Important Features for Every Website’s Homepage

The homepage of your website sets the stage. It invites people in and encourages them to explore your website further. For many people it may be the first impression they have of your company or organization.  

First impressions are important and whether in person or online, you don’t want to make a bad first impression. But if your websites homepage is poorly designed it will frustrate users, resulting in a higher bounce rate. A poorly designed homepage is hard to navigate, uninformative, and does not showcase your organizations brand in a clear and attractive way. There are several key features a well-designed homepage should have that will help you make a good first impression.  

Key Features Your Homepage Should Have: 

Branding:  

Branding makes you memorable and recognizable, your logo, color scheme, and the photos you place on your homepage are an important part of branding.  

  • Logo

By adding your logo to the top of your homepage it helps reinforce the name and brand of your company in your visitors’ mind. Most logos also link to the homepage, so that as they explore your site, they can always return to the homepage by clicking it. Your logo should be placed at the top of your homepage, most often in the top right-hand corner.  

  • Color Scheme: 

Much like your logo, designing a page that incorporating a specific color scheme in the design of your homepage helps make you recognizable. And, visitors will begin to associate this look with your company. 

  • Hero Shot: 

The term “hero shot” refers to the main image on your homepage. It is important to make sure whatever image you choose for your hero shot is a good representation of your company and its brand. It should be meaningful and serve a purpose on the website.  

When deciding what photos to include on your website don’t just go with any old stock photo, find photos that are relevant to you. There are many websites that offer free high-quality photos that are free for commercial use. Take the time to look around and find the best images for your website.  

Navigation:  

Your homepage should be inviting in a way that makes visitors want to explore your website further. That’s why it’s important to have user-friendly navigation set up on the homepage. This means having an organized menu structure and, depending on the size of your website, a search function.  

Headline: 

Use your homepage to communicate who you are and what you have to offer by adding an intriguing headline. You can also include a subheading or a short paragraph of text. Draw visitors in with the heading then add s brief 2-3 sentence description about your company and the services you offer.  

Call To Action:  

Include a strong call to action (CTA) on the homepage to encourage visitors to interact more with your company and your website. Your CTA button can link to contact forms, subscription/enrollment forms, or other pages on your website. Your example if your website is an ecommerce site, then your CTA may be a “Shop Now” button that links to your online shop.  

Footer: 

The footer of your homepage is something that is easy to overlook but is actually very important. Your footer should be informative and you’ll want to carefully consider what information to include. Contact information, a map or location, social media elements, and other helpful links are examples of information to include in your website’s footer.  

Other Features To Include on Your Homepage: 

All the features listed above are things that every homepage should have. But you can also include some of these other elements on your homepage.  

Testimonials: 

Including customer reviews or testimonials on the homepage will help new clients trust you more, and will increase their level of interest in your services or products.  

Special Entry Points:  

If your website services different groups of people like, staff, customers, or members you may need to include special entry for a subset of visitors. In this case you should include a “sign in” option on your homepage.  

For help building a website to achieve you goals and promote your brand contact MIBS, Inc. Our experienced web designers will work with you to customize a functional and secure website to meet your needs.