Essential Homepage Tips and Help for Web 2.0 Design
Your home is the most important page on your website. This statement can be true or false. Your home is the most viewed webpage on your site. It can either grab your visitor’s attention or scare them away. Your home can bring in the traffic and your other pages have problems. Then you still fail. It is good to put some extra time and attention to the front page, but remember that your other pages need their attention.
Home isn't the Most Important
Website designers put more time into the homepage than any other webpage on the site. And why shouldn't they? This is the most unique page of a website. It summarizes all your content and information into one page that leads visitors to other webpages. It is as important for a visitors to know what your webpage is about when they visit.
Content is just as Important
Giving visitors the impression of what your site is about is a good start. The second phase is giving them a reason to stay. What can your website offer them? Content, information or entertainment should be your answer. You only have a couple of seconds to answer these questions. Visitors will stay longer and come back if you have something to offer. Quality content is the key. The better content you have the more visitors you are going to have.
Essential Homepage - Simple and Clean 2.0 Design
Having a simple and clean website design can slow them down. Have your navigation either at the top or at the left side. These are the most common places in web development and surfers have gotten use to having them there. Have common font and big enough to read. Watch the colors you have your background and text color. These small easy fixes could slow down your web surfers to stay and see what you have to offer.
Try to Keep things Updated
Ok, you have traffic coming in and they are staying, Congratulations! Now some of your visitors are coming back to see what you got. It is important to have up to date content. Try to add more and more content and information. Keeping your homepage consistent, but give them something new. If you have an ecommerce website, give them new deal banners or product pictures. If you have news, keep them posted on what is going on recently. Keep your page fresh.
These Homepage Tips are just a Start
Doing some of these techniques for your pages could change the way your visitors react. The goal of your website is to have people visit and use what resources you have. As a designer, try to keep your mind in the state of a first timer web surfer finding your site. It is hard to do, but finding this could change the whole look of your website. Just keep it simple, clean and unique.
