The homepage is often the most visited page on a website, which makes it highly important for both new and returning users. Homepages are a company’s chance to make a good first impression on new users and provide everyone who lands on your site with the information they are looking for.
If you are exploring opportunities for conversion rate optimization (CRO) on your site, it’s a good idea to start with your homepage. With the user’s experience top of mind, there are a variety of ways you can ensure that you are making a good first impression and providing your audience with the information and calls to action they need to further engage and convert on your site. Continue reading for five actionable ways you can improve your homepage.
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Five tips to build a homepage that converts users
1. Put your most valuable call to action front and center.
Ask yourself – when a user lands on your site, what do you want them to do? Whether it’s purchasing a product, requesting a demo, making a reservation, or creating an account, call out this next step front and center in your homepage hero. You want to ensure that this call to action aligns with your primary business goals, as it will be one of the most visible calls to action on your site. Keep the text on your call to action straightforward to let the user know exactly what they should do next if they want to continue to engage with your site.
2. Add a clear call to action in your main navigation.
Your main navigation should tell a clear story about the structure of your site and give the user an opportunity to browse based on what interests them. It should also offer a call to action that’s distinct in design from the rest of the navigation labels. This call to action can use the same or different offer from the homepage hero depending on your goals. This call to action will follow the user around the site, so it should be actionable and relevant no matter what page the user is on. Common calls to action for this placement would include a lower-funnel goal like Contact Us, Get My Free Trial, Checkout, or Sign Up. It’s also a good idea to consider keeping this call to action sticky on your mobile site’s header.
3. Offer multiple calls to action throughout the rest of the page.
Ideally, you already have your most important calls to action above the fold. But, a user may interact with the page more before they are ready to convert. As the user continues to scroll down your homepage, offer natural opportunities to engage or go deeper into the site. Add a link, button or opportunity for a user to engage with you at each section of your homepage. For example, list all of your primary offerings on your homepage with links to dedicated internal pages that include more detail. Or, create a section that features your latest blog posts for users to read. Whatever you provide, give your audience ample opportunity to learn more about your service or product so they can make the most informed decision.
4. Offer social proof and trust signals early and often.
Users are much more likely to engage with your site if they trust you. As the most visible page of your site, your homepage needs to build trust to ensure users feel comfortable clicking and engaging with your calls to action. Two ways to do that are through social proof and trust signals. There are many ways to add social proof to your page including testimonials, reviews, and quantitative metrics about your product or services. Use as many of these as you can throughout your page, as they will work together to establish trust with your user. Trust signals can include items like logos of partners or associations of your business, awards you’ve won, or visual representations of your products or services. Each of these additions will strengthen your homepage and improve the first impression you leave on users.
5. Keep a final call to action opportunity at the bottom of your page.
If a user has taken the time to scroll through your entire homepage, make sure you provide them with an opportunity to engage with you at the bottom, just as you did on the top. You can include the same call to action you used in your hero as a button in the footer, for easy access. It’s also great to add an email submission sign up. For users that aren’t willing to commit to a lower-funnel call to action, this can be an easy, low-risk way for them to stay in touch. Usually, they only have to provide one piece of information and you gain the ability to interact with them through email and retargeting campaigns. This builds a great funnel to keep users coming back to your site to convert on future visits.
If you need more help improving your homepage, reach out to our conversion rate optimization agency to learn how we can help!
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