Originally published on itseriestech.com
The homepage is possibly the most crucial page of a business website. Many visitors will decide whether to buy from a company based on what they see on the homepage alone.
Here, Adam Ferrari, entrepreneur and CEO of Ferrari Energy shares ten essential elements a business website homepage needs.
Every business must have unique branding that includes a logo, color scheme, and text font. It is critical that this branding is used across all media types. Humans can detect, even subconsciously, any difference from what their eyes expect to see.
A change in branding from one media type to another will cause the customer to wonder if they are on a legitimate website.
It is vital to display the company name clearly and provide a description of what you do. Many customers will only spend a few seconds on a homepage if they don’t immediately know whose website it is.
Few things frustrate customers more than unclear or missing navigation. They expect to see how they can move around the site and get anywhere from the homepage.
Nowhere is it truer that “a picture is worth a thousand words” than on a website homepage. Customers are resistant to reading long passages of text, so images that tell the business’ story are crucial.
Getting the right contrast between texts and images can be tricky. Place text on a solid background color, preferably white. If not white, make sure the text color and background color provide sufficient contrast for the text to be readable.
Make the benefits of your product or solution immediately visible. It’s not enough to indicate that the website belongs to John’s Pool Service, for example.
It must be immediately apparent why John’s Pool Service is better than any other pool service. If your company offers a specialized service, like after-hours service calls, include that in the homepage’s benefits statement.
People act more often when prompted to do so. A homepage that only offers information may be aesthetically attractive, but it is less likely that a customer will make a purchase or move to the next step unless they are asked to do so.
Customers want to know that others have had a good experience with your company. Post a few testimonials front and center on the homepage.
In today’s world, being active on all the popular social media platforms is critical. If you’re not on their favorite platform, many customers will move along. The bottom of the homepage is where most customers will look for links to your social channels.
Don’t make your customers guess how they can get in touch with you. Contact information can be placed on a separate “contact us” page, or you may choose to use an email form rather than provide an email address.
At the very least, a city and state should appear at the bottom of the homepage so customers can rest assured that your company physically exists.
Adam Ferrari is a chemical engineer and the founder of mineral and leasehold acquisitions company, Ferrari Energy. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and earned a degree in chemical engineering.
Although trained as a chemical engineer, his professional career has been more focused on petroleum engineering. After graduating, Mr. Ferrari worked as a production engineer for BP and then transitioned to a role at Macquarie Capital. While working at this investment banking firm, he became intimately familiar with the financial side of the energy business.
After ten years of applied industry experience, Adam Ferrari was well-versed with both the energy and financial sectors and launched his own company, Ferrari Energy. He bootstrapped the business with no outside help and quickly became an accomplished businessman and a capable engineer.