
The Top Aspects You should Remember when Designing Your Home Page
by Josh Biggs in Digital Marketing, Tech on 30th May 2020Any web designer and developer would probably tell you that designing an effective home page is one of the most critical tasks, because the home page is typically the first page your visitors will see when they come to your website. Additionally, the home page can point your visitors in the right direction to learn more information about your products or services and the benefits. Not only this – the home page will also determine whether your visitors will leave rapidly or linger longer.
So what does it take to design the ideal home page for your website? Here are some pointers you may want to take on board.
What makes an effective home page?
When you plan your home page layout correctly, this will help you attract and retain visitors. You need to come up with a proper flow in order to guide visitors through your site. The goal of a home page is to help your visitors quickly identify your website, what it’s about and help them engage with your company. By helping visitors find out where they can take their next steps to what they are looking for, you will be giving them what they need to find what they are seeking. The next steps can vary from visiting a service or product page to downloading a guide, watching an informative video, signing up for a newsletter, or submitting their contact information. It’s up to you to essentially guide your visitors on what they can do next.
- The content above the fold
Your home page should have two layouts: the above the fold layout and the below the fold layout, as confirmed by the seasoned web designers and developers at Expre Digital Ltd. The above the fold layout is the content visitors can see if they don’t scroll down when the home page first loads, and the below the fold layout is the content they can see only when they decide to scroll down.
All your visitors will see the home page content above the fold, so you should pay particular attention to this layout if you want to retain their attention enough for them to visit the layout below the fold. Your above the fold layout should include your primary or most essential content. The content should contains a headline detailing what your company does, a sub-headline defining your product or service and a prime call to action which gives directions and tells or asks your visitors to take their next step. For above the fold content, videos or images are always a good bet but make sure they are relevant to what you do. Too much information can be as bad as too little information.
- The navigation bar
Your navigation bar is your roadmap that shows visitors where the important information is and, more importantly, what is essential about your business. The rule of thumb with the navigation bar is to include only pages that are necessary. You should also come up with logical groupings of links that are related. Additionally, keep your page titles descriptive, short and sharp in focus.
- The content below the fold
Content below the fold is there to primarily support your content above the fold, and for this, you would need content that isn’t as important as what is above the fold but still crucial enough to convince visitors to remain on site, to delve deeper to see what is available or on offer. It should also contain additional information such as a list of benefits (how you can improve people’s lives), indicators of trust (customer feedback, testimonials, success stories, and professional accreditations), and a list of features which showcase how you stand out from the rest of your competitors.