Design Thoughts

Creating Effective Websites Part 1 – Homepage Design

This is the first article in a series that will identify key strategies to improve website effectiveness (the website’s ability to convert visitors into customers).

So let’s start at the beginning - the homepage. The homepage is the single most important page on your website. In most cases, it will be the most complex page since so much needs to be conveyed to the new visitor. Good design and hierarchy are both key elements to this page’s success.

Rule 1: Inform, but don’t give too much away.

Your homepage should serve as a gateway to your products or services. You want to get people interested enough to click around to different parts of the site in order to learn more. Drawing people into the website is the primary goal for the website. Think about why your visitor is at your website. Give them a taste of what they are looking for and get them to click. Once they are inside the website, they are far more likely to stick around and read more about your business.

Rule 2: Change it often and keep it relevant.

Keeping your homepage up to date tells return visitors a few things about your company: 1) That they have a reason to keep coming back, 2) You are proactive in your business and new things are happening, and 3) It can introduce new ideas and products to them.

If you are running an advertisement that mentions your website, make sure your homepage is ready to receive those new visitors! The first thing they should see when coming to your website is a continuation of the advertisement. Guide them to the next step in your sales process. If they are on your site, they either want to know more or are ready to buy. Help them do this in as few clicks as possible and you’ll see online sales increase.

Rule 3: Important stuff goes at the top – above the fold.

First, what does above the fold mean? The “fold” is the point at which your visitor must scroll their browser to continue to read. For the technical folks, the average safe area is between 500 and 550 pixels in height.

Your most important pieces of information should be immediately visible. If there is a lot to be said in this space, interactive elements could be implemented to allow your user to pick what they want to know more about.

However, scrolling on the homepage is not a bad thing. To keep a page from scrolling means severely limiting the space available for content. A better approach is to establish a hierarchy of information and build the homepage around this.

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