to feel excited? Joy? Relief? The right photo can say it all.
Easy Navigation
Three quick tips for navigation: 1) Make your page names super clear. There should be no guessing or uncertainty about what someone will see when they click on a page name in your navigation. 2) Keep them concise. Most of the time, you can easily communicate what’s on a page in just one or two words. 3) Keep it in the same place on every page. Your navigation is what keeps a visitor anchored during their visit to your website. Keep it clear, keep it consistent, and keep it easy.
A Featured Testimonial
Your clients looooooove you. I mean, they really love you. Most likely they long to shout it from the rooftops. So let them! Go through all your client testimonials and choose the juiciest sentences you can find. You know the ones I’m talking about: the “my life was transformed” and the “she is a miracle worker” and the “I’m SO thankful I found her” quotes. People need to read those. A fantastic client testimonial can put to rest of the skeptic that all of us become at times when we’re considering hiring someone.
Your Latest Blog Post
You work so hard on that blog post every week, so why not keep your website “spruced up” by adding your latest post to your homepage? It adds in a little continuous freshness to your homepage that you don’t have to think or worry about, and also encourages visitors to check out your blog where they will begin to understand the true expert in your field that you are.
Easy to Find Contact Info
Do you know what people love? When things are easy. Like, ridiculously easy. And what do you think the #1 complaint I hear from people about websites is? You guessed it: “All I wanted to find was their phone number!” In whatever way you prefer people to contact you (phone, email, Calendly, contact form, etc.) make it obvious and easy to find.
Links to Social Media
On your homepage, make your social media icons visible … but not *too* visible. After all, with all the efforts we make to get people to our websites, do we really want them to leave shortly after they get there? Put your social icons (of social feeds for that matter) in your footer and make sure the primary user focus on your homepage is on your services and, of course, getting in touch with you! Once a visitor arrives at the bottom of your homepage, they’ve at that point seen all the good stuff, so if they decide to head on over to Facebook and become a follower instead of signing up for a consultation, that’s awesome.
Looking for more website homepage best practices?
Check out Savvy Homepage Secrets, my free 5-part mini-course that shows you how to turn visitors into customers with a savvy homepage – or read another one of my posts, Website Homepage Ideas: 3 Designs That Will Inspire You.
