What makes a great homepage

Otherwise, all that effort in design, UX and content development will be for naught. There are hundreds of rules and guidelines for effective search engine optimization , so here are a few to start with:. Make it as easy as possible for visitors to share your content.

Social can drive large volumes of traffic and positively impact your search ranking. This is a high-level overview of seven deep topics! These basic tenets will help you start getting more value out of your web presence as you move toward the great website you need. For a deeper dive, contact us. Ideas On Purpose is ready to help. So, what makes a great website? Well Designed and Functional Your site reflects your company, your products, your services and ultimately your brand.

Easy to Use Site visitors are always in a hurry. Optimized for Mobile Today there are no excuses, your site must look great and work well on any platform. Fresh, Quality Content Be succinct, interesting and new.

Clear calls to action If your site asks nothing of visitors, they will surely do nothing. There are hundreds of rules and guidelines for effective search engine optimization , so here are a few to start with: Use page titles and meta tags on every page and alt tags on every image. No offers, right? You also want your homepage to convert. As I said above, a broken front door and an inaccessible driveway prevents future buyers from even considering the sale.

The same goes for your website. The first step in winning over more customers is to understand the essential elements that should go into every homepage. A simple homepage design welcomes your audience to your site, tells them what you want them to do next, and allows them to explore your site in more depth. Always begin with the basics. What do you need on your homepage? What will your audience expect? And which elements take priority? In web design, homepage elements have very specific purposes.

Many of your website visitors will find your homepage first. With that in mind, you need to make a solid first impression. Consumers visit your website with a purpose. It could be to check out your product line, read your blog posts, or find out if you sell a particular type of service.

Regardless, you want to direct that consumer to the appropriate page. Your homepage design should facilitate this transition by providing intuitive navigation and a sense of how your website flows. By making this information easily accessible on your homepage, you will see an uptick in conversions. Another way to boost conversions is to create a strong first impression with your homepage.

Make your company memorable by allowing your brand image and messaging to come through on every page. This is especially true when it comes to your homepage design because the homepage serves as the gateway to the rest of your website.

Your logo , tagline, and purpose need to take center stage. In fact, you might even want to add a form or statement to the very top of your homepage — preferably in a large font — that gives your visitors a sense of what you do:.

What problems do you solve for your customers? Make it clear from the get go. Now that you know the four goals to motivate your design principles, ask yourself three guiding questions: What do you absolutely need on your homepage? Who is your target audience and what will they expect? Which elements take priority? Once you have the answers to these three questions, you can begin plotting out how best to improve your homepage.

Remember to tie each of your design elements to one of the four goals listed above. Website optimization is an ongoing process! The marketing copy is very simple here. Dropbox knows its target audience and drills down on pain points that affect them, including efficiency and security. I love the Slack homepage design because of its unique illustrations.

Slack makes it clear what visitors should do. They can sign in or create an account. Here, we have more navigation options than Dropbox provides, but each contributes to helping visitors find what they want.

It wants to provide clean energy at an affordable price. There are two equal CTAs — one for residential customers and one for business owners — that use contrasting colors to draw the eye. CarMax encountered a unique challenge when designing its homepage. The company both buys and sells cars, so it needed to cater to both audiences. As you can see, CarMax succeeds. Multiple CTAs direct visitors to either find a car to buy or to sell their used car.

Clean and simple. Ecommerce homepage design can get tricky. Do you introduce the business, show off your flagship product, or overwhelm your audience with tons of products or categories?

Apparently, boho style is in at least for women , so we see a custom graphic that advertises lots of boho fashions available. The navigation is hefty but cleanly designed, so visitors can easily find the categories that interest them. Minimal elements, flat design illustrations, and muted colors make the StudioPress homepage design shine. If you scroll down, you encounter expandable content just below some more social proof.

This is a lot different from the other examples on this page, but I really love how Abacus Plumbing has structured its homepage. It might look a bit cluttered, but this homepage includes a ton of social proof. You might have heard me say once or twice that I love minimal design. I would. The homepage design is attractive and perfect for the Century21 audience. Nobody would ever call me a fashion expert, but I like the overall homepage design on the Mark Jacobs site.

Additionally, consumers will immediately notice the free shipping order in the top bar and the well-spaced navigation links. Laura Worthington has created a homepage design that reflects her approach to designing fonts. Skype has created a homepage design that addresses its target audience perfectly. Then you have the three things people use Skype for: talking, chatting, and collaborating. The CTA button with the blue background and white text calls attention to itself beautifully. From the logo to the marketing copy, Fitnessblender has created an awesome homepage.

Sign me up! You also have the male and female models, both of whom look fitness-ready, to capture attention and motivate the audience. Links can be a helpful way to provide a mini-sitemap or encourage the user to check out interior pages. Providing links to social media accounts is a great way to encourage visitors to engage with your company on another medium.

It also adds to your social proof and provides another method of connection and communication. Video content, when used properly is evergreen. It is perfect for repurposing, consolidating, or recapping information, and providing another great way to consume content. This is great for both homepages as well as other pages on blogs.

For example With a full team of designers, developers, copywriters, and digital marketing experts, we have all the resources you need at our fingertips! Contact Global Reach for a Free Consultation. Tagged As: Blogging , Video. Skip to main content. CTA 5. Footer Bonus Feature "I need help!

Logo Your logo should be visible at the top of your website. Navigation Straightforward and intuitive navigation is another vital feature your website should include in the header.

Headline Within a matter of seconds, your website needs to communicate to visitors what you have to offer. Photos To put it simply, people are visual. Text Content The language of your site matters. Footer An informational footer is arguably as important as your header navigation. Bonus Feature: Video Content Video content, when used properly is evergreen. Ready to Transform your Homepage? Archived Articles. Search Search Posts.

RSS Feed. Subscribe to Email Notifications. The 2nd Largest Search Engine on the Internet. Spring Clean Your Google Analytics. How to Beat the YouTube Algorithm. Categories Branding and Graphic Design. Content Marketing and Sales.