Thursday, February 21, 2013

Creating Your Homepage Design-What You Should Know

By Dean Versoza


Your homepage is the most important page of your website because that is the first page most visitors will see. If your homepage doesn't make a good impression, a visitor may never come back. To get the most out of your traffic, you should focus on making your homepage stand out from everyone else's. Use the following tips to make the most of your homepage so people will stick around your site.

Because the traffic you receive on your homepage is gold, you can't afford to let it go. If somebody leaves your website without doing anything after visiting your homepage, you lose. If you get contact information for your visitors, however, you can get in touch with them through email marketing. Following up with prospects is a great way to turn them into customers, hopefully long term customers. They may not be in a position to buy when they first visit your site, so you should ask for their contact info and follow up with them because it can take seven follow up emails to convince them to buy. You'll be able to build a targeted email list, as well, when you get contact information on your homepage.

Another factor that can make a huge difference is having the right graphics and images. The homepage of your website has to have the best graphics/images because like they say, the first impression is the last impression. Make sure each and every graphic that is used on the homepage is relevant, passes on the message and gives the page a professional feel and look. If you need to hire a designer to make your homepage look it's best, do so because this is the most important part of your site. If people like the design of your website, then they will proceed towards the content. When you have great graphics on your homepage, you increase the stick rate of your site and increase the number of people who come back. Remember that every visitor is a potential customer, so don't risk losing them because of a bad design.

Your homepage is the gateway to your site. This is where a lot of your visitors will enter your website during their first visit. This is why it is imperative to have a strong call to action on your homepage that stresses the main goal of your website. This should be how your homepage is handled even if you are promoting more than one product. Call to action words such as "Buy Now" and "Get Your Free Trial" are really powerful in turning your visitors into customers or leads. If you are not using call to action words to your website's advantage, then you are overlooking a huge amount of possible business.

Your homepage is the ideal place to showcase any deals or promotions you've currently got running. Your visitors will assume anything displayed on your homepage is important and will be more likely to check out any deals they find there. Highlight your deal by using a good banner ad or even text links. You need to add external things to give your readers a peek into the available opportunities in addition to making your homepage attractive. So, at the same time you're building your business, you're making your homepage more valuable. You can't afford not to invest heavily in creating the perfect homepage for your business site - it's just too important. The other thing you want to do with your homepage is keep it simple.




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