![\"5](\"http:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/5-Steps-209x300.jpg\")
Is it time to update your homepage? Has your company mission recently changed? How long has it been since this page had a graphical and\/or copy refresh? There are five simple steps that can help you build a superior home page.<\/p>\nIs it time to update your homepage? Has your company mission recently changed? How long has it been since this page had a graphical and\/or copy refresh? There are five simple steps that can help you build a superior home page.<\/p>\n
Many of us create homepages without thoroughly understanding how important they are to the overall success of the website. Unless you are bringing your potential customers to a product or service landing page, the overwhelming majority of your visitors judge the effectiveness of the website based on your homepage. It\u2019s an ideal opportunity to position your brand and set the tone for the entire website. Remember: Website user data suggests you\u2019ve got only, at most, 10 seconds to capture someone\u2019s attention. Your homepage must be dead-on or you\u2019re cooked.<\/p>\n
Although everything quickly runs its course (and this is abundantly true on the web) and is instantly replaced by a new set of norms, it makes sense today to pay attention to the following 5 tenets:<\/p>\n
1. Your Company Name & Logo<\/strong><\/p>\n Do: <\/strong> Don\u2019t:<\/strong> 2. Your Layout and Overall Presentation<\/strong><\/p>\n Do:<\/strong> Don\u2019t:<\/strong> 3. Your Text<\/strong><\/p>\n Do:<\/strong> Don\u2019t:<\/strong> 4. Your Images<\/strong><\/p>\n Do:<\/strong> Don\u2019t:<\/strong> 5. Your Rotating Ads<\/strong><\/p>\n Do: <\/strong> Don\u2019t:<\/strong> Do you have any tips you can share from developing a home page? Please share them in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is it time to update your homepage? Has your company mission recently changed? How long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1462],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8576"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9197,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8576\/revisions\/9197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.123print.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– \u00a0Make sure your company name and logo is clear and easy-to-read.
\n– \u00a0Consistently show your company colors throughout the site.
\n– \u00a0Keep your tagline \u2014 if you have one \u2014 brief and that it goes to the heart of\u00a0what your company represents<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0While it should be instantly visible, don\u2019t allow your company name and logo to dominate the header.
\n– \u00a0Don\u2019t make the logo so intricate that the visitor cannot quickly identify who you are.
\n– \u00a0Don’t get lost in the crowd. Create a company logo that differentiates you from the competition.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0Keep the homepage clean, well organized and easy to navigate.
\n– \u00a0Position key images and associated text above the fold where your message can be viewed and quickly understood.
\n– \u00a0All call-to-action buttons should be\u00a0clear and prominently featured.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0Avoid an overpowering presentation cluttered with images, gratuitous text, a jumble of fonts and colors, banners and call-to-action buttons.
\n– \u00a0Stay away from busy backgrounds that can cause the text to become illegible.
\n– \u00a0Don\u2019t center everything on the page. Keep it visually exciting and enticing.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0There\u2019s no substitute for strong, effective text that efficiently tells visitors your story. Keep it fresh and up-to-date.
\n– \u00a0Write for the benefit of your visitors, not Google. If you follow this truism, you will ultimately satisfy both.
\n– \u00a0Be brief. You have the rest of the website to go into more detail.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0Don\u2019t over-write. We live in an age of the incredibly short attention span. Less is more.
\n– \u00a0Avoid making all of your text bold, underlined and italicized or upper case. It\u2019s ineffective. You wouldn\u2019t do this on a printed piece, so why would you permit this approach on your website?
\n– \u00a0Stay away from blinking, flashing text. It\u2019s disorienting and, even worse, outdated.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0Use good quality photos. They will speak volumes about the professionalism of your website.
\n– \u00a0Select images that instantly convey what you are trying to accomplish.
\n– \u00a0Watch the speed. A web page must load faster than 2 seconds, or you risk losing both customers and sales. Compress your images by creating consistency across your HTML and CSS code.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0Refrain from having too many images \u2014 keep them to a minimum.
\n– \u00a0Avoid using graphics that can be misinterpreted as call to action buttons.
\n– \u00a0Don\u2019t forget to add a description of each image in the HTML \u201calt\u201d tag. This enables the visitor to identify the image even if the image does not open. And let\u2019s not forget search engine optimization: \u201cAlt\u201d tags help add important keywords to your website.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0Your initial slide is your most important slide.
\n– \u00a0Prioritize the critical message behind each ad and determine whether some (if not all) of the content can be edited, consolidated or deleted.
\n– \u00a0Limit the number of rotating ads to a maximum of 5. Research tells us that most visitors view only one of those ads \u2014 whichever one is showing when they land on the site \u2014 and then navigate into (or away from) the site.<\/p>\n
\n– \u00a0It\u2019s not compulsory. Rotating ads show no proof of increasing conversion rates and may only succeed in confusing visitors.
\n– \u00a0Since most visitors will probably not view all of the slides, be sure the links featured on them are also available elsewhere on the homepage.
\n– \u00a0Don\u2019t rotate them too slowly or too quickly \u2014 approximately 5-7 seconds seems to be the accepted norm.<\/p>\n