“Marketing-Focused” Thinking Should Drive Your Website Design Today
The homepage is often a prospect’s first impression of your website. Long, scrolling pages are the expectation these days, so think of your homepage elements as a bit of journey. Don’t try to cram it all above the fold, let people get further and further as they scroll.
So that visitors can get the most out of landing on your website, consider implementing the seven elements below.
1. The promise
The purpose of the promise headline, above the fold on your homepage, is to show the visitor that you understand the challenges they face. You need to make them a promise that will solve their problems.
2. Call to action
A call to action (CTA) is an image or text that prompts visitors, leads, or customers to take a specific action. CTAs help to guide people through the customer journey and advise them on next steps.
Your call to action can be to request more information, schedule a consultation, or download a free report. Make sure it’s relevant and useful – the days when people simply signed up to receive an email from you are over, but people still want to be led to useful activities and resources that get them closer to solving their problems.
3. Video
Many companies are beginning to feature video on their homepage, and for a good reason! Video allows you to give people a real sense of who you are, what you stand for, and let people hear your story. It’s also a great way to produce content to engage your audience.
Some put this in the nice to have category, but I think it’s a must these days for small business websites.
4. Trust elements
You need to have elements that build trust on your homepage, whether they be logos of current customers or testimonials for your audience to glance over. Have reviews or accolades you want your audience to see? Make them easy to find and place them on the homepage.
This is almost a content category for many businesses as things like reviews, case studies, and testimonials should be part of your ongoing content building efforts, but once you collect them use them to build trust and social proof.
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5. Changing content
It’s a good idea to feature frequently changing content from your website on your homepage. For example, place a blog or social feed on the homepage that shows recent activity. It’s a great way to show your company is active and to keep content fresh on the homepage.
6. Content upgrades
A content upgrade gives people the ability to download premium content in exchange for an email address or capturing a lead. This is an essential element for conversion on your website. If they download this content, this expresses interest in what you do. Take this opportunity to give them more valuable content moving forward to nurture them through to the sale.
The key is to make the upgrade, a checklist or eBook for example, highly relevant to the blog post or content where it is featured.This is an essential element for conversion on your website. If they download this content, this expresses interest in what you do. Take this opportunity to give them more valuable content moving forward to nurture them through to the sale.
This is an essential element for conversion on your website. If they download this content, this expresses interest in what you do. Take this opportunity to give them more valuable content moving forward to nurture them through to the sale.
7. Core services
Create boxes that feature your core products or services and include about 100 words of content with each. Since these are your core services, you’ll likely have full pages or sections of your site related to each, but by placing them on your homepage accompanied by descriptive content, you’ll also get some additional SEO value.
Get help with your website
The experts at Advantage Marketing can help you develop a website that generates leads for your business. Contact us to learn more.
Reprinted from 5 Step Marketing Blueprint by John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing
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