Home Page Design: Making A Lasting Impression

By A. P. Traylor

Getting more views than any other page, your home page is the single most valuable piece of real estate on your business’ Web site. Not only is it an introduction to the rest of your site, it’s also the center around which your site is organized. Its impact on your bottom line is also far greater than simple measures of ecommerce revenues: it’s your company's face to the world.

Increasingly, potential customers will look at your online presence before doing business with you—regardless of whether they plan to close the actual sale online. With so much depending on this one seemingly simple page of code, images, and copy, how can you make sure it’s working up to its full potential? Follow these basic tips for creating an effective and compelling home page.

Page Size
Keep page size as small as possible for quick downloads. This means using a small logo and images only when absolutely necessary. If you’re designing it yourself, avoid nested tables (i.e., tables inside tables) and long vertical tables, since they take a long time to load. Ideally, your pages should consist of stacks of tables, which make your pages appear to load faster, as the top tables load first, giving the user something to read while waiting for the rest of your page to load.

Basic Content

Customers should immediately learn what the site is about and what you can offer them.

Make sure the first thing your home page displays is a reason for visitors to stick around. Customers should immediately learn what the site is about and what you can offer them.

Stop visitors from clicking away quickly by answering the following questions on your home page:

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• What’s the benefit for the customer?

Personality Counts
Your home page is your window on the Internet. It should give people a sense of who you are. This doesn't mean that you should strive for a unique and "super cool" home page that stands out. It does mean you shouldn't be afraid to give customers a taste of your business cultural. Just as you would decorate a brick and mortar store, how you "decorate" your home page can do a lot to show visitors what you stand for.

Copy Layout

A good first step is to lay out your copy and the page—and then cut it in half.

Include only information that is necessary. A good first step is to lay out your copy and the page—and then cut it in half. Consider developing a company slogan or tagline that concisely summarizes what your site or company does and what benefits a customer can get from it in a creative way.

Break Up Text
Make sure that your paragraphs aren’t too long—each paragraph should be no more than 3 or 4 sentences. Big blocks of text tend to scare people away, especially those who are just popping into your Web site and don’t have the time or inclination to read large amounts of text.

Sub-categories also allow readers to scan through certain portions of content that they are interested in.

To avoid large text blocks, break up text into smaller sub-categories. This will make your home page more aesthetically pleasing, and more reader-friendly. Sub-categories also allow readers to scan through certain portions of content that they are interested in, rather than making them sift through large text blocks.

General Tips

• A good width for a line of text is between 60-70 characters (400-500 pixels).

  Avoid wide text running from one side of the screen to the other, as this can result in lines of text that are so long they're very difficult to read. A good width for a line of text is between 60-70 characters (400-500 pixels). Remember: It's more important for Web page design to make your text readable rather than to fill every inch of the screen.
  
  
• Everyone reads headlines, so always start your page with one that grabs the eye and intrigues and captivates the reader.
  
  
• Make use of bulleted lists. They’re easy for readers to quickly scan over.
  
  
• Web pages are read left to right. Keep your most important content in center and then to the left, with the least important to the right.

Add a search function.
Your site visitors are either searchers or browsers. To appease the latter, you need simple site navigation, something you should have already, and to accommodate the former you need a search option. Add a search field at least 25 characters wide that allows visitors to search for both informative content and products.

Keep all important text and images are above the fold.
This is the part of the page that your users will see first. The most significant information should be accessible to users without scrolling down the page.

Use rotating graphics.
They take up less space and catch the eye by loading different promotional material at each page load.

One of the most important things to remember when designing a home page is to keep it simple. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need Flash, Java, scrolling text and the like. All you need is a professional logo, a clean look and simple navigation links. Add to that the above tips and your home page will be well on its way to providing a great first impression of your business.

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