Web Strategies #11

Getting Your Homepage Right

To reinforce and expand my understanding of what makes for a powerful, effective and ultimately profitable homepage, I've been reading the advice of Marketing Guru's all over the Web. I've learned vastly more than you would want to read in one article. Here's a list of advice that covers everything. I give you lots more detail on developing the text and other items of your homepage in the issues to follow.

Make the copy throughout your site simple, easy to understand and honest. What you are going for is an easy informality, familiar, unguarded and relaxed. You want to sound like a real person, and avoid words typically used in sales copy or words that make it sound like you are hyping or pushing something. What works best is writing only about what you really know and care about. I'll have some tips about how to make your copy and layout particularly easy to read on a web site and hold the interest of the typical web surfer who is impatiently scanning a page for content that is relevant to them. And a few surprises, like why you should avoid cleverness and humor on your web site.

Talk about the problems people look to you to solve. Name their pain. The classic example is, "Do you have back pain?". For us it's, "Are you struggling with your web site or confused by the options?" You save everyone a lot of time by naming what you can help with and letting those with other needs look elsewhere. A good web site is like a good date or a good partner. They are focused on you. They have asked what you want, show they have listened to you, and let you know they can help.

Talk about the benefits you bring to people. At this stage visitors don't want to know 'how' you do it but what they'll have after they've paid their money. They'll be free from back pain, or have a web site that helps bring them profits.

For most small businesses a web site is about collecting leads. A sale will not be made on the first visit to your site except a small percentage of the time. Get their email address and perhaps their phone number. You meet someone and get his or her phone number. But whether a relationship develops depends on whether you call them, what you say or do and whether your presence charms them. Same with your web site. You can offer visitors a free report (or something else they'll find valuable) in exchange for their email address and perhaps their phone number. Then it's up to you to keep in touch with them. Will you send them an announcement at regular increments or an eZine? Only when they’ve gotten to know you and trust you will they call you if they need you.

You will want to tell visitors to your site where to go. With each of these items you are trying to look at things as how they appear and sound to the visitor. If someone comes to your house you show them around or invite them into the kitchen to see what’s cooking. On your web site it shows you care when you tell people where to start their tour of your site. And of course they will be more likely to visit the pages you indicate. I have some examples of exactly how to direct people to the places in your site that will be of the most interest to them.

What Not To Do With Your Homepage
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Don't make the homepage too long. Some people, a remarkably high percentage, are reluctant to use the scroll bar on their computer. So put the really important stuff in the space that fits in the browser window and move other important information on to other pages.

Don't let spelling or grammatical errors get by you. Check your work and check it again. Have a friend who loves grammar read it for you as well. My friend Evelyn Brister checks our site.

Don't start by talking about your business or your qualifications. Most sites you visit start with something like, "Acme Road Paving was founded in 1892 to provide high quality road paving to cities everywhere." Instead draw people in by talking about them: what are their problems and what might they be thinking?

Don't forget to include your contact information at the bottom of each page. Sometimes people just need your contact information.

Don't go overboard with the graphics. Graphics play an important role to be sure, but they should occupy just 15-20 percent of your homepage space (more perhaps if you are in an artistic profession). The graphics are there for non-tangible reasons -- reinforcing an image of the business, making people feel comfortable or happy. But the core of a home page needs to be tangible information about the services you provide (or, rather, the problems your services can solve).