How to capture more leads: The importance of an effective homepage
EDGE Creative
Your home page is often the first and most visited web page that your audience engage with. Get it wrong and you run the risk of losing important leads and sales. After all, your home page sets the tone for the rest of your website and is often a visitor’s first impression of your business.
In the article below, integrated marketing agency EDGE Creative outline some important steps you must take in evaluating your home page and making the necessary changes to capture as many leads as possible.
- GOALS
Ask yourself: What is the main purpose of your website? Do you offer a service and want to increase bookings, or do you sell products and want to increase sales?
Depending on your business and the main purpose of your website, you will need to adjust your home page to encourage visitors into converting. Perhaps you want to use your home page as a way of educating visitors about who you are or why your services are important. Think about the main aims of your website, and then adjust your home page to work as part of your wider business strategy.
The main purpose of your website is your decision, but once you understand what it is, it’s imperative that your home page is set up in a way that encourages success for your business.
- DESIGN
Your website needs to be attractive, eye-catching and engaging in order to encourage visitors to continue surfing your website. Homepages that are too “loud” or “noisy” can feel overwhelming, whereas those without images will seem boring and won’t encourage your audience to convert into customers.
Don’t use too many fonts – keep your website simple and to the point. There is also a range of different website features you can make use of for your homepage. Have you considered adding a pop-up opt-in opportunity to entice your target audience into leaving some information so that you can contact them again? Perhaps you may want to design an alert bar with a clear call to action to create a dynamic homepage experience and communicate new things that are happening with your business.
- CONTENT
Making use of content is essential for your home page, but use too many boring words or technical jargon and you run the risk of disengaging or confusing visitors. This will cause them to bounce back off your website and find another business’s (usually your competitors) website.
Create content for your homepage with your target audience in mind. Design customer personas and ask yourself what these customers would like to know about you and your business. Can you provide them with this information instantly and in an effective way? It doesn’t have to be long and confusing – try and get to the point and be crystal-clear about your business.
It’s also worth optimising your website for search. If you haven’t, it doesn’t matter how nice or engaging your home page is, you won’t be gaining traffic in the first place. Search engine optimisation, or SEO, can be achieved by using tools like SEO Monitor to research into the right keywords for your website. Use these words in your copy, and apply them to your titles and meta-tags. After all, you can have the world’s best home page, but if you haven’t optimised your content, you’re missing out on integral traffic.
- WEBSITE
Your homepage needs to drive traffic to the rest of your website. It should highlight key features of your business while also offering enticing options for visitors to learn more about you, your services and get in touch directly.
It’s important that you recognise your key audience and adjust your homepage and website to increase engagement. These changes should be carried out regularly in order to ensure you are always making the most out of your website. Measure your successes – review your average page views, time on site and bounce rate to get an understanding of how your homepage and website are working. Tools like HotJar, for example, can trace and record how individuals are acting on your website. If your findings show that people aren’t converting, change things around on your website to see the effect.
When it comes to your website’s home page, a small tweak can make a huge difference. Your website needs to build brand, capture data and showcase your services and products in order to increase leads, sales and grow your business.
We understand that the last few months have been difficult for businesses across the country, which is why we are currently offering a complimentary digital audit followed by a consultation with an expert digital strategist or account manager. To claim yours and see how EDGE Creative can help you, email jessica@edge-creative.com.