What is the first thing that a visitor does on a website?
They scan the site and look for something that stands out, this probably is either your logo in the top left of the page or a call to action button with the text Free Trail or Get Stated.
A website is ultimately the gateway between a business and a customer, it's how to start a relationship and communicate ways that you can make someones life easier. Follow the tips and advice in this article and you will be well on your way to creating an effective homepage that converts.
A simple task:
Visit this website right now and answer the following questions below: https://www.shopify.co.uk/
- What does this business do to help me?
- How do I get in touch / show interest?
- What clear benefits do they provide me with?
- Who else uses them? Is this company even legit?
By answering these questions you should already have an idea around what's going wrong with your current homepage vs the competition, but what's next? Let's compare your website to some of the best converting websites out there and see how you measure up.
Basecamp's homepage has everything you need to capture new customers from the very start. It displays clearly the problem that the potential customer has along with a solution that they offer. Let's breakdown further:
- Sign up form with clear call to action "Start a free 30 day trail"
- Core benefits from the start with what they offer to make your life easier
- Social validation from Forbes top small companies
- Call to action in the navigation emphasis on the FREE text
- Free keyword is used a total of three times for repetition
Another great website that conveys the points above is Help Scout. You immediately notice the clean modern design along with the image of someone happy at their desk. Let's breakdown:
- Statement is clear, what they do and who their customer is
- Clear call to action buttons as to how you get started.
- Social validation through the trusted companies and personal human quote
- Happy image of an individual
Need more examples / inspiration?
By looking into successful websites you can easily align your brand with a landing page that is proven to convert, below I have listed some more websites that hit the nail on the head with their home page conversion:
Hotjar: https://www.hotjar.com Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com CrazyEgg: https://www.crazyegg.com AirBnb: https://www.airbnb.co.uk TeamBit: https://teambit.io/ Atlassian: https://www.atlassian.com/
Actionable things you can implement
You now know what's wrong with your current website along with how the A* players achieve fantastic conversion. Now is the time to start enhancing your own website:
Create a call to action Your visitors want something to happen as soon as they land on your page, you better make sure that thing is clicking a call to action button that starts a sale or enquiry, or completing a form for a free trial rather than the x in the top right hand corner.
Create a clear primary heading A clear heading is the first thing that your customer sees, make sure it's something snappy and to the point that clearly tells the customer what you do and how you can help them.
Use social validation Don't just tell your customers that you are awesome, show it. Add some client success stories, quotes or hard data around how your business has performed.
Use simple language Notice how I'm talking to you in this post like a real person? Talk to your customers like you would if you was speaking to them face to face, you wouldn't show off with fancy words or phrases.
Update images and illustrations Think long and hard about the images that you use on your website to convey your brand and message. If you're selling a service or product is always safe to show a happy customer even better if it shows your product too. Images don't have to be expensive check out:
Improve website performance and accessibility Slow websites kill leads. Make sure your website is fast by using tools such as ImageOptim and PageSpeedInsights.
Offer something of value straight away Be this via a free guide, article or even e-book make it so that your user gets something for FREE and of value to them. It's also a fantastic way to get potential customers to sign up to your Newsletter.
Test your homepage regularly with A/B testing tools If you really want to enhance your homepage you can also utilise A/B testing tools such as Optimizely and VWO. They are a great way to really see how visitors act on your homepage
Wrap up
By taking the time to improve your business homepage using the above techniques and tools you will be well on the way to creating an effective homepage that converts.
Thanks for reading!
For more regular articles on Web Development & Conversion Subscribe.