10 Features Your Website Homepage Needs

The saying goes, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” not, “Don’t judge a website by its homepage.” For many people, your homepage on your website is the only time they’ll ever learn about you or your service. This is why it is very important to make a good, lasting impression. Otherwise, visitors will see your basic homepage and not even bother delving deeper into your website. Lucky for you, here’s a list of 10 features your homepage needs to attract and retain web traffic.

Logo

The most outstanding aspect of your website should be your company’s logo. This will ensure they see the identity of your business and are more likely to remember it. Your logo should also act as a link to the homepage of your website. So it helps to place your logo consistently throughout your website surrounded by empty space so it stands out even more.

Headline or Tagline and Mission Statement

Directly after your logo, your visitors should see your business’ headline and mission statement. This will show your visitors that the mission statement is attributed to your logo. The headline should be concise and tell your audience what you offer and how it benefits them. After the headline should be your company’s mission statement, basically stating what your company’s end goal is and what you’re about.

Call to Action

A call to action is important because it gives visitors directions to learn more instead of trying to find out more information by themselves. This causes them to dig deeper into your website and get the full effect instead of only relying on what the homepage entails. Not only will this encourage a deeper understanding of your site, but it will increase the average session duration of your website.

Simple Navigation

People want to exert as little effort as possible when browsing websites. Visitors want websites to be intuitive and easy to navigate. If your website is confusing and difficult to navigate then people are less likely to stay on your site for longer. Simple navigation also allows visitors to browse your website without feeling like they’re actually trying. This will make your audience more likely to revisit your website if they have had a good experience browsing it.

Photos

A picture is worth a thousand words. If you have a few pictures on your homepage then you basically have a 3,000 word essay without having typed a single word. This is extremely beneficial to your website because people love pictures. Your homepage shouldn’t be bombarded with text; it should be more design and picture friendly.

Awards/Recognitions

Displaying your awards and recognitions gives your website more credibility. It also shows that you’re good at what you do and people recognize you for your work. Don’t overdo it if you have a lot of awards; only put a few that are the most prominent on the homepage. If you’re really determined to show off to the world all of your accomplishments, then it’s probably best to create a separate page dedicated to your awards and recognitions.

Reviews

Customer reviews are another great way to build credibility. Nothing builds credibility more than people telling their experience firsthand. If these reviews are great then it would be beneficial to display them on your homepage. If they aren’t great or they’re negative then it’s best to not bring attention to them on the front page of your website.

Brand Color

Having a clear set of colors that correlate with your brand allows visitors to associate that color scheme with your brand. You don’t want a random assortment of colors randomly scattered on your homepage just because it looks cool. You want unity and cohesiveness throughout all platforms to make your brand as recognizable as possible. It’ll especially look good if you use the color scheme that was used in your brand’s logo.

Benefits/Offers

Who doesn’t love a good deal? Gifting consumers benefits and limited offers makes them more engaged because they are more likely to take action. List the benefits your customers will receive if they use your services. You have to show them what they want to see on the homepage because otherwise they may not put in the effort to delve deeper into your website to find these benefits.

Contact Information Footer

Although your footer is all the way at the bottom of the page, it’s still important. If visitors get as far as to care to read your footer, it most likely means they were decently engaged in your content. So, it’s beneficial for you to have your contact information easy to find at the bottom of the homepage for those who want to reach out after they read what your brand’s all about.