A new visitor has reached your homepage. You’ve got less time than it takes you to read this paragraph in order to capture their attention. Crazy huh?
It’s true. If you don’t capture the attention of a visitor within five seconds of them reaching your website, they’re statistically likely to leave. That means you’ll be sending them back to the search engine and on to your competitors.
The first focus point for a visitor on your website will be your hero section. This is the area at the top of your website that will have your big bold mission statement.
You know the one… where you’re saying: “We do [thing] for [people] who get [benefit]”. Except you say it in a much cooler way, right?
This first statement is the thing that will hook in a visitor. It tells them if they’re in the right place and draws them to your page. You’ll usually accompany it with a nice illustration, a photograph or maybe even a video.
Finally, there will be a clear Call To Action (CTA). This is the one thing that you want a visitor to do. It could be to visit an enquiry form, go to a pricing page or something else. One clear action that you want your visitors to take.
After this initial section, you’ll then have more content on your homepage talking about your products or services.
The content on your homepage should be talking directly to your potential customers. It’s really important to avoid using “I” or “we” too often. It may seem like your website is about you, but it’s actually about your customers. You need to show them that they’re in the right place to solve their problems.
Human beings will skim through content before they decide to read further. So any content on your homepage should have a clear descriptive headline. It’s smart to tell a story that will take the skimming reader on a journey as they scroll down your homepage.
You can use imagery to break up the content on your homepage. A lot of people will choose to use stock images for this. These are photographs that can be licensed for a reasonable fee.
Just remember that stock images are not always best for grabbing the attention of a visitor. There’s nothing more boring than an accountancy website with a photo of a calculator or an abacus. Sorry if you really like the abacus...
Custom illustrations or videos can be more engaging for your visitors. They can tell a story in a way that is unique to your business.
Don’t forget to add social proof to your homepage. Reviews and testimonials from your customers are really important and they should be featured prominently.
When you show potential customers that you’ve already got happy customers using your products or services, it helps to build trust. They can see that you’re delivering on your promises and that you’re likely a good fit to help them.
Social proof can be in text format and sometimes even in the form of a video. The latter is a little harder to encourage your customers to do, but if you’re able to get video testimonials, you’ll find that they are very powerful. It adds a great deal of authenticity when a potential customer can see a real human speaking.
Finally, always remember to repeat your CTA at least once more. As I mentioned before, it’s the most important action that you want your visitors to take. Giving them the opportunity to take that action more than once is very smart.
If you’d like to talk about your homepage, I’d be happy to arrange a call with you where we can run through a Homepage Review. Click here to book a call and let’s make that happen.
Your homepage is crucial to your business. It needs to load quickly, capture attention and let your visitors know that they’re in the right place.
Don’t make the mistake of sending visitors to your competitors for free. No-one wants to help their competition to get more sales.
To your success,
Tri Lastiko
SAB Digital Marketing Agency
