How to Design a Homepage That Converts ( 10 Critical Elements )

Your homepage is arguably the most critical element of your online presence as a business. In a society that seeks information online before making most purchases, having a website that converts casual visitors or curious shoppers into actual customers can make or break a small business.

Whether you plan to set up your website yourself or hire professionals, you should familiarize yourself with website best practices. This article will cover 10 critical elements that every homepage must have to convert more customers.

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What Is a Homepage?

A homepage is the website page that visitors will see when they first visit your website. Another way to understand it is similar to a visitors’ center, a landing page, a storefront window, or an introduction to your business. It is what people see when they navigate their browser to your main URL. For instance, if you own a business called Jane Doe Books, you might use the URL http://www.janedoebooks.com, which would be the address of your homepage.

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Why Is Your Homepage Important?

Have you ever heard people talk about the importance of first impressions? Well, your homepage is your business’s first impression of the world. How your page is set up, how difficult or simple it is to navigate, its level of professionalism and its branding speak volumes about your business. Therefore, it is critically important to have an attractive and effective homepage.

What should be on a website homepage?

1. The Headline

Your headline is one of the most important parts of your homepage. It may consist of only a very few words, but it should provide the most crucial pieces of information. Specifically, the headline on a website that converts simply and clearly states what the business does and where. Branding also begins with your headline. If you run a whimsical gift shop, your headline should be playful and relaxing. But if you own a law firm, you’ll want the tone to be more serious and succinct. When writing your headline think about what you want your potential clients to do when they land on your site.

2. Social Proof

Social proof is not a new term (it was coined in 1984 by Robert Cialdini), but it has taken on new meaning with the Internet and social media dominance. Essentially, social proof is a marketing psychology theory that people will follow the masses. Potential customers or clients want to know that others have bought your product or used your services in the past and been happy about it.

There are a couple of ways to go about establishing social proof. The most obvious is social media, which is also a great way to build your brand further. You should provide links to your social media pages on your homepage. Good use of social media regularly will encourage customer participation by showing that there are real people who have used your business and had positive experiences.

You can also encourage past customers to leave a review of your business on Yelp, Google, Facebook, or several other platforms and link to those. If you have enough reviews, you can easily display your overall star rating.

Finally, you can include testimonials from past customers and clients on your homepage as well. Don’t forget to include any formal accolades, such as a readers’ choice award, a local award or certificate, or any published news stories.

3. Quality Images

People often notice images even before words, so the ones you choose for your homepage are critically important and they absolutely must represent your brand. Keep in mind that when a customer visits your business in person, they have the advantage of using all five of their senses. When they’re shopping or looking online, sight is likely the only one they have.

Quality images should accurately portray your goods and services. A website that converts traffic to customers more than likely has strong images. Photography is very tricky, and it can be challenging to get everyday items to look amazing on camera. If you decide to hire a photographer, check to ensure that they have experience in your particular area.

4. A Call to Action

From years of experience designing websites, I see people making this mistake all the time. They do not include a call to action on their website. They assume that customers will know what to do next, but the practice shows that customers often do not know what to do next and, as a result, just leave. A website that converts its visitors into customers gives those visitors a reason to become customers.

You can offer a special promotion for new customers or promotions at different times of the year. How you go about doing this also has a lot to do with the brand you’re trying to build. Some businesses include an easy contact page where potential clients can leave their names and email addresses or phone numbers, and then you can reach out to them.

Whatever way you decide to do it, your homepage must nudge visitors to action, don't be afraid to actually sell your services. That's the whole reason you created a website in the first place.

5. What You Offer and Pricing

It is important to be upfront with potential clients and customers. Plus, it shows that you take pride in your work; you know what your goods and services are worth. What’s more, hiding prices sometimes appears suspicious to potential clients.

Highlighting what you offer is critical on a website that converts visitors to clients. Especially if you provide a myriad of services, a casual browser might pass you by if they don’t see exactly what they’re looking for. If your business is very versatile, try to cover as much as you can with general descriptions and emphasize that you can customize. The same goes with pricing: if you do a lot of custom contracts, it might be hard to quote prices. Try to give potential customers an idea of what to expect.

6. Use White Space Wisely

Have you ever visited a website that is too “busy”? Maybe the page is packed with images or there’s so much text that you thought you’d stumbled upon an essay for a college class. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to website best

practices.

Use white space wisely on your homepage to break up your text and make the essential information noticeable and easy to absorb.

Using white space also draws attention to the best of the best that you’ve chosen to feature on your homepage.

If you have a lot of pictures or information that you want to include, remember that you’ll also be setting up other pages (maybe a gallery or a Frequently Asked Questions page) as well as social media pages. All of these are great places to promote more aspects of your business besides the homepage.

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7. Answer Questions Before They're Asked

Good rule of tump to anticipate the questions of your potential customers and strategically answer them on your website. At a minimum, your website should give the who, what, when, where, why, and how about your business.

In all, the homepage should answer about 90% of common questions about your goods or services, or at least provide easily accessible ways to find answers. Some customers don't like to call or search for the answers to their questions, especially if your competition makes it easier than you do. Part of website best practices is making things as simple as possible for your visitors.

Spy on your competitors if you are new to your industry and haven't had many customers yet. Go through their Instagram page, and check the comments section. What questions do people ask them?

8. Highlight Benefits

This should be the easiest piece of the homepage puzzle. You know very well what makes your business stand apart from the competition. Make sure that your customers know too by showcasing it on your website.

Here is a pro tip. List your product/service benefits, not features. Features are something that your product/service has. A benefit is what your product/service does to make your customer's life easier. Simply put, the feature answers the question What?, while the benefit answers Why?

Your business itself might be unique, or maybe you offer hard-to-find services or items. Even if your most competitive aspect is your convenient location, make sure that whatever makes you stand apart from your competition is very obvious to website visitors.

9. Simple Navigation

Right alongside using white space effectively is making sure that your website is easy to navigate. Most people have gotten accustomed to having a menu available at the top of the page, and including this has become part of website best practices.

Similarly, I would not recommend trying to reinvent the wheel by giving your pages funky names to stand out from your competitors.

Making it easy to find things on your website is a must, the practice shows, that website visitors do not like unfamiliar things and won't spend extra time trying to search for the information they need if it's not easy to access.

10. Offer Something to Incentivize Further Communication

One way or another, if you want to own a website that converts visitors into customers, you have to find a way for those visitors to leave a footprint.

One great way to do this is to offer some kind of promotion or freebie for joining your mailing list. You can offer a free gift with the first purchase or your knowledge by putting together an ebook, checklist or mini-guide on a topic that you know is valuable to your target audience but doesn't directly take away from your main offer. Every business needs a lead magnet since your mailing list is your most valuable asset.

Few Examples:

If you are a fitness coach, give away your top 5 exercises to get in shape quickly, or if you are a massage therapist, put together a list of 5 stretches that anyone can do anywhere, even during a workday.

Here is how it looks like

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Next Steps: Get Started on Your Homepage

Now it's time to take action. Go ahead and do at least one tweak to your homepage, based on what you have learned.

I build Squarespace websites to help you stand out amongst the crowd and win your customer. Feel free to ask me a question or check out my custom Squarespace Website Package if you want to learn more about us and what we can do for your business.