12 Essential Elements for Your Homepage (and 5 things you definitely shouldn’t be doing)
If your website is your virtual shop front, then the homepage is the window display and your visitor’s first impression of your brand. It can make the difference between them coming in to browse and even making a purchase or walking past and bypassing your offering completely. So, what should be included in a website homepage?
The homepage is the most visited page of most business websites, so it’s essential that we create the right environment for your visitors and answer their question: “Am I in the right place?”
Here are the top 12 elements I recommend:
1. Branding
Your logo and branding elements should be prominently displayed on your homepage and throughout the site. This helps visitors instantly recognise your brand and creates consistency across your website. I’d recommend having your primary logo in the main navigation area and then perhaps a secondary logo or a submark in the footer.
2. Value proposition
To help visitors know they’re in the right place (or not), your unique selling proposition or USP should be clear and positioned above the fold (above the fold is any content visible on the screen before a user has to scroll down to see more). It should explain who you are, what you offer and why it matters. It should immediately answer the questions: “Am I in the right place?” and “What’s in it for me?”
A really strong USP is positioned above the fold on the Suzanne Frear website
3. Professional imagery
As humans we respond more quickly and with more emotions to imagery than text so it’s important to use professional, on-brand photography, lifestyle images and visuals of people, products and services to create a strong visual appeal and connection with your audience. A compelling ‘hero shot’ is a great way to capture attention immediately. This could be a high-quality image or video of your product, a mood-setting photograph or an example of your work. Make sure your imagery aligns with your brand identity and messaging and pay attention to image size and compress any images (I like to use tinypng.com) to reduce file size - Google (and people) hate slow-loading websites.
Hint: Check out my Resources Page with some of the best branding and product photographers in the industry!
4. Target keyword or keyphrase
Each page of your website should target a specific keyword or keyphrase and your homepage is no different. Stick to the main theme of your website and add in supporting keywords throughout the page too. Structure your content using heading tags, wrap your main heading (including your target keyword/phrase) in a H1 tag, followed by H2, H3, and H4 tags for your related subheadings. This helps search engines understand what your page is about and improves readability for your users. This all helps improve your SEO ranking and gets your website visible to the people who need what you are offering!
5. Overview of services or products
It’s important that you have a section on the homepage providing an overview of your services or products. It gives a good overview of your product range for new visitors and helps returning visitors or people with a specific search in mind find what they are looking for.
Example: On the Lobster & Love homepage, we designed a section called ‘Fresh Styles Just Landed’ - this is the top three categories including seasonal or new-in products which keeps the content fresh, engaging and useful to customers who are looking for something specific.
6. Calls to action (CTAs)
Include specific and clear calls to action throughout your homepage. Avoid generic phrases; instead, use actionable language that guides visitors on what to do next. End with a strong final CTA to encourage conversions.
Example: On the Can I Have A Word website, we used ‘Let’s have a word’ as the first CTA which is more on-brand and captivating than simply ‘contact me’.
7. Benefits over features
In all your copy, make sure to highlight the benefits of your products or services rather than just listing features. Show your visitors how your offerings can solve their problems or improve their lives in an emotional way, rather than rattling off all the features. Features include things like the materials, ingredients, techniques or design aspects, and benefits include the value the product or service brings to the customer.
8. Social proof
Incorporate testimonials, reviews or case studies to build trust and credibility. Social proof reassures visitors that others have had positive experiences with your brand. These can be dotted around your website or even have their own page, but having one or two on your homepage really helps build a picture of your brand and position you as trustworthy.
Testimonials on the Femme Flow homepage
9. Email marketing sign up
This is one of the most important elements to be included on your homepage in my opinion! Email marketing is such a gamechanger for your business so encouraging visitors to subscribe to your newsletter will help you build your email list and keep in touch with potential customers. Offering some kind of freebie or lead magnet will encourage sign ups - keep it relevant to your offering and make sure it feels valuable to your customer - for product brands this could be a discount or a free upgrade, for service brands it could be a free download or webinar access. Often, website visitors aren’t quite ready to buy from you yet but capturing them here and keeping in touch with them so you remain front and centre of their mind is a very strong marketing tool.
Hint: need a little help with email marketing? Get my free Flodesk Welcome Sequence Templates here!
10. About Section
This is sadly so often missed on website homepages, but personal introductions are so important for solo entrepreneurs who are the face of their business. I recommend including a brief about section with a link to your full about page, this helps visitors connect with you on a personal level.
Example: The ‘mini’ About section on the Can I Have A Word website is brief and chatty, it makes the visitor want to read on to find out more about the person behind the brand.
11. Resources
A great way to establish credibility is by offering valuable resources. Position yourself as a thought leader in your industry by sharing some of your most popular blog posts, guides or other content such as a valuable lead magnet (don’t forget the email sign up!)
12. Footer
The footer obviously goes over every page of your website but it is essentially an extension of your homepage. Make the most of this valuable real estate by including a brief SEO-optimised sentence about your business (this will be present on every page - boosting your visibility). Include useful links to social media, more information, FAQs and a way to contact you. You can also add in another place to opt-in to your newsletter.
What to avoid on your website homepage
I’ve shared with you some super important elements that should be on your homepage but what about the things you definitely should not be doing?
Don’t have your social media links at the top of the homepage. We want visitors to stick around, not navigate immediately away to your social media channels - put them in the footer!
Don’t skimp on the text. Ensure you have at least 500 words to give your page a good chance to rank for your keywords
Don’t forget to optimise your website for all devices - more visitors browse on mobiles than ever before so it’s crucial your homepage works beautifully on both desktop and mobile devices
Don’t forget to maintain consistent brand application. Stick to 2-3 typography styles to keep your design cohesive and keep colours within your brand style guide. If in doubt, remember simple and clear is best!
Don’t forget your ‘back end’ SEO. Make sure your image file names, alt text, meta title, meta description and url are optimised for your target keyword. This is important not only for SEO but also for accessibility
By incorporating these essential elements into your homepage, you can create a welcoming environment that engages visitors and encourages them to keep exploring your site. I’d love to know if you would add anything else to my list or whether you’ve had any ‘aha’ moments from reading this post - let me know in the comments!
