Optimizing Your Homepage for More Conversions

How important is a homepage? Let’s see.

10 years ago if you asked the question: “What makes a great website?” the answer would have been as simple as ‘they have one” or “a site that looks nice.”

Today, the game has changed…big time.

If you asked the same question now, 9 out of 10 times, regardless of the industry, the answer would be “I want to find what I am looking for, and I want to find it quickly.”   

Don’t get me wrong, looks are still important, but the real priority is searchability and speed, specifically on your homepage. The goal in mind should be always be getting visitors to the 2nd page.

Think of it like this, once someone has shown interest and is on your homepage, that first page should answer the classic retail question, “Can I help you find what you are looking for?”

If the user doesn’t move to the next page, they aren’t moving down the sales funnel and you have potentially lost your opportunity.

Here are 4 simple steps to help streamline your homepage:

1) Keep your goals in mind

Users want to find what they’re looking for quickly. With this reality, overloading the homepage with Calls-to-Action buttons, text, video, banners, and offers can have the opposite desired effect. Keep on task and don’t allow elements of unnecessary distraction.

2) Let the sliders go

Despite the trend, sliders are NOT a great use of real estate on your homepage. A user is looking to solve a problem. The sliders slows the visitors down and is simply a distraction that rarely converts.

3) The headlines are not about you, they’re about the user

A great homepage headline talks about a problem your business can solve. It shouldn’t be about the product or service you provide. Be clear and simple. It’s the first thing that will be seen.  

4) Less is more

Don’t try to tell users everything about your business. The homepage, as mentioned previously, is meant to get users to page 2. Once there, you can begin the teaching phase. Although information about the company history and members are great to have, slamming all of that text on a homepage distracts from the goal.

For more information about website planning, check out our website refresh guide! We’ll walk you through the best practices for building an optimized site.