What makes a homepage attractive

Yes, keeping things fresh requires a bit of investment. Make it easy to engage, offer multiple points of contact: phone, email, social media and maybe an easy-to-use contact form. A Google map is a bonus. Above all, ensure that this information is readily available on an easy-to-find contact page—if not every page of your site.

If your site asks nothing of visitors, they will surely do nothing. What is the purpose of your site? Is that purpose clear to visitors? Even informational sites want visitors to read and share articles, follow the company on social media, download toolkits, join mailing lists or learn more about the organization.

Include an ask on each page. It needs to earn traffic. 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!

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.

The copy and the imagery take center stage for the Nest homepage design. Although the Toastmasters International homepage design might seem a little dated at first, you have to remember its target audience. The organization wants to attract people — usually business leaders — and it does so well. Incorporating features like auto-complete will make searching easier from a user perspective as well.

Zappos has a smart searching tool, which is highly accurate and also updates the filters on the left side based on search terms. When dealing with content-heavy areas on your site, break it up with headers. The more jargon and marketing-speak users have to decipher when they visit your website, the less likely they are to engage with your brand. A friendly, conversational tone will make it easier for visitors to read and understand your content, as well as navigate your site.

Zipcar makes their service easier to understand—and their site easier to navigate—with their easygoing brand voice. If your visitors purchase a product from you, subscribe to a newsletter, or even share your content, a good practice is to display a confirmation screen that shows them their action went through successfully. TheSkimm congratulates and welcomes you after you sign up for their newsletter, with a prompt to share on social media. If you have the resources, hire a quality assurance team so they can test all aspects of your site.

They can click all links, fill out all forms, and try all services. That way, you can fix any bugs before you launch. Invite a select group of beta testers to provide feedback on elements like navigation, design, and major user flows.

You may not make changes based on all of the feedback you received before launch, but you may want to keep suggestions in mind for changes down the road. Updated on July 9, Just how important is your website design? Gain Trust with a Clean, Engaging Website Design The digital design world has embraced simplicity, moving away from bells and whistles and focusing on the basics. Tags: Intermediate user experience website design. Visit AddThis Help. Support Need further assistance?

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