How to Make Your Homepage Design Stand Out
A brand's online presence determines whether it sinks or swims. Your business's homepage is one of its most important assets because it is responsible for creating a great first impression and converting visitors into potential customers.
Many business owners don't realize that if your homepage doesn't follow a strict set of design and user experience guidelines, it's unlikely ever to hit the mark. You've worked so hard to build your brand, so don't let this obstacle stop you from achieving the success you deserve.
We've created this helpful and detailed guide to teach you everything you need to know about what makes a successful website homepage design. Keep reading to learn how you can turn your website's welcome page into your best business asset.
What's good about your homepage design?
Your homepage design is vital because it's your chance to give visitors the best first impression of who you are and what you do. An effective website homepage design should contain the following ten elements to be successful.
- Communicates «Who I am,» «What I do,» and «What you (the visitor) can do here.»
If a visitor can't identify this information about you within seconds of going to your home page, chances are they will leave. This means they will leave your site without taking further action, such as clicking on links or viewing other pages.
The total percentage of visitors who do so is tracked by Google Analytics and is called the bounce rate. The average bounce rate for a site ranges from 26% to 70%. A higher bounce rate is an alarming signal that your content is not what your visitors want and need, causing them to leave quickly.
- Resonates with your target personas
To do this, eliminate all «trivia» by avoiding corporate jargon and speaking to your target audience in the everyday language they know best.
- Delivering a compelling value proposition
- Layout optimized for different devices
Remember that mobile devices account for about 50% of the world's web traffic, so your homepage must be optimized for desktop and mobile devices.
- Integrates the right calls to action (CTAs)
In the end, an essential role of any homepage is to encourage visitors to engage more deeply with what you have to offer. The home page should not act as a simple informational brochure. Instead, it should be designed as a lead generation machine, incorporating both primary and secondary CTAs so the visitor doesn't feel lost or overwhelmed by the choices.
- Layout design is constantly changing.
Some homepages also use A/B testing or dynamic content to ensure their design and content appeal to each viewer.
- Great overall design.
To achieve a great overall homepage design, you need to use several design elements, including:
- Layout
- CTA design and placement
- White space
- Color
- Typography
Using an attractive color palette
Color plays an important role in homepage design because it can be used to evoke certain thoughts or feelings in the viewer. Designers consider human optical abilities, mentality, culture, and more elements to determine the best colors to influence viewer behavior. For example, a red CTA button on a white background conveys wariness and immediacy.
A brand's color palette can also be used on the homepage to increase brand awareness and support its philosophy. Additionally, color helps us process and store images more efficiently than black and white images, allowing your brand's homepage to be more memorable and authoritative.
Effective use of typography
Using just 1-2 different fonts in your welcome page design helps maintain consistency, especially if those fonts are part of your brand's style guide. It also prevents the page from becoming cluttered and positively affects the site's readability, creating a positive user experience.
Include captivating imagery
We've all heard the saying «a picture speaks a thousand words,», especially in homepage design. Not only can images clearly explain a complex concept much more quickly than text, but they can also attract and hold the viewer's attention. This is because colorful visuals increase a person's desire to read content by 80%. In addition, the human brain processes visual images 60,000 times faster than text, making an image a great way to differentiate your product from the competition immediately.
The benefits of a well-designed homepage
Now that you know what elements contribute to a successful homepage design let's look at the benefits of a well-designed homepage for your brand.
Helps your target audience get to know your business
Remember that your homepage should create the best first impression of your brand. Take advantage of this by ensuring your welcome page immediately provides all the information a person needs to know who you are. This includes:
- Your values
- Your purpose
- What you provide
- What sets you apart from the competition
Keep this information short but effective. If viewers want to know more, allow them to click through to the appropriate subpages.
- Improving the user experience on your site
It's important to remember that when a user arrives at your home page, they have a clear goal — to learn more about your products or services, read your articles, or accept an offer. You want your home page to open easily and meet their needs. One of the most effective ways to improve the user experience is through intuitive navigation.
- Increase conversions
Focus on how you can encourage visitors to take the desired action and move them through your marketing or sales funnel. Then design your home page with this fundamental goal to get the benefits of a high-conversion site hub.
- Increases brand awareness
In addition, when you put essential links and calls to action on the site, your visitors will immediately feel the usability and a pleasant experience with your brand.
- Provides easy site navigation
- Encourages users to share your site with others
- How to design an effective website homepage
Step 1: Write a strong headline
The first step to writing a solid headline is to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience.
- What might impress them?
- What language do they use?
What words will interest them and make them want to continue browsing your site?
The key to a compelling headline is using strong words. These words are so compelling that they elicit a psychological or emotional response from the reader. Examples are «powerfully effective» and «best in the world.»
Although they may not seem very strong on their own, these words are incredibly effective when placed in a concise and emotional headline.
When using solid words, focus on appealing to the target consumer's emotions, conveying trust and authority, or stating your value proposition.
Step 2: Think and keep it simple
When designing your homepage, please don't think that by giving the viewer too many options, you'll keep them on the site. According to Hick's Law, the more choices you offer your users, the more time it will take them to decide. This will eventually lead to frustration, causing them to leave your homepage.
Instead, use menu items on your site that viewers can quickly and easily understand. An intuitive and straightforward menu could include the following items, for example:
- About the Company
- Contact
- Blog
- FAQ
- Services
Also, avoid too many conflicting CTAs, as you want to narrow down your conversion choices for visitors. Your home page should have one prominent CTA, while others should be smaller or less obvious.
You want your home page to be eye-catching but not so cluttered with elements that visitors don't know where to look.
Step 3: Use negative space
Negative space, also known as «white space,» serves many vital functions on your welcome page.
First, it leaves plenty of space around images and text, giving them the «breathing room» they need to look visually appealing. Along with the visual appeal, the space breaks down the information into easily digestible chunks, making it easier to scan and improving reading comprehension by 20%.
It also helps visually direct visitors on how to get to the next step, conversion. This is because negative space is used to demonstrate the visual hierarchy or importance of elements on your page. Increasing the space around the CTA button, for example, puts more emphasis on it. This way, it stands out among the other elements on the home page.
Step 4: Use a big CTA phrase that makes sense and communicates value
A high-conversion homepage design is built on the actions you want your visitors to take. Think of it as a roadmap that guides the visitor from their initial landing (point A) to their desired conversion (point B).
That's why the CTA button is so important because it's the most apparent invitation you can offer visitors to prompt their next logical step.
Use a distinctive color to make it stand out from the rest of the page, and make sure it's big enough to impress but not so big that it takes up too much of the page.
Along with the design of the CTA button, you should also pay attention to the call to action itself. Write something exciting and too compelling to pass up. For example, instead of «Sign up now,» write «Sign up now to get a free eBook.»
Step 5: Using the right colors can evoke certain emotions
Statistics show that the psychology of color plays a significant role in the success of your homepage. Not only do 80% of website visitors believe that color increases brand awareness, but 85% of consumers cite color as the determining factor when making a purchase. This is because specific colors evoke certain emotions or thought patterns in the audience.
For example, yellow makes us think of sunshine, happiness, and vitality. On the other hand, red is often associated with anxiety, anger, or passion. It is also important to note that colors have different connotations for different demographic groups.
Colorpsychology.org is an excellent resource for exploring each color and the emotions they evoke. Think about what purpose your homepage serves and how that can be conveyed through a color palette.
You can also refer to the color wheel to see what colors look great together. This includes shades such as:
- Contrasting (opposite each other on the wheel)
- Harmonious (placed next to each other on the wheel)
This is also an effective way to ensure that the colors chosen for your homepage won't clash with your brand's color palette if you're introducing new colors.
Step 6: Keep your unique selling proposition above the fold
Above the fold is the content you see on the home page before scrolling. This is significant real estate on the web page because more than half of your visitors will spend most of their time in this section.
Therefore, the most critical information should be presented above the fold, including your unique selling proposition. If you can't immediately demonstrate the value of what you have to offer the visitor, unfortunately, they won't want to stick around.
Step 7: Use large and eye-catching images
You undoubtedly understand how important images are on your homepage, so using large and visually appealing photos makes sense.
They should also showcase your brand, products, or services in the best light — especially the main critical image. This is because users spend an average of 5.94 seconds viewing the home page's main idea, so make sure it makes a great first impression in size and quality.
Step 8: Include trust emblems and social proof elements
Another key to getting visitors to linger on your site is ensuring that your home page demonstrates your brand's trustworthiness, reliability and authority. The best way to do this is to include trust emblems and social proof elements.
Trust emblems can include:
- Safety symbols
- Customer logos
- Award badges
- Membership badges
- Certification badges
- Press mention logos
- Elements of social proof may include:
- Testimonials from satisfied customers
- Links to customer case studies
- Videos with customer stories
Step 9: Keep the menu simple
The trick to creating a home page menu that complements the user experience is to make the essential menu items visible but make other subpages easy to find.
This can be achieved by creating a hierarchy of topics in the menu. The main menu items, such as About, Contact, Services, or Products, will include a submenu containing related and essential pages.
Don't forget to also place the search bar prominently on the home page, such as in the top corner, to make it even easier for visitors to find what they're looking for.
Step 10. Clarify how to contact you
The homepage of your website is the central online hub of your business, so visitors should have no difficulty contacting you or your team. Make sure there's a «Contact Us» link in the main menu, and the page's footer includes contact information. You can also add a chatbot feature so visitors can get their questions answered in real-time — even if no one is at your desk.
Step 11. A/B testing of various elements of the homepage layout
A/B testing, also known as split testing, is when you test two versions of the same web page, email, or another form of marketing collateral to compare their effectiveness. This allows you to see which options are more popular with your target audience, which will influence your future marketing or design decisions.
Conclusion
Your website's homepage is one of your business's most important assets, as it is responsible for creating a great first impression and converting visitors into critical potential customers.
Remember, it all starts with understanding what elements make up a good website homepage design and what benefits it provides. Also, keeping track of whether visitors like your layout can be beneficial for any adjustments later on.
Finally, creating the right homepage design can be tricky, but armed with the helpful step-by-step information in this complete guide, you're well on your way to a triumphant welcome page.