What is a Website Homepage and What Elements Make it Great?
The website home page is the first thing people see once they enter the site. It’s the place that sums up the essential info about your business. What people see on your website front page is what sticks to them once they leave your site. As a reflection of your values and business character, your website homepage should also reflect your branding, style, and niche. For this reason, even the thinnest detail shown on your homepage matters.
Although there are many important components of user-friendly, attention-grabbing web design including fonts, color palette, image selection and layout types, the core of every website is its content. The info you put on your homepage should explain your products and services in an effective, clear way so visitors get the crucial info right away. Also, the homepage is a place where your potential consumers can contact you, join your newsletter, or book an appointment.
Since a website front page is essential for your site’s success, it should include all the key elements that can benefit visitors or make them come back. Many WordPress themes come with professional website homepage designs you can use for free. However, if you need a custom-made solution you can look for the premium WordPress themes that offer tons of homepage options or hire UI/UX professionals to help you find the best solution. In both cases, you need to know what elements should be placed on your homepage so it can perform to its full potential.
Elements That Make a Great Homepage
Although there is no book of standards that works for everyone, some of the website elements should never be missed. Pay attention to these homepage essentials to make your homepage shine. In this article, we will cover the following topics:
The logo is an essential branding element. It represents your brand and products, so it should be the summary of your business. That’s why it should be part of your site, as well. The logo should be placed at the top of your site, so it’s visible right away. Often, it’s also placed at the website’s footer. As logos make you recognizable and strengthen your credibility, they should be always included in your website. If you’re not a design expert, you can use a website logo maker to create a modern logo for your site easily.
User-friendly navigation is crucial for a good user experience. That’s why you shouldn’t underestimate its importance. Include the navigation feature in the website’s header. This can be done by adding a search box on the top and by creating a navigation menu that allows people to jump to any website section with one click. In other words, the navigation area lets them locate the information with ease, so it reduces the bounce rate. When people can find everything with one click, they are more likely to stay on the site and take action.
Website headline communicates your most important message. It allows you to communicate your offer, provide important info or describe your services. When used right, a powerful headline with a short, informative sub-headline allows you to attract attention and spark interest. Keep it short, personalized, memorable, and fun for the best results. Avoid neutral tone of voice and generalizations. Instead, go with a unique, tailor-made headline that is your unique voice. Two-three sentences are just enough, so cut the fat in your writing especially in headlines.
Website homepage should get people inspired to learn more about your business or take some sort of action. This is where call-to-action messages enter the scene. As you may know, call-to-action messages aim to encourage some sort of action. They are powerful sales tools and can be used for versatile purposes. For instance, CTA buttons are also used for growing the email customer base, collecting interesting info about customers, encouraging people to download eBooks or start watching your new video/podcast. Thus, call-to-action messages can be linked to contact forms, newsletter subscription forms, or any other page that contains useful information. For this reason, the design of CTA buttons/sections should stand out. The plain text won’t attract anyone. So, pay close attention to button design and use contrast colors and choose the words with care.
You have only one chance to catch attention when someone enters your site for the first time. If you’re new in the game, or you’ve just launched a new product, you need to make sure your credibility is emphasized enough. People like to read about others’ experiences and to check out product reviews before making a purchase. For this reason, don’t forget to provide testimonials and customer/client reviews. By doing so, you will let people know what you’re doing and what the key insights of your products are. We suggest you use testimonial sections in horizontal slider form, as they can provide a dynamic user experience.
“A picture is worth a thousand words” – we hear this often. Why? Because it’s true. Humans are visual creatures, so you should pay special attention to your website image selection, especially on your website homepage. The best way to do so is to hire a professional photographer and use your own product images. If you don’t have a budget for professional photographers, you can find good image options on photo stock websites. Use high-quality images to illustrate your products/services. Include people into your images whenever it’s possible since your customers will better connect with others. Also, find your own artistic expression – don’t be afraid to experiment and test different photos.
Your textual content should have a unique tone of voice and easy-to-follow structure. Created with a specific target audience in mind, content on your website homepage has the power to grow your sales, encourage actions, inspire visitors to take further steps, and more. This means you should create it following the content writing tips and latest marketing trends. If content writing isn’t your thing, you can always hire freelance professionals to help you do this right.
Although it’s placed at the bottom of your website front page, the footer is equally important as a header. Here, people can find your contact information or links to social media platforms. This will allow people to follow you across your social media channels, learn about your projects in more detail, or join your community. Also, you can display your latest Twitter feeds or links to your latest blog stories in this website section. As you can see, there are many things you should consider including in your footer. Instagram feed is one of them, since it allows people to follow your latest updates directly on your site.
Your brand colors are a part of your business’ identity. On the other hand, some colors are very characteristic of some niches and industries. For instance, blue is known for its trust and dependability. It’s reliable, responsible, and mentally soothing. It’s a good choice if you operate in finances, for instance. So, be careful about the colors you use on your website front page. We recommend you pick a few colors that work well together and be consistent. Colors are great for highlighting important topics so you should use them in CTA buttons, in your menus, or in special sections that emphasize important info.
Typography is another important element that shouldn’t be taken for granted. The right typography can boost your design and lead to better website results. Also, when you choose a proper font, people will read your texts with ease. On the other hand, when you want to highlight something, you can play with bolder fonts. Just don’t overdo it. Remember – elegant, simple typography works for any industry and content type.
Your team is your best business asset. When people know who stands behind your products/services, they aim to trust you more. So, don’t forget to include team sections on your website homepage. Add images for each team member, include a short bio, position, and links to social channels. Use circular or square image sections, following your design. Of course, you can create a detailed About Us page with more info on each team member.
No matter what business niche you cover, your homepage won’t be complete without your contact information. This can be added to your menus, placed on your footer, or included in your content in a visible place. To make sure your contact information works for everyone, include useful information into your page such as a phone number, address, and an email. Also, you can create contact forms so people can contact you directly through your site. Apart from this, you can try chatbot functionality, which allows people to quickly get answers or contact you fast.
A hero section is an important part of every homepage. A hero section contains large images or sideshows that are combined with powerful messages about your products/brand/services. What you show in your hero section is what people will expect in the rest of your site. Make sure you use images, fonts, and animation effects wisely.
Interactive content is great for keeping people interested. Don’t underestimate the importance of animation effects. Use parallax animation, hover style, zoom out/in, floating animation, or any other animation type on whole website sections or on specific elements only (portfolio images for instance).
Airbnb
We’ve all been using Airbnb at some point. This famous platform is the real example of how the homepage should lock. Amazing navigation, intuitive search section, lovely galleries, multiple filters, and great user profiles give you everything you need to plan your next journey. Design is simple, minimalistic, yet very powerful.
Medium
Medium is a platform where you can read high-quality articles on any relevant topic. The eye-catching, yellow hero section is followed by an endless scroll through articles. Modern design and an intuitive search section make this place a real paradise for anyone who likes a magazine-like look and feel.
Amazon
Amazon allows you to start searching for desirable products right after you enter the site, on the top of its homepage. Apart from this, there is an amazing menu where you can easily find different product categories. These categories are also placed above the footer so you can start navigation from there, as well. What is also great about this site is its huge showcase of products, top sellers, and hot products worth checking.
Netflix
Netflix puts the attention-grabbing “Try 30 Days Free” button in the center of attention. This button is also placed at the website’s bottom so it’s obvious that it’s the main focus of this site.
Let’s Wrap It Up
The website homepage is the first thing someone sees after entering your site. This is why it should be equipped with essential features that will allow you to present your services and products in detail. For this reason, you should carefully plan every aspect of it and combine colors, fonts, animations, and images with attention to detail. Pay attention to your image selection, make sure you cover team sections, clients’ testimonials, and product showcases. Also, don’t forget to include your contact info and links to your social platforms.
We hope this article was helpful. If you liked it, feel free to check out some of these articles as well!