Good news - you don’t need to sit down and write a chunk of text.

Creating a home page is a process of choosing a buffet of potential options for your website visitor, and laying them out on a page.

In this blog post I’ll talk you through:

• The function of your home page
• 3 questions to help you decide what should go on your home page
• 3 design tips to help you create your home page

What goes on a home page - and why?

When I arrived at a new mall, or retail park, my first destination was the ‘You are here’ map - not because I was lost, but because I wanted to do a rapid assessment of the kind of shops available to me, and whether this was a good place for me to invest my Saturday afternoon.

That large map could quickly tell me:

• If this was my kinda place
• If exploring further would be a good use of my time
• Where I should go next

That’s basically what your homepage is there to do - give an overview and then suck that website visitor in as quickly as possible.

3 questions to help you create your home page

1 - Where have they come from?

List all the ways in which someone might end up on your home page. I’ll help you out: Link in your bio; friend shared a link; byline in a guest blog post; landed on a blog post and then navigated to your website; clicked the header in your marketing emails…. that’s just to get you started. You dig in and see if you can find any more routes they may have taken.

2 - Why are they there?

Against each one of the routes, write down any explanations you can think of for them choosing to click that link and navigate to your home page. Maybe they liked your blog post and they’re curious to know if you’ve got anything else you liked. Maybe their friend has told them to check you out, and they’re arriving totally clueless about who you are and what you do.

3 - Where do you want them to go next?

What are your top priorities right now? To sell a particular product? Get people on your email list? Do you have a favourite blog post you just wish everyone would read?

3 tips to help you design your home page

#1 Research!!!

Spend some time looking at other websites in your industry (and beyond). This will give you a feel for what your customers are expecting, and also you’ll be able to spot ideas you do and don’t like.

#2 Title + Image + Reason

Every time you offer a link for the visitor to click, give the name of the thing they are going to, and eye-catching image , mock-up or icon that helps them make meaning of the name, and a short description that gives them a reason to click. Blind leaps of faith are difficult to take even if it is just clicking through to a new page. Make it easier for them by making the destination much clearer.

#3 Theme Sections

You can have one link in a section or multiple but it makes sense if you group your themes of links together, so each section has a specific function.

For example you might begin with a section that introduces you and offers a link to your About page, then you might have a section that showcases your best three freebies, then a section to offer your newsletter, then a section showcasing ways to work with you, then a section showcasing your best podcast episodes.

So although the home page is a giant list of links you’d like people to click, there is some structure behind that to help the visitor make sense of what they’re looking at.

Sales Page Template