Get Better Results From Your Homepage…
Can you remember searching for a company online and finding their website was hard to navigate, looked cluttered or poorly designed? Did you hang about and look around or were you just put off by the first impression and looked elsewhere? We would put money on the latter and we don’t blame you either! It does make you question what your audience do when they arrive on your website so here are some tips on how to design your homepage to deliver the best impression and get results!
— Establish Your Identity
One of the most crucial elements to consider when designing your website homepage is ‘What Is Your Goal’ and the main initial objective should be to make a statement about who you are as a company. Quite often people fall into the trap of having too many goals and therefore having a confusing cluttered design.
Your homepage needs to do three things to achieve this goal and make it clear who you are and what your identity is;
- Introduce you brand clearly & concisely through design and a statement
- Give your audience a clear route to other key areas of your website
- Ensure your first impression on your homepage is memorable through catchy design and appealing aesthetics
— Less Is More
Try not to over complicate the design by having too much going on. Some people fall into the trap of creating quite a complex homepage with lots of widgets, links, call to actions and this can distract and overwhelm the audience causing them to click ‘back’ and not look at your website again!
The key is to not make your website visitors have to work to find what they are looking for, because they will simply get bored and frustrated. Keep your home page simple, clean and modern with the following key design elements:
- Plenty of imagery or white space to create room for the eyes to focus on the key message
- Easy to read text, both in terms of design and how the content is written
- Clear labels and buttons that help enable the end user to navigate easily and quickly throughout your website
— Design Around The Fold
The web design phrase ‘Above The Fold’ refers to the top part of the home page that appears before you click or scroll. This comes from the similar reference to a newspaper fold where the most important news story would feature quite literally above the fold.
It goes without saying, the same message here is to ensure the key message, brand and identity should be delivered clearly above the fold before anyone has to scroll.
It is important to remember, we live in a mobile world now so what may be the ‘fold’Â on a computer will need to also work well on a mobile and create the same impact so be sure to make sure not only the balance of your content is right but it works across all devices too on a responsive web layout.
—Pick A Good Font
And stick to it! The Font you choose for your website should tie in nicely with your brand but also it is good to choose a secondary font for headings and other design elements but be sure to not go overboard or choose something that is hard to read at different sizes. You want to ensure your homepage is cohesive and uniformed. Opt for simplicity and legibility over fancy elaborate fonts.
Did you know, the font you choose for your homepage can apparently have a psychological effect on your audience and influence their feelings towards your brand. To choose a good suitable font for your homepage, you must really know your business and understand your identity for you to build the brand around your website.
Google fonts have a huge collection of fonts that work in all browsers and devices – here is a good article we have read that talks about how to choose the right font for your website!
—Simplify Your Colour Scheme
Colour choice is also a key element in designing a good homepage and it too can also have a psychological effect on your visitors with how they engage with your site. By choosing a poor colour or very stark, contrasting colour that does not compliment the brand of style of the homepage can cause visitors to leave the site.
Using a combination of too many colours can also have a negative effect on your homepage design. Too many colours in harsh hues and contrasts can make your head spin and not focus on the main message or structure of the website. Choosing the wrong tone or colour which is outdated could also make your audience think you are living in the past and not actively marketing your business. It is a good idea to keep in line with current trends and consider seasonal changes.
When in doubt, go neutral and don’t be afraid of white space!
—Inspiring Imagery
Your website is a visual window into your company, your brand and what you can offer. It is all about that first lasting impression and by utilising the right imagery or video can really have a positive effect. People react to graphics and imagery differently than they do to words. Make sure your home page includes bold imagery that encapsulates your brand and vision.
Choose imagery that inspires your visitors to learn more about your company and look further around your website. Stock imagery can really produce something WOW factor to add to your website but it is always advisable to take the time, if possible, to get some professional photographs done yourself as this gives off such a professional, high quality impression.
In Summary…
From appealing to your visitors to providing them with a user-friendly structure and navigation, your homepage is the main portal through which your audience can discover more about your company and make the decision if they will do business with you.
Talk to us about a homepage audit & how our design team can enhance your existing design to get more results!
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