Your website's homepage often creates the first impression, so it deserves special consideration. Here are some tips.
- Ensure your brand is visible: Name, logo, tag line etc.
- Establish your company's identity i.e. style of writing, colour scheme, graphics, typography etc.
- Establish credibility: Use customer testimonials, customer ratings, contact details etc.
- Get your key message across loud and clear: Use a great headline
- Keep text short, succinct and relevant
- Your homepage should be mostly short descriptions and links
- Imagine the questions that people will come to your site with. Ensure that they can get the answers
- If you have a search box, place it near the top of your homepage
- Remember that people see web pages differently (according to what screen they're using); keep important information near the top of the page
- Ensure that people can do their key tasks on your homepage e.g. sign up, browse your products, check availability, contact you etc.
- People who come to your homepage will (hopefully) be heading somewhere else on your site; make site navigation clear and easy
Reference
Redish, J., Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works. (2007) Morgann Kaufmann Publishers