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7 Ways to Make Your Home Page a Home Run for Usability
Written by: Stoney G deGeyterArticle Overview: Your home page is the single most crucial page of your site. This is the page that will be the primary entry point for a majority of your visitors. It is also the page that sets the stage for the rest of the site giving visitors a birds-eye view of who you are, what you're about, what you can do for them, what you offer, and how they get the information needed. The importance of making sure your home page is user-friendly cannot be understated. This page, more than any other, has to pull together so many elements without being overbearing or overloading the visitor with information overkill. Despite the over-reaching purpose of the home page, simplicity is the key. Provide the necessary information and usability elements and you'll lower your bounce rate and improve site conversions along the way.
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Free Download - 6 Quick and Easy Accessibility Issues That Make Your Visitors Happy By Stoney G deGeyter |
7 Ways to Make Your Home Page a Home Run for Usability
Your home page is the single most crucial page of your site. This is the page that will be the primary entry point for a majority of your visitors. It is also the page that sets the stage for the rest of the site giving visitors a birds-eye view of who you are, what you're about, what you can do for them, what you offer, and how they get the information needed.
The importance of making sure your home page is user-friendly cannot be understated. This page, more than any other, has to pull together so many elements without being overbearing or overloading the visitor with information overkill. Despite the over-reaching purpose of the home page, simplicity is the key. Provide the necessary information and usability elements and you'll lower your bounce rate and improve site conversions along the way.
*** Site identification ***
The home page’s first function is to convey to the visitor what site they are on. Company name and logo must be clearly and obviously displayed.
*** Identify page ***
Visitors should know that they page they have landed on is, in fact, the home page. A quick glance at the page should make this obvious.
*** Site overview ***
Home page content should provide an overview of who you are and what you do. It should go on to introduce the main areas of your site, giving visitors the opening to continue through to the information they came for.
*** Calls to action ***
Use textual and image links that convey a distinct call to action that drives the visitor to the desired destination.
*** Splash pages ***
Splash pages should never be used. These pages serve very little purpose and tend to annoy visitors.
*** Minimize content ***
Home page content should be kept to a minimum. This page should serve as a jump off point (enticement) to direct visitors to the deeper sales content pages.
*** Minimize scrolling ***
Vertical scrolling should be kept to a minimum. Ensure that most important information is visible "above the fold".
Article Tags: birds eye view, bounce, conversions, elements, enticement, glance, home page content, important information, information overkill, jump off point, little purpose, page visitors, simplicity, site overview, usability
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About the Author: Stoney G deGeyter RSS for Stoney's articles - Visit Stoney's website Stoney deGeyter leads a spectacular team of seasoned marketing experts at Pole Position Marketing, a Search Engine Marketing Company. Stoney started PPM in 1998 by finding the brightest minds in the industry and nurturing within them an intense desire to become leaders in their respective fields. With this team of professionals, he has built a wildly successful website marketing company that succeeds through both personal and professional integrity. You can read Stoney’s blog posts at the E-Marketing Performance blog and more of his work on several well-known SEO and marketing news sources including Search Engine Guide and Web Pro News. Stoney has authored two website marketing books: E-Marketing Performance: Effective strategies for building, optimizing, and marketing your website online and Keyword Research and Selection: The definitive guide to gathering, sorting and organizing your keywords into a high-performance SEO campaign. Click here to visit Stoney's website 12 Product Page Conversion Strategies That Shant Be Ignored 13 Ways to Lose ROI on Your SEO Campaign Search Engine Friendly is NOT Search Engine Optimized 12 Privacy and Security Issues Your Customers Care About 9 Tips for Creating a Site Map for Visitors and Spiders |
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