Website Design & Development

1) The design clearly answers “Who I am,” “What I do,” and/or “What can you (the visitor) do here.”

Unless you’re a globally recognized brand, chances are you will need to provide this information to let customers know they’re in the ‘right place’. Another way to confirm to your customers that they’re in the ‘right place’ if for your homepage design to be consistent with your brand identity, eg use the same colors as your logo, business cards or storefront.

2) The design resonates with the target audience.

Having a target audience does not limit your marketing efforts, it’s imperative that your message has a clearly defined direction. If you attempt to appeal to the masses, your message will fall on deaf ears as you’ve written it with no one in particular in mind. A homepage needs to be narrowly focused — speaking to the right people in their language. The best homepages eliminate the fluff. For people to “buy into” a product or service, they need to relate to the tone of voice and content of the message. If your content resonates with someone, a personal connection is made, and trust is established.

3) The design communicates a compelling value proposition.

When a visitor arrives on your homepage, it needs to compel them to stick around (we want low bounce rates)! The homepage is the best place to nail your value proposition so that prospects choose to stay on your website and not navigate to your competitors. Wondering what a value proposition is? Think about what makes you different to your competitors. Your value proposition is one of the most important elements of your overall marketing message. It’s a promise of value to be delivered, communicated and acknowledged, it therefore becomes an expectation from customers for this to be delivered.

4) The design is optimized for multiple devices (responsive design).

Your homepage design needs to be optimized for multiple devices, as there is various traffic sources eg desktop, mobile and tablet. Mobile responsive websites are easy to navigate, have great loading speeds and aren’t overly complicated. Elements such as flash banners, animations, pop-ups, or unnecessary sections may get in the way of the user trying to browse the website which will result in the user navigating away from your website. Considering users now spend most time on their phone, ignoring the mobile market is a very risky business. It is now considered the common practice to make a website mobile friendly.

5) The design includes clear calls-to-action (CTAs).

Your homepage design should effectively use primary and secondary calls-to-action to direct visitors to the next logical step. Examples include “Book Now,” “Free Trial,” “Buy Now,” or “Learn More.” The goal of the homepage is to compel visitors to dig deeper into your website and move them further down the funnel. CTAs tells the user what to do next, so they don’t get overwhelmed or lost. More importantly, CTAs turn your homepage into a sales or lead-generation engine. Is your call to actions highlighted clearly on every landing page? Are they interesting and persuasive enough for your visitor to complete the desired action?

6) The design is always changing.

The best homepages aren’t always static. Some are constantly changing to reflect the needs, problems, and questions of their visitors. Updating your website on a regular basis has many benefits. The internet is constantly changing and so are search engines and what they priorities to determine the hierarchy of websites in search results. New, original content is always favored.

7) The design is effective.

A thoughtfully designed homepage is important to building trust, communicating your value proposition, and navigating visitors to a CTA to move them further down the funnel. Well-designed homepages effectively use layout, CTA placement, whitespace, colors, fonts, and other supporting elements.