The home page of your website is your company's face to the world. Today, many potential customers will look at your company's website before doing business with you even if they don’t plan to buy anything from you online.

These 10 tips will help you produce a killer home page that will help reassure potential customers that your company is worth doing business with.

1. Include a tagline
A tagline is a short phrase that characterises the website, summing up what it is and what makes it great. When a phrase appears next to the company logo on the home page visitors realise it is your tagline. Some things to consider when picking a tagline:

  • Make them clear and informative.
  • Make them the right length, around six to eight words is about right.
  • Make them differentiate your business and show clear benefits of using your site.
  • Try to make them personable, lively and clever without obscuring the benefits.

For example:

  • World’s largest archive of cheat codes and game tips.
  • The single best source for facts on the Net

Use them. They are very efficient ways to get across your message.

2. Use a good “window” title
The window title is the name that appears in the top left of the web browser. For instance, below we can see the Google home page (www.google.co.uk) with the title Google – Microsoft Internet Explorer in the window title area.

Window titles are used by search engines and are very important to get you noticed. Start your title with your company name, followed by a brief description of the site. Don't start with words like "The" or "Welcome to" otherwise you will be listed under "T" or "W".

3. Group all your company details in one place
Finding out about the company is rarely a user's first task. However, people do need details about who you are. Good corporate information is very important if the site hopes to support recruiting, investor relations, or PR, but it can also serve to increase a new or less well-known company's credibility. An "about us" link is the best way to link to in-depth information rather than filling the home page with lots of detail.

4. Make it obvious where to start
When looking at your homepage a visitor should be able to say with confidence:

  • This is where to start if I want to search.
  • This is where to start if I want to browse.
  • This is where to start if I want to see their best stuff.

On sites built round a step-by-step process such as applying for a loan the place to begin should leap out. Similarly, if registration is required it should be prominent. On other sites make entry points look like entry points. For instance, make search boxes look like search boxes, the list of sections should look like a list of sections and so on. Also label things clearly like “Search” or “Browse by product”.

5. Include a Search Box
Due to the power of searching you should include a search box on your home page unless it is very small and well organised.

When a site visitor wants to search, they typically scan the homepage looking for "the little box where I can type," so your search should be a box. Make your search box at least 25 characters wide, so it can accommodate multiple words without obscuring parts of the query.

6. Create “teasers” of your content
The film industry often creates “teaser trailers” of movies in order to generate interest in forthcoming films. Your home page should use the same technique to provide “teasers” of your website content before the user can see it.

For instance, you may have a news section. But instead of saying “this site has a news section with many stories covering a variety of topics” provide headlines that give an idea of what each story is about which links directly to the full news story on another page. Not only does it save space on the home page but it also generates interest in your websites content.

7. Begin Links with the most important keyword
Users scan down the page, trying to find the area that will serve their current goal. Links are the action items on a homepage, and when you start each link with a relevant word, you make it easier for scanning eyes to differentiate it from other links on the page.

8. Offer easy access to recent home page features
Users will often remember articles, products, or promotions that were featured prominently on the homepage, but they won't know how to find them once you move the features inside the site.

To help users locate key items, keep a short list of recent features on the homepage, and supplement it with a link to a permanent archive of all other homepage features.

9. Don't make your graphics look like ads
Users can dismiss graphic and colourful boxes as ads if they are poorly designed. Be careful when using colour and don’t overdo it otherwise visitors to your site will ignore content and concentrate on areas of the page that look more useful.

10. Use meaningful graphics and pictures
Don't decorate the page with graphics and images for the sake of it. Images are powerful communicators when they are relevant to the content, but they will confuse if they seem frivolous or unconnected. Make sure your pictures are worth a 1000 words.

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