Our checklist will tell you all the ingredients you need for a successful home page. The homepage is a great tool as you promote your business and draw in potential customers. There are a lot of parts to an effective homepage. We know that by understanding these better and knowing more about how to use them, you can improve the effectiveness of your homepage. Below, we have created the ultimate homepage checklist. 

Headline

Your website needs to get your main point across as soon as possible. This is done using a headline. The headline is the main text used to state your purpose on your home page. It needs to be attention grabbing and to the point. You can clearly offer up the value proposition of your business. It’s important to use persuasion and keep the visitor’s attention with all copy on your homepage.

Sub-Headline

The purpose of the sub-headline is to elaborate on what has been said by the headline. It’s important to keep it brief and focused on a main point. It’s a chance to add additional explanation but avoid jargon. Between the two of these components it is extremely important to be clear and simple.

Primary Calls-to-Action

Your homepage’s purpose is to grab people’s attention and convince them they want what you have to offer. A Call-to-Action (CTA) is a prompt on a website to guide visitors to take a specific action. These are crucial for your website to fulfill its purpose. They can be as simple as a button with phrases such as, “Call Us!” or, “Buy Now!”  You can have multiple CTAs, but be weary of going overboard. 2 or 3 should be sufficient and keep them near the top of the homepage.

Branding

The branding on your website plays a vital role in positioning your brand within the market. Branding is the elements and themes that tie the different aspects of your business together. This is both in the real world and with your online presence. It associates visitors to your website with your company through all their interactions with your company. The elements of branding can be logos, fonts, and color schemes.

Visuals

Without the use of visuals, your website will be boring. Visuals are anything from graphics that reflect your brand to pictures of the product or service being sold. This is a great opportunity for creativity and for your business to display what it is that you offer. The Hero Image is the main supporting image front and center on your homepage. Some websites use videos or replaying short videos, but it is important to avoid distractions from the purpose of the page. Another thing to avoid is using boring stock photos. Use enticing and fresh photos as much as possible. Be sure to use bold and eye-catching visuals to support the main points of your homepage.

Navigation Tools

Websites can house a lot of information. This makes it hard sometimes to find what you want. This is where navigation features come into play. A navigation menu up near the top of the page can offer a simple way to change between pages. Be sure to keep it clear and uncluttered. Another tool to consider adding is the search bar. Both tools will help visitors find what they are looking for in a convenient way.

Content Offer

A “content offer” is to provide something, usually a piece of original content, for free. This gives potential customers a taste of what your business has to offer. This is great for finding leads. Similarly, you can choose to have a content promotion section. This is where you can show various articles and resources that will be a benefit to them from your website.

Features

When describing what it is that your business does, it is important to use features in the education process. Features are the capabilities and qualities of your products or services. This is the part where you explain all that it can do. Keep the copy of your features light and easy to read. I can give an example of what features are with a car. The features could be referring to the kind of engine, the bells and whistles on the dashboard, and the types of lights attached to the car. All these different components are features.

Benefits

The features are great for telling people all that your products or services can do, but to really personalize things, you need to explain the benefits. The benefits are the positive things that your products or services will do for customers. This would mean that if you were to offer some sort of protein drink, you could tell the customer about how this drink is easy to make which will save them time. Benefits put emphasis on the positive effect that your product or service will provide them. Again, you’ll want to keep things simple and speak to the customer’s understanding. This part is where it gets personal for them.

Social Proof

Social proof, also sometimes known as “Trust Indicators,” are a way you can earn trust with your website’s visitors. These evidences can be product reviews or testimonials. Putting faces with meaningful and short quotes can be very effective. You may also want to link to pages with more information.

Secondary Calls-to-Action

Like the primary CTAs, the secondary CTAs are like a back up plan. These are meant to provide additional conversion opportunities when your site’s visitors don’t take interest in the primary CTAs. All the same principles of your primary CTAs can be applied to your secondary CTAs.

Resources

Many times, your visitors will be on your website with the intent to learn. They will not always be ready to buy on their first visit. This is where additional information resources are important. There needs to be enough information available to help them know more about your business and what you have to offer. Links can be a helpful tool to direct them to the additional information sources on your site.

Success Indicators

Another way to establish a reputation with visitors to your site is through success indicators. These are things like awards, recognitions, and guarantees. These show the customer what sorts of standards are upheld with your business’ products or services. They reinforce the reputation you are building for your brand.

Footer

Lastly, you will want a well-organized footer section. This is the bottom of your homepage where visitors will be able to find additional information on your business. This can include your contact information, some additional navigation links, and links to your different social media channels. 

When used correctly, each of these parts play a significant role in helping the visitor on their journey to becoming a customer. It’s important to remember that you keep the homepage simple, understandable, and the branding consistent. Using these components from out list effectively will ensure your are maximizing your homepage’s effectiveness.

If you have any comments, questions, or marketing needs contact us. We’d love to help!

-The Forge Team