Your homepage is important because it is the first page that most readers see when clicking on your site.
In one my previous articles, I talked about the basic components of web content such as a homepage, an about page, sales copy and the frequently asked questions’ page. For this article, I would like to focus more on how to write an excellent and effective homepage.
Your Store’s Facade
A homepage is an extremely important part of any website. In many cases, it is the page where your visitors land after clicking your site. If you had a brick-and-mortar office or store, the homepage would be the store’s facade which potential customers are able to see even when they are just driving or walking past your shop. Using this metaphor, you can immediately understand how important the homepage is for your website. Even if you have the coolest gadgets, the best discounts and the friendliest salesmen, few people are likely to enter your shop if the exterior features broken windows, a littered driveway and walls crawling with graffiti.
So even if you have dozens of web pages that are excellently written and other nifty features on your site, visitors are not likely to explore it if your homepage content alone is drab and reeking with misspellings and grammatical mistakes.
To help get you started on writing or revising your homepage content, here are some tips to keep in mind.
- Don’t beat around the bush.
Long-winded introductions are almost always never a good thing, especially if you have a reader who is hurriedly looking for something online. When writing your homepage copy, it’s important that you let your readers know what your site is all about and it’s important that you let them know fast. Remember that there are dozens of websites that offer services, products of information that are pretty much similar to yours and your readers can very easily click out of your site, never to return again.
- Show how you stand out.
If you are a great businessman and you are passionate about what you do then chances are there’s something special about your business that makes it stand out from the competition. “Affordable prices” and “great customer service” are worn out sales pitch lines that does nothing for consumers anymore. Even if you do have affordable prices and excellent customer service (which you should), you’re going to have to dig a little deeper than that. And if you have a great business going for you then it shouldn’t be hard to look for something that can make you stand out.
For instance, are your products made from recycled materials? Does it come with a free eBook? Is your service specifically targeted at a particular demographic like single mothers, working students or senior citizens?
- Provide easy navigation
Nothing could be more annoying to a site visitor than landing on a home page and being bombarded by dozens of links to pages that he doesn’t need. When writing your homepage, make sure that you provide links to the several pages that your visitor will likely want to go to. And make sure that these links lead directly to the page. Some web masters thought that they’re smart for leading visitors to several pages before getting to the web page itself, but they are actually just annoying site visitors and driving them away.
These basic tips should help you get started on writing your homepage copy. Stay tuned for more advice on writing effective and powerful web content.
Photo credits: healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net